No separate English test for doctors and nurses in the UK

Doctors and Nurses will no longer need to appear for a separate English test to work in the UK.

Doctors, Nurses, and Midwives need to clear the licensing process before they can start working in the UK. The licensing process also requires them to appear for an English language test. If they meet the English requirements of their relevant licensing bodies, they will not need to appear for another English test for the Tier 2 (General) Visa. This announcement has come from the UK Home Office.

Two healthcare boards in the UK are the General Medical Council and the Nursing and Midwifery Council. Both these boards require license applicants to appear for the Occupational English Test (OET).

The announcement by the UK Home Office means that the OET will be sufficient for both the licensing as well as the Tier 2 Visa. Doctors and Nurses applying for the Tier 2 Visa will not need to take a separate IELTS test for English.

The OET is an English test that tests the English skills of medical professionals who wish to work in an English-speaking country.

Sujata Stead, CEO of Cambridge Boxhill Language Assessment, says this announcement has been welcomed by medical professionals in Kerala. These professionals aspire to work in the UK. Sujata also manages and owns the OET, as quoted by The Hindu Business Line.

The UK has decided to streamline the “English language testing”. This will ensure that medical professionals who have already cleared one English test, do not need to appear for another one. This means that they will be exempted from the English test required for their Tier 2 Visa application. They can use their successful OET results for their visa application also.

The new change will be effective for all Tier 2 (General) Visa applications submitted on or after 1^st October 2019.

Sujata Stead further added that this will significantly decrease the burden on medical professionals aspiring to work in the UK.

Y-Axis offers a wide range of Visa and Immigration services as well as products to overseas immigrants including UK Tier 1 Entrepreneur Visa, Business Visa for the UK, Study Visa for the UK, Visit Visa for the UK, and Work Visa for the UK.

If you are looking to Study, Work, Visit, Invest or  Migrate to the UK, talk to Y-Axis, the World’s No.1 Immigration & Visa Company.

If you found this blog engaging, you may also like…

UK employers thrilled about the return of the Post Study Work Visa