NMC CBT Test 2026: Format, Cost, Booking and How to Pass
The NMC CBT test is Part 1 of the Nursing and Midwifery Council's Test of Competence — the computer-based exam every internationally educated nurse and midwife must pass to join the UK register. It is one three-hour sitting containing two separately scored papers: Part A, 15 numeracy questions in 30 minutes, and Part B, 100 clinical multiple-choice questions in 2 hours 30 minutes. It costs £83, is booked through Pearson VUE, and you usually sit it in your own country.
Where the CBT sits in your NMC registration journey
The Test of Competence has two halves. The CBT (Part 1) tests theory at a Pearson VUE centre — these operate in most countries, so candidates generally (but not always) sit it in their home country; the OSCE (Part 2) tests hands-on practice and is only offered at approved UK centres. The CBT therefore comes early — most nurses pass it before applying for NHS jobs.
- Eligibility and self-assessment. Open an NMC Online account and complete the qualification self-assessment; the NMC confirms your eligibility and tells you which test version to sit.
- English language. IELTS Academic (7.0 in listening, reading and speaking, 6.5 in writing) or OET (grade B in listening, reading and speaking, C+ accepted in writing) — compared in our OET vs IELTS guide. The NMC also lets you combine scores from two sittings of the same test under set conditions, and a test is not the only route: a pre-registration qualification taught and examined in English, or one year of recent practice in a country where English is the majority-spoken language, can count instead, and some applicants can add supporting information from their UK employer. For many candidates English is the harder hurdle, so it is often cleared first with structured OET preparation for nurses.
- CBT — the subject of this guide.
- Full registration application. Verifications sent directly by your university and home regulator, plus health and character declarations.
- OSCE in the UK. Most nurses arrive on a Health and Care Worker visa and sit the OSCE in their first months of employment, usually funded by their NHS trust — see our NMC OSCE preparation guide.
- Registration. With both parts passed and evidence verified, the NMC issues your PIN.
The full route, with realistic timelines, is mapped in our guide to how to register as a nurse in the UK.
CBT format: Part A numeracy and Part B clinical
You sit both parts together in a single appointment at your first attempt. They are scored independently — pass one and fail the other, and you return for the failed part only.
| Part | Content | Questions | Time | Pass mark |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part A | Numeracy — drug calculations, typed answers | 15 | 30 minutes | Set per test version; recent versions have required roughly 13 out of 15 |
| Part B | Clinical knowledge — four-option multiple choice | 100 | 2 hours 30 minutes | Varies by field, set by Angoff standard-setting; typically in the high 60s per cent |
Part B is not a memory test of your home curriculum. Many questions are "best answer" items: two or three options look defensible, and the correct one is whatever the NMC Code or current UK guidance puts first.
There are separate CBT versions for adult, mental health, children's and learning disabilities nursing, plus midwifery (nursing associates sit their own version). The NMC confirms your version after the self-assessment, and you must book exactly that one — a wrong-version booking cannot be counted and is not refunded.
What the CBT costs in 2026
You pay Pearson VUE directly at the point of booking. As of 2026 the fees are:
| Sitting | Fee |
|---|---|
| First attempt — Part A and Part B together | £83 |
| Resit Part A (numeracy) only | £50 |
| Resit Part B (clinical) only | £70 |
| Resit both parts | £83 |
The charge is taken in pounds. Paying from Karachi, Kochi, Lagos or Manila, your bank converts at its own rate and usually adds a foreign-transaction fee of 2–4 per cent, so budget a margin above the headline figure. Where international cards fail — a common complaint in Nigeria and Pakistan — Pearson VUE vouchers bought through authorised resellers work instead.
The CBT is the cheapest exam of the journey — the NMC's evaluation fee, the £794 OSCE and the registration fee itself sit on top.
How to book: Pearson VUE, test centres and ID rules
Booking runs across two systems: the NMC authorises you, Pearson VUE takes the booking.
- Complete the NMC self-assessment. Once eligibility is confirmed, your details pass to Pearson VUE and you receive instructions to create a web account.
- Set up the account, checking your name appears exactly as printed in your passport — a mismatch gets you turned away on test day.
- Select your test version, country and centre, pick a date and pay. Peak-month slots fill fast in big cities, so book two to four weeks ahead.
Pearson VUE operates centres across all of Global Pathways' core markets — including Islamabad, Lahore and Karachi; Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Kochi and other Indian cities; Lagos and Abuja; and Manila and Cebu. An online proctored sitting appears for candidates in some countries — the booking screen is definitive for yours. If you have the choice, the test centre is safer: a dropped home connection can cost you the attempt and the fee.
On the day, arrive at least 30 minutes early with the passport you booked with. You are photographed, ID-checked and personal items are locked away; the centre provides an erasable board, and Part A includes an on-screen calculator. Results normally appear in your Pearson VUE account within about 48 hours and transfer to the NMC automatically.
Need to move the date? Reschedule or cancel through your Pearson VUE account before the notice deadline on your confirmation email — typically at least one clear working day ahead. Miss it, or fail to show, and the full fee is forfeited.
Resit rules: attempts, waiting times and the six-month lockout
The resit system is more forgiving than candidates fear, but it has a hard edge:
- You resit only the part you failed. Pass Part A and fail Part B, and your next booking is Part B alone, at the lower resit fee.
- Minimum 10 days between sittings — use them, rather than booking a panic resit.
- Maximum three attempts within one live NMC application.
- Fail the third attempt and the application closes. You must wait six months before opening a new application — and earlier passes do not carry over, so expect to sit the CBT in full again.
One more clock: a CBT pass supports your registration for two years. If it lapses before you register, you pay and sit again.
Part A numeracy: the calculations, worked through
Part A is 15 questions in 30 minutes — two minutes each, typed answers rather than multiple choice, so there is no guessing margin. With a pass mark that tolerates only around two errors, this "small" paper knocks out candidates who spent all six weeks on clinical content. Four calculation families cover almost everything:
- Tablets and capsules — dose prescribed ÷ strength per tablet.
- Oral liquids and injections — (what you want ÷ what you have) × the volume it comes in.
- IV infusion rates — volume ÷ hours, answered in mL/hour for pumps.
- Drops per minute — (volume × drop factor) ÷ total minutes, for gravity giving sets.
Worked example — oral liquid. A child is prescribed paracetamol 240 mg. The stock suspension is 120 mg in 5 mL. Want ÷ have = 240 ÷ 120 = 2. Multiply by the stock volume: 2 × 5 mL = 10 mL.
Worked example — infusion rate. 1,000 mL of 0.9% sodium chloride is prescribed over 8 hours by pump. 1,000 ÷ 8 = 125 mL/hour. When the answer is required in mL/hour, the drop factor is irrelevant — it only exists to distract you.
Worked example — drops per minute. 500 mL is prescribed over 6 hours through a giving set delivering 20 drops per mL. Total drops: 500 × 20 = 10,000. Total minutes: 6 × 60 = 360. Rate: 10,000 ÷ 360 = 27.8 — rounded to 28 drops per minute. Round once, at the final step, to a whole drop.
Drill unit conversions until they are automatic — grams to milligrams to micrograms is a factor of 1,000 each step, and a misplaced decimal is the most common numeracy error. Watch for weight-based dosing too: a "mg per kg per day in two divided doses" question tests whether you remember to divide at the end.
Your six-week CBT study plan
Six weeks of structured preparation is enough for most working nurses. UK standards first, question volume last.
| Week | Focus | Resource type |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Read the NMC Code and your field's CBT candidate booklet; map the blueprint against your weak areas | Official NMC documents |
| 2 | Core clinical topics: assessment, infection prevention, wound care, nutrition, fluid balance | UK-based revision guide plus topic-wise question bank |
| 3 | Topics that differ most from home practice: medicines management, consent, mental capacity, safeguarding, end-of-life care | Question bank with written rationales |
| 4 | Numeracy foundations: unit conversions, tablets, liquids, infusion rates, drops per minute — daily 15-question drills | Drug calculation workbook |
| 5 | Timed mixed practice; keep an error log and read the guidance behind every wrong answer | Full-length timed mocks |
| 6 | Two complete 115-question simulations under exam timing; final days on the error log only | Mock exams and error log |
The error log is the non-negotiable part. A wrong answer you understood is worth more than ten questions answered on autopilot.
Why candidates fail the CBT
- Answering from home-country practice. Escalation, consent and documentation norms differ; the NMC marks against UK standards.
- Revising from leaked question dumps. The bank rotates and dumps are riddled with wrong answers — memorisers fail the reworded version of the "same" question.
- Neglecting Part A. Fifteen questions sounds trivial until you realise the pass mark tolerates only around two errors.
- Time trouble on Part B. Ninety seconds per question punishes candidates who never practised full-length timed mocks.
- Booking the wrong test version — an unrecoverable, non-refundable administrative error.
- Underestimating question English. "Best answer" stems reward careful reading; skimming turns a knowledge pass into a comprehension fail.
For structure rather than a pile of PDFs, our nurse registration support covers every NMC stage.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much does the NMC CBT test cost in 2026?
£83 for both parts sat together, paid to Pearson VUE at booking. Resitting a single part costs less — as of 2026, £50 for Part A and £70 for Part B. Your bank converts the charge to local currency and may add a foreign-transaction fee, so confirm the final amount at checkout.
What is the pass mark for the NMC CBT?
There is no single fixed pass mark: each version's standard is set by the Angoff method and varies slightly between sittings. Recent numeracy papers have required roughly 13 of 15 correct, and clinical pass marks have typically sat in the high 60s per cent. The current figure for your field is in the NMC's CBT candidate booklet.
How many attempts do I get at the CBT?
Three attempts within one NMC application, with at least 10 days between sittings, and you only resit the part you failed. Fail the third attempt and your application closes: you must wait six months before submitting a new application, and previous passes do not carry over.
Can I take the NMC CBT online from home?
The CBT is built around Pearson VUE test centres, which operate across Pakistan, India, Nigeria and the Philippines; an online proctored option only appears for candidates in some countries, so your booking screen is the definitive answer. Where both exist, a centre is safer — a home connection failure can cost you the attempt and the fee.
Do I need IELTS or OET before booking the CBT?
No. You can book the CBT once the NMC has accepted your self-assessment; English evidence is only checked when you submit the full registration application. Most candidates still sit OET or IELTS first, because English is statistically the harder hurdle and an unused CBT pass expires after two years.
Passing the CBT first time keeps your registration timeline — and your job offer — on track. Global Pathways prepares internationally trained nurses for every stage, from OET through the CBT to the OSCE, and manages the NMC paperwork in between. Book a free consultation.