Nursing & Midwifery Council is the regulatory body for nursing profession in the United Kingdom. You must register with the NMC before you can work as a registered nurse or midwife in the United Kingdom.

The NMC assesses whether or not your education, training and experience have satisfactorily prepared you to carry out the duties of a registered nurse or registered midwife in the United Kingdom.

The NMC register is divided into parts that indicate different specialties or professions. These currently include general nursing, mental health nursing, learning disabilities nursing, children’s nursing and midwifery. In order to apply for a given part of the NMC register you will need to have actually been trained in that discipline.

If you trained in a non-European Union country whose primary mode of expression is not English, you will be required to undertake and gain a specific mark in the International English Language Testing System (IELTS). You must complete the general module and gain a mark of 5.5 in each category and an overall band score of 6.5.

There are five possible outcomes:

  • accepted for registration
  • required to undertake further education in the United Kingdom to develop specified skills and provide a reference supporting your application for registration
  • required to undertake a period of supervised practice in the United Kingdom and provide a reference supporting your application for registration
  • required to provide further information about your education or practice
  • rejected if your education and training was not at least three years in length or if you do not meet the minimum requirements

When you have been notified of the decision, you may need to find a supervised placement in the UK to undertake additional education and practice.

If you are applying for registration as a midwife, when you have been notified of the decision, you will need to find an adaptation course that is run through an approved higher education institution to undertake additional education and practice.

Information for overseas nurses: