Information for members contacted by the NMC about their computer-based test

Members who completed their computer-based competence test at the testing centre in Ibadan, Nigeria may have received a letter or email from the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) about needing to complete another test. 

If this affects you, read our guidance on what to do next.

Please contact us.

You will be referred to our legal team who can provide you with advice and representation. A member of our legal team will be allocated to handle your case and will contact you. In the meantime, please complete the personal contact and employment details form provided with the letter you received from the NMC. You can complete the name of your representative when contact is made by our legal team. 

We strongly recommend that you take the new test on offer to resolve this issue as quickly as possible. 

Yes, the NMC will contact your employer.

The Skilled Worker Visa (or its predecessor) usually depends on you remaining employed by your sponsoring employer and in the same role for which leave was granted. If your employment is terminated, this is likely to impact the validity of your visa and your permission to remain in the UK. If you're worried about your immigration status, please contact us to be put in touch with our Immigration Advice Service.

The investigation is at a very early stage and it’s too early to predict the outcome. However, if your employer does dismiss you, there must be a fair reason and it must follow a fair process. There are also service requirements for an ordinary unfair dismissal claim. There are no service requirements for an automatically unfair dismissal claim or a discrimination complaint. 

If you have been suspended, please contact us. Your employer should give you a clear reason for the suspension. Your employer should act quickly and keep the suspension period to a minimum and keep the decision under review. 

A suspension does not imply guilt and is a neutral act. Therefore, you should remain on full pay. The only exception to this is if there is a clause in your contract of employment that allows your employer to suspend you without pay. Please check your contract or any other relevant policies. 

Unless you are removed from the NMC register or restrictions are placed on your practice that preclude you from practising as a registered nurse, you are still entitled to be paid as a registered nurse.

If you hold a second contract with another employer, you are not automatically suspended from this role. However, you may need to inform your second employer that you have been suspended. The NMC Code also places a professional obligation on you to inform any employers you work for if your fitness to practise is called into question. 

We advise that you do not seek alternative work while suspended. 

If your accommodation is conditional on you remaining in employment, it is likely you will be asked to vacate your premises. We would expect there is a notice period in which to do so. Please check any notice periods, which might be in your contract or in a separate document. 

If you are an internationally recruited nurse and working as a registered nurse in the UK, you are required to take a computer-based test before joining the register. If you didn’t take the test, please let us know as soon as possible and we will need to inform the NMC as part of the investigation. They will want to explore why and how this happened.