The UK practical clinical exam — 10 stations, 3 hours, inside the UK.

The Objective Structured Clinical Examination is Part 2 of the NMC Test of Competence — a practical exam sat IN the UK at one of three test centres (Northampton, Oxford, or Ulster University in Belfast). 10 stations across ~6-7 hours: four planning stations (assessment + nursing care plan for a simulated patient), four interventional stations (drug administration, wound care, vital signs, evidence-based practice), and two clinical-skills stations (pulse + manual blood pressure, urinalysis, peak flow, fluid balance). Each station is independently timed (10-17 minutes) and scored against a fixed rubric — examiners watch you perform the task on a manikin or trained simulated patient while ticking off explicit competency points.

Test fee is £794 GBP (~$1,010 USD) for the full sitting; partial re-sits cost £397 if you only need to retake the failed half. You must travel to the UK and present a valid visa on test day — most international candidates book a 3-5 day UK-based prep course alongside the test to amortise the travel. Results are issued within 5 working days via your NMC online account. The NMC allows 3 attempts within a 2-year window; a 4th attempt requires re-sitting CBT first.

The two most-failed stations are Drug Administration (full 5-rights check, dose calculation, allergy verification, controlled-drug counter-signing, and documentation — examiners deduct for any skipped step) and Documentation (writing legible NMC-compliant records under time pressure). Hand hygiene and PPE are scored at every station; missing them at any point can fail the whole exam. UK-based 5-day intensive prep courses (£800-1,500) are widely used by international nurses to walk the stations in person before the real sitting — most candidates who pass first time complete one.