Nurses moving to Australia: English, the Self-check and the NMBA OSCE

The NMBA's English language skills standard applies to everyone applying for initial registration, however they qualified. Ahpra accepts results from these tests, taken at a test centre:

• OET (the Occupational English Test, with a nursing version)
• IELTS Academic (General Training isn't accepted)
• PTE Academic
• TOEFL iBT, if you selected "Taking TOEFL for Australia"
• Cambridge C1 Advanced or C2 Proficiency

New minimum scores apply to tests taken on or after 23 April 2026, aligned with Home Affairs' settings. For OET, for example, Ahpra now lists a Speaking minimum of 360. Results generally need to be from the two years before you apply, and Ahpra allows up to two sittings within 12 months to be combined in some cases. Check the accepted tests page for the full score table and exemptions.

If you're choosing between tests, many nurses prefer OET because its Speaking role-plays are set in nursing. Our comparison of IELTS, PTE and OET covers the differences.

The NMBA says every internationally qualified nurse and midwife must complete the Self-check before applying for registration. It places you in a stream based on your qualification:

• Stream A: you complete Orientation Part 1, an online course, before applying.
• Stream B: you complete the outcomes-based assessment described below.
• Stream C: you'll need to upgrade your qualification, for example with an Australian Bachelor of Nursing, before you can be registered.

For Stream B, the NMBA sets out the steps in order: Orientation Part 1, a portfolio, a multiple-choice question (MCQ) exam, and then the objective structured clinical examination (OSCE).

• MCQ exam. For registered nurses this is the NCLEX-RN, taken at Pearson VUE centres. The NMBA says a pass in the NCLEX-RN within the last 10 years can exempt you. You must pass the MCQ before the OSCE.
• OSCE. A practical exam held in person, in Australia only, in a clinical simulation setting with separate exams for registered nurses, enrolled nurses and midwives. The NMBA's candidate handbook for registered nurses (July 2026) describes 10 stations with simulated patients, tested against the Registered Nurse Standards for Practice, and says communication skills are assessed in every station.
• Results and validity. The NMBA says OSCE results arrive within eight weeks. A pass stays valid for five years, but only meets the recency of practice standard for two years.

Ahpra has announced OSCE venues in Adelaide and Melbourne. Check the NMBA's OSCE page for current locations, dates and fees, and the candidate handbook linked there for the station format.

Since 23 April 2025, a registration standard for internationally qualified registered nurses offers a faster route for nurses who are registered and have practised in an NMBA-approved comparable jurisdiction. The list of jurisdictions and conditions is on the NMBA's fast-track registration standard page. If you don't qualify, you use the usual Self-check process, and the English standard applies either way.

Clinical knowledge gets you through the MCQ, but the OSCE also asks you to do things out loud with a person in front of you: introduce yourself, explain a procedure, gain consent, educate a patient, respond to a worried relative or hand over to a colleague. Nurses who trained in another language or health system often know what to do but haven't practised saying it in Australian clinical English under time pressure.

Structured handover tools such as ISBAR are widely used in Australian hospitals and are a useful way to organise what you say. Read ISBAR and communication in the NMBA OSCE for examples.