English test scores for nurses: what the UK, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand regulators accept

These are the minimums for a nurse who has to prove English with a test. All four regulators have other routes, such as training or registered practice in English in certain countries.

The NMC accepts two tests only: IELTS Academic (paper or computer at a test centre, including IELTS Academic UKVI) and OET, nursing version (on paper, on computer, or OET@Home). It does not accept IELTS Online, the IELTS Indicator, or the IELTS One Skill Retake.

You may combine two sittings of the same test taken within 12 months of each other, both no more than two years old when the NMC assesses your complete application. Each sitting must test all four skills, the required score must appear once per skill across the two, and no score in either sitting may fall below a floor: IELTS 6.5 in listening, reading and speaking and 6 in writing; OET C+ (300) in listening, reading and speaking and C (250) in writing. IELTS and OET cannot be mixed.

If you have used the combining rules and still narrowly miss the score in one skill only, the NMC says you may be able to support your application with information from your current employer in the UK.

NMBI accepts IELTS Academic, IELTS Academic for UKVI and OET. Its IELTS rule is written differently from everyone else's: overall 7.0, with 7.0 in any three components and 6.5 in any one. The OET rule is the same shape: grade B in three components and C+ in one.

This reading is ours: on that wording the lower score does not have to be writing. A nurse with 7 in writing and 6.5 in speaking meets NMBI's rule and misses the NMC's.

The price of that flexibility is strictness elsewhere. NMBI says it accepts only one test result and no combined results, does not accept the IELTS One Skill Retake, IELTS Online or OET at home, and wants a result less than two years old when you submit your registration application. Its own warning: if you apply without meeting the scores, the assessment fee is non-refundable.

Australia's boards accept Cambridge C1 Advanced or C2 Proficiency, IELTS Academic, OET, PTE Academic and TOEFL iBT, all at a test centre. For TOEFL you must choose Taking TOEFL for Australia when you register.

On 23 April 2026 the minimums changed, aligned with the Department of Home Affairs. Ahpra says this does not change the level of English required. Which table applies depends on the date you sat the test:

Two sittings of the same provider's test may be used if they are no more than 12 months apart, each sitting meets any overall minimum, and no score in either sitting falls below a floor. For tests from 23 April 2026 the floors are, for example, IELTS 6.5, OET 320 listening, 340 reading, 350 writing and 350 speaking, and PTE 53, 54, 60 and 66.

Unlike the UK and Ireland, Australia accepts the IELTS One Skill Retake, within 60 days of the result it repairs, and it does not count as an extra sitting. At-home versions of any test are not accepted.

A result is valid for two years before you lodge your application, with exceptions for continuous work in English or continuous Board-approved study. If your first sitting was before 23 April 2026 and your second after, the first must meet the old table and the second the new one.

The Nursing Council of New Zealand accepts OET (350 for reading, listening and speaking, 300 for writing) and IELTS Academic (7 for reading, listening and speaking, 6.5 for writing). It says plainly: We do not accept PTE.

You may reach the scores over more than one sitting, but within 12 months of your first sitting, and all sittings must be within the three years before you apply. That is a year longer than the UK, Ireland and Australia allow. Online computer-based tests are not accepted; a computer-based test at an approved centre is, including OET on computer with its online speaking sub-test.

This comparison is ours. OET writing is where the four part ways. A C+ (300 to 340) in writing meets the UK, Ireland and New Zealand, but an OET taken from 23 April 2026 needs 350 in writing for Australia.

PTE Academic counts only in Australia, and its speaking minimum there is now 76. Only Ireland refuses every combination of sittings, and only Australia accepts the IELTS One Skill Retake. If more than one country is on your list, the safest single target is the strictest score in each skill across them, from a single sitting of IELTS Academic or OET at a test centre.

For how the tests themselves score, see IELTS bands, OET scores, PTE Academic and the Cambridge English Scale. For the UK work visa itself, see UK Skilled Worker English. For doctors, see English test scores for doctors. Physiotherapists, radiographers and other HCPC professions: see HCPC English requirements. Nursing in Ontario: see the CNO's language tests. Pharmacists: see the GPhC's English requirements.