Prove your English with the test most nursing regulators already know.

IELTS Academic is what most nursing regulators ask for by name. Four modules in a single sitting: Listening (30 min, 4 sections, 40 questions), Reading (60 min, 3 academic passages, 40 questions), Writing (60 min — a 150-word data-description task plus a 250-word essay), and Speaking (11-14 min, face-to-face interview held on a separate day at most centres). Each band is reported 0-9; nursing regulators publish minimum-band requirements — NMC asks 7 overall with 6.5 in every module, while CGFNS, NCSBN state boards, and CRNBC vary between 6.5 and 7.0 depending on the regulator.

Test fee runs $185-300 USD depending on country (≈£198 in the UK, ₦155,000 in Nigeria, $250 in Canada at time of writing). Sittings every 2-4 weeks at British Council and IDP centres across 130+ countries, plus paper-based and computer-delivered options that release results in 13 days (paper) or 3-5 days (computer). Scores stay valid 2 years from the test date — plan your sitting so you finish licensing and visa within that window or you'll re-sit.

The single largest fail point we see in African nurses is Writing Task 2 — many candidates score 6.0 there even when they hit 7.0 in Listening, Reading and Speaking, dragging the overall down to 6.5 and failing the NMC threshold. The fix is structured essay practice against band-9 model answers plus 8-12 timed essays under exam conditions in the final fortnight. Listening and Reading respond fastest to past-paper drilling; Speaking improves with one-on-one practice in the two weeks before the test.