The Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) has recently launched further details of its new Test of Competence 2021. It will go live in August 2021 to assess the skills and knowledge of international nurses outside the European Economic Area who want to join the NMC register and work in nursing roles in the United Kingdom.
Educators and nurses can download the following materials from the NMC’s website:
- ToC Nursing Blueprint
- CBT Candidate Information Booklet
- OSCE Candidate Information Booklet
- Top Tips
- Marking Criteria
- Mock OSCE
- Reading List
The test is still in two parts: the Computer-based Test (CBT) and the objective structured clinical examination (OSCE).
A series of webinars at the end of 2020 brought out key changes to the Test of Competence, including:
- The computer-based test (CBT) is split into two parts, numeracy and clinical.
- The objective structured clinical examination (OSCE) will now be ten stations instead of the previous six.
New: Ten OSCE Stations
- four testing candidates’ assessment, planning, implementation, and evaluation (APIE)
- six clinical skills stations consisting of two pairs of 2 skills
- one professional values station, and
- one critical appraisal station
- the OSCE mark scheme is now per station and based on task-specific criteria with a holistic judgment
- there will be a wider scope of candidate support materials intended not only for the candidates but for the employers and recruiters in order to promote more transparency to the test
The NMC is now working with its delivery partners, AlphaPlus, ACER, and Nottingham University to keep an eye on the new Test of Competence 2021 progress, like for instance, reviewing the current bank of examination materials and developing new materials as well.
To get more updates on NMC new ToC 2021, check out the NMC website.
For nursing recruitment inquiries, visit My Healthcare Recruit.
Photo Credit: Laura James