How To Be A Registered Nurse in UK in 2021

Hi, welcome to this comprehensive guide on how to become a Registered Nurse in UK.

In this article I am going to make the process as easy and straightforward as possible.

To become a registered nurse in UK, there are series of steps you must take. The first step begins with you getting a copy of your international passport, if yours has expired try to renew it as this will be needed before you can sit for IELTS/OET.

NMC Registration Requirements 2021

Also below are the requirements:

  1. You must have completed Nursing education in your country
  2. Registered as a Nurse in your country (This is no longer a requirement as those who are not registered with the Nursing Board in their countries will need to supply additional evidence. For instance, if you are a from Ghana or Nigeria and went to India or Philippines to study Nursing and you were not allowed to register in India or Philippines, you can still register as a Nurse in UK without going to Ghana or Nigeria to register with the Nursing Boards in those countries)
  3. English language requirement: You need to sit for standard IELTS Academic version and have a minimum score of Listening-7 Speaking 7 Reading 7 and Writing 6.5 or its OET Equivalence. However, if you didn’t make the IELTS/OET in a single sitting, you can combine your result. For more information check IELTS Clubbing for UK NMC Nurse Registration or OET Clubbing For UK: NMC OET Clubbing Requirement for Nurses

To get started, go to  https://online.nmc-uk.org/overseas/assessment/start?route=1 and create an account. You will be required to upload your:

  1. Nursing Certificate which is the certificate issued by your School after completing your Nursing training
  2. Nursing registration Certificate which is the certificate issued by your board of Nursing
  3. International passport with marriage certificate if applicable.

Then you will be required to make the application fees payment of £140. You can pay this online using your regular ATM card. If you are having difficulty paying this as a result of restriction in your country, look for friends and families in any other country to help you make the payment online.

After making the payment, you should receive an email from NMC confirming your payment. You should then proceed to the Nursing and Midwifery Council of your country to have your verification sent to the UK NMC.

For those in Nigeria, the Nursing and Midwifery Council of Nigeria has started accepting online application for verification. This online verification is only for those who have completed their Professional Update Form otherwise called PUF. To begin your online application for verification to UK, check the step-by-step guide here How to Apply for Nigeria NMCN Online Verification for Nurses

For those who have not completed their online PUF and are having difficulty, you can still use the paper application. Below is the step for using the paper application:

Note: Before you begin the paper application, confirm from Nursing and Midwifery Council of Nigeria whether it is still accepting paper application before you proceed with it

You will need to pay the verification fees of #17500 through Remita. Go to https://login.remita.net/remita/onepage/OAGFCRF/biller.spa to generate the invoice and make payment.

After making payment take following to Nursing and Midwifery Council of Nigeria:

  1. Payment receipt
  2. Copy of birth certificate
  3. Copy of license (front and back)
  4. Copy of your Nursing and Midwifery Council of Nigeria registration certificate
  5. Copy of other registration certificates you have with Nursing and Midwifery Council of Nigeria
  6. A letter requesting NMCN to do your verification and Good Standing Certificate to UK NMC. The letter must contain your CRM number which is found in the email sent to you after the payment of £140.

Submit all this at NMCN office in Abuja or Lagos and wait for your verification to be sent to UK NMC. Alternatively, if you have someone to help you submit them at the office, just email the above documents to them. You can follow it up if you know people that can be of help.

After your verification is sent to UK NMC will send you an email which is called DECISION LETTER authorizing you to proceed to write your CBT and OSCE, Pearson Vue will equally send you an email containing your Authorizations to Test called ATT and another one containing your Username and temporary password.  Then change your temporary password by clicking here https://accountrecovery.pearsonvue.com/passwordreset/usernamelookup/NMC?locale=en_GB

After changing your password, you can then schedule your exam by logging in and picking your desired exam centre and date. You will be able to make payment online with your card and if you have finding it difficult to make the payment, go to http://www.mindhub.co.uk/category_s/139.htm and purchase  the NMC voucher which is £83 and use the voucher to make payment. Vouchers purchased on Mindhub are usually sent 1 to 2 hours after payment to arrive in your email.

After passing your CBT the next step is paying £153. Before you can make this payment, you will need to upload police certificate from all the countries you have lived more than six months since you turned eighteen years. You will equally need to provide the name and email of a medical doctor who will certify that you are in good health. You will need to provide your IELTS/OET results at this stage

Immediately after payment, an email will be sent to your doctor to confirm your health Status while your Good standing certificate will appear on your portal. It it is not reflecting, it means your board of Nursing didn’t send it along with your verification you might need to contact them to speed things up.

Job Hunting

When should you start searching for jobs? You should start searching for job immediately you pass your IELTS/OET and your CBT. There are varieties of places you can work in UK, you can work in Care Home, Publicly funded NHS, Private NHS, Special Clinics,etc.

You can apply to work directly with the Hospitals or Care Homes or apply through agencies. Some of the agencies recruiting for UK hospitals and Care Homes include Nurses2Britain, HCL Permanent, IANS, IMHR, Medacs, Insignia Global, MMA to name a few. You can get their website and contact details through a quick Google Search. Note that these agencies won’t collect any money from you as they are paid handsomely by your employer. If any agency ask you to pay, they are trying to cheat you just dump them and go to another agency.

If you can’t get any agency to sign you up go to any of the following site, register and start applying for jobs free of charge:

  1. Trac Jobs https://apps.trac.jobs/
  2. NHS Job Portal https://www.jobs.nhs.uk/
  3. Care Home Jobs https://www.carehome.co.uk/
  4. Elysium Job Vacancies https://www.elysiumhealthcare.co.uk/careers/vacancies/vacancy-search-results.aspx
  5. Indeed https://www.indeed.co.uk/
  6. Monster https://www.monster.co.uk/

Tips for Applying for Jobs

  1. Apply for as many jobs as possible
  2. Apply for posts closing very soon
  3. Highlight your strengths and experience as it relates to the job you are applying to in your supporting statement.
  4. Continue to monitor your email for interview invites

Low Cost/Inexpensive Areas of England

Also apply for jobs in low cost areas as getting a job in an expensive area can hurt your pocket. Use the job search filter to your advantage, the following are low cost areas you:

Manchester
York
Lancashire
Morecambe
Rotterham
Blackpool
Liverpool
Crewe
Kettering
Portsmouth
Wolverhampton
Stoke-on-Trent
Blackpool
Shropshire
Telford
Staffordshire
Chester among others.

Generally, North of England, West Midlands, North Midlands among others are cheaper in England.

High Cost/Expensive Areas of England

The following are the most expensive part of England:

  1. Cambridge
  2. Surrey
  3. Bristol
  4. Bradford
  5. Sussex
  6. Oxford
  7. Brighton
  8. Swansea
  9. Kent
  10. Birmingham
  11. East sussex
  12. West hertfordshire
  13. Slough
  14. Reading

After getting an offer your employer will issue you an offer letter containing the offer details and what they will be paying for. Tomorrow I shall write a comprehensive note on what you should look out for in an offer. You will be initially employed as a Band 3 or 4 nurse also known as HCA with a salary range of between £19,000-£21000 per year. You will be upgraded to a band 5 after passing OSCE and your salary raised to between £24,000 to £35,000 depending on your trust, years of experience or care home. Check out my post on what you should look out for in an offer.

After getting your offer letter, go to the UK Salary calculator and calculate your monthly take home. https://www.thesalarycalculator.co.uk/salary.php

Then go online to check the cost of accommodation online or on Zoopla https://www.zoopla.co.uk/to-rent/ or Right Move https://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-to-rent.html using the post code of the hospital you will be staying so as to get a rough idea of the cost of accommodation in the area.

After accepting an offer, you can then proceed to submit all the required documents for the issuance of your Certificate of Sponsorship called COS.

Congratulations! You are almost in UK. Next is to apply for Visa. You will need to have the following document handy before you go for your biometrics. You can upload them yourself or pay for assisted service.

Document for VISA

  1. CBT evidence
  2. COS
  3. Offer letter
  4. Nursing certificates
  5. Police clearance
  6. IELTS
  7. Birth certificate
  8. International passport
  9. Licence
  10. Document checklists
  11. TB test certificate
  12. Marriage/divorce certificate if applicable

To apply for visa use this link https://www.gov.uk/skilled-worker-visa/apply-from-outside-the-uk

Your Partner/Spouse can apply using this link https://apply-to-visit-or-stay-in-the-uk.homeoffice.gov.uk/sort/live-in-crown-dependency/pbs_dependant_partner_out_uk?uid=c026235c-e5fd-4162-9643-08097ec7f705

Your child/children can apply through this link https://apply-to-visit-or-stay-in-the-uk.homeoffice.gov.uk/sort/live-in-crown-dependency/pbs_dependant_child_out_uk?uid=5c815740-0f2b-437d-b620-c91357acef60

To learn how to complete the visa application read mu guide on Tier 2 Visa application for Nurses

Tuberculosis Test for Visa

  1. Kindly follow the instructions below to book your tuberculosis appointment if you are in Nigeria:

1.Click this link: https://mymedical.iom.int/apps/omas/#_frmHome

i. Sign up first
ii. Verify email address
iii. Log in and start the process
iv. Select a location (either Abuja or Lagos).

  1. Phone calls or emails about booking will be referred to the link above.
  2. For a successful booking, a reference number will be generated. (Please take note of it as it will be required for any further support)
  3. in the event of a family booking, kindly book for every member of your family as only successfully booked Applicants with a reference number will be attended to on the appointment date.
  4. If you experience challenges in booking, please send an e-mail to iomabujamedicalbooki@iom.int ; or iomlagosmedicalbooking@iom.int) describing the challenges for further assistance.

You can check my other post on how to book a flight, how to book covid test for Day 2 and Day 8 in Uk while under isolation, how to obtain your Uk driving license among others. If you like this post you can share it among your friends and bookmark it.

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