Exam centre for returning or overseas-trained nurses to open in Leeds General Infirmary

The Objective Structured Clinical Examination (OSCE) is a test for nurses and midwives to demonstrate their abilities meet the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) standard.

It is part of the Test of Competence (ToC) and is designed to test practical clinical skills as well as the assessment, planning, implementation and evaluation of patient care.

The test will be held in a new state-of-the-art testing facility, which will be based at Leeds General Infirmary from February 2022.

It will be the only test test centre in the country based in an NHS trust.

The centre will be able to deliver up to 7,000 tests per year.

It will be accessible to nurses from across the country – it’s not limited to people in Leeds.

Chief Nurse at Leeds Hospitals, Lisa Grant, said: “We are delighted to be awarded the contract to provide this testing centre. We are really excited that we will be the first NHS trust to run an OSCE centre in partnership with the NMC.

“The contract recognises the wealth of experience, skills and knowledge we can provide in a state of the art facility putting the candidate experience at the heart of what we do.

“This is a fantastic opportunity for the local area in terms of recruitment, employment and investment. Along with Northumbria University, it also ensures that there are accessible OSCE centres in the north of England.”

Candidates will be able to book their tests from December.

Chief Executive and Registrar of the Nursing and Midwifery Council, Andrea Sutcliffe, said: “I’m delighted that we’ve been able to significantly increase our OSCE test centre provision.

“This additional capacity will mean professionals with the right skills and knowledge will have more choice in where to take their test, enabling them to join our register quickly and safely.

“I look forward to working closely with our test centre partners as we get our new test centres up and running in the coming months.”

The Leeds Hospitals centre is one of five in the UK.

The others are Oxford Brookes University, the University of Northampton, Ulster University and Northumbria University.