WAJD Learning

Internationally educated nurses

Training for internationally educated nurses joining the UK register

For nurses educated outside the UK preparing for the NMC test of competence, and for those newly registered.

  • 6subjects on the list
  • 27.5CPD hours available here
  • Freefirst module of each

An experienced nurse arriving in the UK faces a strange examination: not of nursing ability, but of a specific way of practising, documenting and speaking about nursing. The OSCE is failed by good nurses for reasons that have nothing to do with patient care, and everything to do with unfamiliar stations, unfamiliar paperwork and time pressure in a second language.

This page lists the preparation that actually moves the result: the OSCE course built around the published marking approach, the UK law and frameworks that differ most from other systems, and the induction standards your first employer will expect alongside your registration.

The training list

SubjectWhat it is forTypical refresherLearn it
OSCE preparation Built around why experienced nurses fail: stations, documentation, time. Until you pass, then it has done its job 2.5 hour course
The Care Certificate Many employers induct internationally recruited staff through it; knowing it first is an advantage. Once, during induction 12.0 hour course
Mental Capacity Act and DoLS The UK law most likely to be genuinely new to an internationally educated nurse. Typically every three years 3.0 hour course
Safeguarding adults The categories, the duties and the referral routes are UK specific. Typically every three years Standard 10
Infection prevention and control Taught to the UK national manual, which the OSCE and employers both assume. Typically every year 8.0 hour course
NMC revalidation, the complete toolkit Your first revalidation arrives three years after registration. Start the habit early. The cycle repeats every three years 2.0 hour course

Refresher intervals are the conventions carried in employer training matrices, not statutory periods. Your own employer's matrix is what an inspector reads. Figures for course length are our declared study hours.

Courses that cover this list

Questions

How long should I prepare for the OSCE?

Most successful candidates prepare seriously for four to eight weeks alongside work. The limiting factor is rarely knowledge; it is fluency with the station format, the documentation and the timing. Practise the stations aloud, against the clock, with a colleague reading the brief, and the exam stops being unfamiliar.

Do I need the Care Certificate if I am a registered nurse?

Formally it is aimed at support workers, and a registered nurse is not required to hold it. In practice many UK employers put internationally recruited nurses through parts of it during induction, because it teaches the UK specific frameworks, safeguarding routes and documentation conventions in one place. Knowing the material before you arrive makes induction lighter.