TOEFL Not Mandatory For Doctors & Nurses Heading For UK

Doctors, nurses, dentists and midwives who wish to practice in the UK will no longer have to appear for English language tests like IELTS and TOEFL following the streamlining of regulations by the United Kingdom.

The UK Home Office has said that doctors, dentists, nurses and midwives, who have already passed an English language test accepted by the relevant professional body, do not have to sit for another test before entry to the UK on a Tier 2 visa. In other words, the scores of the Occupational English Test (OET)  conducted by the health regulator will only be accepted.

The OET is an international English language test that assesses the language communication skills of healthcare professionals, who seek to register and practice in an English-speaking environment.

Earlier, the candidates had to take OET to register with Nursing and Midwifery Council, which are the two healthcare boards in the UK and as well as IELTS or TOEFL to apply for visa. Cambridge Assessment English is a not-for-profit department of the University of Cambridge.

“This change which was announced last week will make sure that hospitals and medical practices across the country will be able to access the staff they need more quickly,” news wire PTI said quoting Sujata Stead, CEO, Cambridge Boxhill Language Assessment, which conducts the OET.

The change will apply to all Tier2 (General) visa applications submitted from October 01, she said.

The OET test is recognised as a proof of English proficiency for registration purposes by major healthcare boards and councils in the UK, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, Dubai, Singapore, Namibia and Ukraine. It is also accepted in Australia and New Zealand for visa and immigration purposes. OET is used as an entry or exit test for healthcare courses by educators and as a recruitment criterion for healthcare professionals.

The test is conducted for professionals from the following 12 streams –

• Dentistry
• Dietetics
• Medicine
• Nursing
• Occupational Therapy
• Optometry
• Pharmacy
• Physiotherapy
• Podiatry
• Radiography
• Speech Pathology
• Veterinary Sciences