TOEFL, IELTS not Mandatory for Doctors & Nurses for Practising in the UK
The General Medical Council (GMC) and Nursing & Midwifery Council (NMC) of the UK will not require IELTS or TOEFL passing certificate to issue a 2 tier visa to medical practitioners.
The doctors, dentists, nurses and midwives from now do not need to crack IELTS or TOEFL English test for practising in the United Kingdom. The country will now accept the Occupational English Test (OET) for letting people from the mentioned professions work in the UK. The candidates need to register with the healthcare regulator of the specific branch before that. This change will be applicable for all Tier 2 (General) visa applications submitted from October 1, 2019, onwards.
OET is an international level test which checks the English speaking ability of a candidate worldwide who is looking forward to practising in an English speaking region. Apart from registering with the General Medical Council (GMC) and Nursing & Midwifery Council (NMC) of the United Kingdom, the candidates had to pass OET and also TOEFL or IELTS to apply for the visa. Now, the United Kingdom has decided that the visa policies of the country will accept only OET. The test is accepted by major healthcare boards and councils in Ireland, UK, Australia, Dubai, Singapore, New Zealand, Namibia and Ukraine, and also Australia. It is conducted for professions such as dietetics, medicine, dentistry, occupational therapy, nursing, optometry,physiotherapy, podiatry, pharmacy, speech pathology, radiography and veterinary science.
Ms Sujata Stead, who is the CEO of Cambridge Boxhill Language Assessment, which is the conducting body of OET, said that streamlining of English ability test has been done by the UK Home Office and now Doctors, Dentists, Nurses and Midwives do not have to sit for two different English examinations to apply for 2 tier Visa.
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OET is conducted to check the language proficiency of healthcare professionals who want to register and practise in an English-speaking area. The test is accepted by major healthcare boards and councils in Ireland, UK, Australia, Dubai, Singapore, New Zealand, Namibia and Ukraine, and also Australia. It is conducted for professions such as dietetics, medicine, dentistry, occupational therapy, nursing, optometry, physiotherapy, podiatry, pharmacy, speech pathology, radiography and veterinary science.
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