{"id":243,"date":"2026-08-09T13:02:22","date_gmt":"2026-08-09T13:02:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thenursepathway.com\/learn\/uk-irish-nurse-moving-to-australia-2026\/"},"modified":"2026-08-09T16:43:21","modified_gmt":"2026-08-09T16:43:21","slug":"uk-irish-nurse-moving-to-australia-2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thenursepathway.com\/learn\/uk-irish-nurse-moving-to-australia-2026\/","title":{"rendered":"UK or Irish nurse moving to Australia in 2026: the fast-track route, step by step"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"tnp-summary\" style=\"background:#f4f7fb;border:1px solid #d8e3f2;border-left:4px solid #2a78d6;border-radius:8px;padding:18px 22px;margin:0 0 28px\">\n<p style=\"margin:0 0 10px;font-size:12px;letter-spacing:.07em;text-transform:uppercase;font-weight:700;color:#5a6b80\">The short version<\/p>\n<ul style=\"margin:0;padding-left:20px\">\n<li><strong>Do UK and Irish nurses qualify for the fast track?<\/strong> Yes. Both are NMBA-approved comparable jurisdictions, along with the USA, Canada (British Columbia and Ontario only), Singapore and Spain.<\/li>\n<li><strong>What do you need?<\/strong> Registration in one of those jurisdictions and <strong>1,800 hours of practice since 1 January 2017<\/strong> \u2014 roughly one year full-time.<\/li>\n<li><strong>What does it remove?<\/strong> The NCLEX-RN, the OSCE, the outcomes-based assessment and any bridging programme. On AHPRA fees alone that saves about <strong>AUD $4,250<\/strong>, since the OSCE by itself costs $4,000.<\/li>\n<li><strong>What does it not remove?<\/strong> The English language standard, criminal history checks for every country you have lived in for six months or more, indemnity insurance, CPD and recency of practice.<\/li>\n<li><strong>How long?<\/strong> The NMBA puts the old route at 9\u201312 months and the streamlined route at <strong>1\u20136 months<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<li><strong>The catch most people miss:<\/strong> the English exemption depends on where you went to <em>school<\/em>, not your nationality and not where you trained. Working in the NHS does not count toward it.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Trained outside the UK but hold an NMC PIN?<\/strong> You still qualify, via the second pathway, if you passed the CBT and OSCE test of competence and have the 1,800 hours.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<p style=\"font-size:13.5px;color:#666;margin:0 0 24px\">By <strong>Chris Bailey<\/strong>, IHR Group \u2014 13 years in international nurse recruitment, 150+ hospitals and facilities placed. <strong>Last reviewed 9 August 2026<\/strong> against the current AHPRA and NMBA sources.<\/p>\n<p><strong>If you are a nurse registered with the NMC or the NMBI and you are thinking about Australia, the process changed in April 2025 \u2014 and almost every guide online, including several written by recruitment agencies, still describes the old one.<\/strong> This is what actually applies to you in 2026, what it costs, what it does not exempt you from, and the specific mistakes that cost UK and Irish nurses months.<\/p>\n<h2>First, the confusion nobody explains<\/h2>\n<p>There are currently two systems running side by side, and mixing them up is the single most common reason nurses give up on Australia before they start.<\/p>\n<p><strong>The old system<\/strong> is the IQNM framework: you complete a Self-check, you get assigned to Stream A or Stream B, and Stream B means you sit the Outcomes-Based Assessment \u2014 the NCLEX-RN multiple-choice exam plus a clinical OSCE you have to fly to Australia for.<\/p>\n<p><strong>The new system<\/strong> is a separate registration standard for internationally qualified registered nurses, approved by Ministerial Council in September 2024, announced in January 2025 and in force from <strong>23 April 2025<\/strong>. If you qualify under it, the exams disappear entirely.<\/p>\n<p>The problem is that the NMBA&#8217;s own IQNM web pages have not been rewritten. Several still carry review dates from 2020 and describe the Stream A\/B route as though nothing has changed. Nurses read those pages, conclude they need to sit an OSCE, and either abandon the idea or buy an exam-prep course they do not need.<\/p>\n<h2>Do you qualify? There are two ways in<\/h2>\n<p>The NMBA recognises six comparable jurisdictions: <strong>the United Kingdom, Ireland, the United States, Canada (British Columbia and Ontario only), Singapore and Spain.<\/strong><\/p>\n<h3>Pathway 1 \u2014 you trained and registered in a comparable country<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>Your nursing qualification is from an approved comparable jurisdiction<\/li>\n<li>You have practised at least <strong>1,800 hours since 1 January 2017<\/strong> in one of those jurisdictions<\/li>\n<li>You hold, or have held, general RN registration there, and can obtain a Certificate of Good Standing<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3>Pathway 2 \u2014 you trained elsewhere but converted in the UK or Ireland<\/h3>\n<p><strong>This is the one most guides skip, and it matters enormously.<\/strong> If you trained in India, the Philippines, Nigeria or anywhere else, then earned your NMC PIN by passing the CBT and OSCE Test of Competence, you are covered \u2014 provided that, since 1 January 2017, you:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>completed your qualification outside the approved jurisdictions, <strong>and<\/strong><\/li>\n<li>passed the examination process that led to general RN registration in a comparable jurisdiction, <strong>and<\/strong><\/li>\n<li>have practised at least 1,800 hours in an approved comparable jurisdiction<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>India alone supplied 9,249 new NMC registrants in 2024\/25, and the Philippines 2,323. If you are one of them, you already did the hardest version of this once. Australia is not going to make you do it again.<\/p>\n<h3>About those 1,800 hours<\/h3>\n<p>1,800 hours is roughly one year full-time \u2014 the NMBA&#8217;s own working is 38 hours a week over 48 weeks. Anyone who has worked about a year full-time since January 2017, or two years at half-time, clears it comfortably. <strong>It is a low bar, not a high one.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The people it catches out are long-term part-timers and anyone who has had an extended career break. If you have been at 0.4 WTE since 2019, do the arithmetic before you spend a penny.<\/p>\n<h2>What the fast track actually removes<\/h2>\n<p>The standard removes the requirement for NMBA examinations or qualification upgrades. In practice that means:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>No Outcomes-Based Assessment.<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>No NCLEX-RN.<\/strong> The NMBA used it as the multiple-choice component. No OBA, no NCLEX.<\/li>\n<li><strong>No OSCE.<\/strong> No flying to Adelaide or Melbourne to sit a clinical exam.<\/li>\n<li><strong>No bridging programme or qualification upgrade.<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>The NMBA&#8217;s own figures put the old route at <strong>9 to 12 months<\/strong>, longer if you had to re-sit anything, against <strong>1 to 6 months<\/strong> under the new one. The bigger saving may be money and geography rather than months \u2014 no exam fees, no prep course, no flight to Australia to sit an OSCE you might fail.<\/p>\n<p>One caveat worth having: it is not clearly documented whether Pathway 1 and 2 applicants still complete the Self-check and Orientation Part 1. The NMBA fact sheet does not say, and the older architecture is still live on the site. Expect to complete them, budget the time, and confirm the current requirement with Ahpra directly rather than trusting any blog \u2014 including this one \u2014 on that specific point.<\/p>\n<h2>What it does not remove \u2014 and this is where people come unstuck<\/h2>\n<p>All five mandatory NMBA registration standards still apply to you exactly as they apply to an Australian-trained nurse: <strong>English language skills, criminal history, professional indemnity insurance, continuing professional development, and recency of practice.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The fast track says nothing about English because English is a completely separate standard. Eligibility for the pathway and English competence are assessed independently.<\/p>\n<h2>The English rule everybody gets wrong<\/h2>\n<p><strong>There is no nationality-based exemption.<\/strong> Being British or Irish does not exempt you. Training as a nurse in the UK or Ireland does not exempt you either.<\/p>\n<p>The exemption is about <strong>schooling<\/strong>. Under the English language skills standard in force since 18 March 2025, you are exempt if English is your primary language <em>and<\/em> you completed at least <strong>six years of primary and secondary education taught and assessed solely in English<\/strong> in a recognised country, including at least two years between years 7 and 12.<\/p>\n<p>So:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Schooled in the UK or Ireland?<\/strong> You are almost certainly exempt. No test.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Schooled overseas, then did your nursing degree in the UK?<\/strong> You are <strong>not<\/strong> exempt under that route. There is a second route \u2014 five years of continuous full-time education taught and assessed solely in English \u2014 but note that it is about <em>education<\/em>. <strong>Your years working in the NHS do not count towards it.<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Discovering this at month four, having assumed your NMC registration settled the question, is one of the most expensive derailments in the whole process.<\/p>\n<h3>If you do have to test \u2014 check the date you sat it<\/h3>\n<p><strong>AHPRA changed the minimum scores on 23 April 2026.<\/strong> Which table applies to you depends on when you sat the test, not when you apply. AHPRA&#8217;s position is that this re-benchmarks the required level rather than raising it \u2014 but the numbers moved, and a lot of published guidance has not caught up.<\/p>\n<h4>Tests sat on or after 23 April 2026 \u2014 current<\/h4>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-table\">\n<table>\n<thead>\n<tr>\n<th>Test<\/th>\n<th>Overall<\/th>\n<th>Listening<\/th>\n<th>Reading<\/th>\n<th>Writing<\/th>\n<th>Speaking<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td>IELTS Academic<\/td>\n<td>7<\/td>\n<td>7<\/td>\n<td>7<\/td>\n<td>6.5<\/td>\n<td>7<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>OET<\/td>\n<td>\u2014<\/td>\n<td>350<\/td>\n<td>360<\/td>\n<td>350<\/td>\n<td>360<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>PTE Academic<\/td>\n<td>63<\/td>\n<td>58<\/td>\n<td>59<\/td>\n<td>60<\/td>\n<td><strong>76<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>TOEFL iBT<\/td>\n<td>91<\/td>\n<td>22<\/td>\n<td>22<\/td>\n<td>23<\/td>\n<td>24<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Cambridge C1 Advanced<\/td>\n<td>178<\/td>\n<td>175<\/td>\n<td>179<\/td>\n<td>180<\/td>\n<td>194<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/figure>\n<h4>Tests sat on or before 22 April 2026<\/h4>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-table\">\n<table>\n<thead>\n<tr>\n<th>Test<\/th>\n<th>Overall<\/th>\n<th>Listening<\/th>\n<th>Reading<\/th>\n<th>Writing<\/th>\n<th>Speaking<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td>IELTS Academic<\/td>\n<td>7<\/td>\n<td>7<\/td>\n<td>7<\/td>\n<td>6.5<\/td>\n<td>7<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>OET<\/td>\n<td>\u2014<\/td>\n<td>B<\/td>\n<td>B<\/td>\n<td>C+<\/td>\n<td>B<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>PTE Academic<\/td>\n<td>66<\/td>\n<td>66<\/td>\n<td>66<\/td>\n<td>56<\/td>\n<td>66<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>TOEFL iBT<\/td>\n<td>94<\/td>\n<td>24<\/td>\n<td>24<\/td>\n<td>24<\/td>\n<td>23<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Cambridge C1 Advanced<\/td>\n<td>185<\/td>\n<td>185<\/td>\n<td>185<\/td>\n<td>176<\/td>\n<td>185<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/figure>\n<p><strong>Three things worth pulling out of that.<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>IELTS did not move.<\/strong> It is the only test unchanged across the switch, which makes it the safest choice right now if you have not booked yet.<\/li>\n<li><strong>OET has moved to a numeric scale.<\/strong> If a guide still quotes you grade B, it is describing the old system.<\/li>\n<li><strong>PTE speaking jumped from 66 to 76.<\/strong> The overall requirement fell to 63, which makes PTE look easier at a glance \u2014 it is not. That speaking sub-score is a significant hardening and it will catch people out.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>The writing requirement is the good news.<\/strong> IELTS writing sits at 6.5 rather than 7.0, and has done since the 2025 standard. Writing was historically the component that failed otherwise fluent nurses \u2014 so if you tested before and missed on writing alone, check the date and the current threshold before assuming you need to sit it again.<\/p>\n<p><strong>If you are combining two sittings, the transition catches you.<\/strong> One sitting on or before 22 April 2026 and a second on or after 23 April means the first must meet the old scores and the second must meet the new ones. You cannot mix providers, both sittings must fall within twelve months of each other, and each sitting must clear the floor in its own right. AHPRA does accept the IELTS One Skill Retake \u2014 uniquely, it does not count as an extra sitting \u2014 provided it is done within 60 days.<\/p>\n<p>Two more traps. <strong>At-home and remotely proctored versions of these tests are not accepted<\/strong>, with one narrow exception for the OET computer-based test taken at a test centre. And for TOEFL you must specifically select &#8220;Taking TOEFL for Australia&#8221; when you register \u2014 only TOEFL iBT Australia counts.<\/p>\n<p>Be careful who you take any of this from. UK-facing guides currently in circulation state that British and Irish nurses &#8220;must demonstrate proficiency via approved tests despite native fluency,&#8221; and quote a minimum of 7.0 in all four components. Both halves of that are wrong.<\/p>\n<h2>The steps, in order<\/h2>\n<ol>\n<li><strong>Check your 1,800 hours.<\/strong> Free, and it decides everything. Count only RN practice in a comparable jurisdiction since 1 January 2017.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Ahpra Self-check<\/strong> and portal account.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Certificate of Current Professional Status.<\/strong> The NMC issues these usually within 24 hours through MyNMC. <strong>It is only valid for three months<\/strong> \u2014 and Ahpra requires certificates dated within three months of your application. Request it <em>late<\/em> in the process, not early. Irish nurses go through NMBI&#8217;s Working Outside Ireland process.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Portfolio and documents.<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Orientation Part 1<\/strong> \u2014 a short online module, if still required for your pathway.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Criminal history checks<\/strong> for every country you have lived in for six consecutive months or more as an adult, at roughly AUD $175 each. An Irish nurse who worked in England needs both. This is the most common silent cause of a stalled application.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Registration application.<\/strong> Ahpra targets four to six weeks for assessment and advises applying at least three months before your intended start date.<\/li>\n<li><strong>ANMAC skills assessment \u2014 only if you are going for a points-tested visa.<\/strong> You do not need it for employer sponsorship or a working holiday visa. If you do need it, it can be lodged <em>at the same time<\/em> as your Ahpra registration rather than after it, which saves months.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Visa.<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p>On fees: the NMBA schedule is published but has been inconsistent across recent updates, so check the live schedule rather than any figure you read second-hand. One rule worth knowing \u2014 the Ahpra registration fee is an annual payment charged in full whenever you are granted registration, regardless of how long that period has left to run. Register a month before the renewal date and you pay twice in quick succession.<\/p>\n<h2>Visas: be realistic<\/h2>\n<p>All 13 registered nurse occupations sit on the Core Skills Occupation List, so you are not fighting to be recognised as skilled. The question is which route.<\/p>\n<h3>Employer-sponsored (subclass 482) \u2014 the realistic default<\/h3>\n<p>No skills assessment required, because nursing is not on the trade-focused mandatory list. What you need is Ahpra registration, because nursing is regulated. Employer-sponsored places rose from 44,000 to 58,040 for 2026\u201327 \u2014 the biggest proportional increase in the programme. The Core Skills Income Threshold rose to <strong>$79,499<\/strong> from 1 July 2026, which a full-time RN offer clears, though a part-time one will not.<\/p>\n<h3>Points-tested PR (189\/190\/491) \u2014 manage your expectations<\/h3>\n<p>The SkillSelect numbers are brutal. There are <strong>116,156 nursing expressions of interest<\/strong> in the pool. Only <strong>2,913 \u2014 about 2.5% \u2014 hold invited status.<\/strong> The average 189 EOI sits at 80.6 points, and the June 2026 round cut off at 80 points for Registered Nurse (Medical) and (Surgical).<\/p>\n<p>A 30-year-old UK RN with five years&#8217; experience, superior English and no Australian study realistically scores somewhere in the 65 to 75 range. <strong>Lodging an EOI and waiting is not a plan.<\/strong> Nurses do exactly that, turn down 482 offers on the strength of it, and lose a year.<\/p>\n<p>One tactical note: 42,201 of those EOIs \u2014 36% of the pool \u2014 are lodged under &#8220;Registered Nurses nec,&#8221; the catch-all code. Mental Health has 2,408 and Paediatrics 2,405. If you genuinely qualify for a specialisation, nominate it.<\/p>\n<h3>Working holiday (417) \u2014 where UK and Irish nurses diverge sharply<\/h3>\n<p><strong>British passport holders have an unusually good deal<\/strong> under the UK\u2013Australia free trade agreement: eligible to 35 inclusive, and since 1 July 2024, up to <strong>three separate working holiday visas with no specified work requirement at all.<\/strong> Three years in Australia, no farm work.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Irish nurses should not assume the same terms.<\/strong> Those concessions are UK-specific. Check the current Irish 417 conditions directly with Home Affairs before planning around them.<\/p>\n<p>Two things to budget for on a working holiday visa. Migration lawyers report that health and aged care are exempt from the usual six-month-per-employer cap, which would let you stay in one hospital \u2014 but confirm that with Home Affairs before relying on it, because it is load-bearing if you are planning three years somewhere. And the tax: working holiday makers get <strong>no tax-free threshold<\/strong>. You pay 15% from the first dollar. On about $85,000 that is roughly $2,700 more tax than a resident on identical pay.<\/p>\n<h2>The money, honestly<\/h2>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-table\">\n<table>\n<thead>\n<tr>\n<th>State<\/th>\n<th>RN starting<\/th>\n<th>Top of scale<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td>New South Wales<\/td>\n<td>~$81,750<\/td>\n<td>~$114,770 (Year 8+)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Queensland<\/td>\n<td>$87,368<\/td>\n<td>$112,064<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Victoria<\/td>\n<td>$84,477<\/td>\n<td>$107,879<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Western Australia<\/td>\n<td>$82,945<\/td>\n<td>$106,630<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/figure>\n<p>Against that, NHS Band 5 in England runs \u00a332,073 to \u00a339,043 and Band 6 \u00a339,959 to \u00a348,117. An HSE Staff Nurse in Ireland runs \u20ac37,788 to \u20ac56,032.<\/p>\n<p>We are deliberately not printing a currency conversion, because exchange rates move and it would date this page within weeks. The RCN&#8217;s own analysis puts Australian nursing salaries around <strong>30% above the UK<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p><strong>What genuinely changes the maths in your favour:<\/strong> superannuation is 12%, employer-paid, on top of salary. Penalty rates are large and routine \u2014 up to 150% in NSW, 75% for Sundays in WA \u2014 so take-home on a rotating roster substantially exceeds base. Public and not-for-profit health employees can salary-package part of their pay pre-tax, which has no NHS equivalent. And Queensland&#8217;s workforce attraction scheme is explicitly open to international recruits requiring sponsorship: <strong>$20,000 in metro areas, up to $70,000 in rural and remote postings.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>What works against you:<\/strong> rent. The national median across the capitals hit <strong>$724 a week<\/strong> in the first quarter of 2026, and Sydney <strong>$824<\/strong> \u2014 roughly $42,850 a year, more than half a first-year RN&#8217;s gross salary. Rental affordability is at 33.1% of gross median household income, the most stretched on record. This is why Brisbane, Perth and Adelaide increasingly make more sense than Sydney for disposable income, and why those regional incentive schemes deserve a serious look rather than a reflexive no.<\/p>\n<h3>Healthcare \u2014 a real difference between UK and Irish nurses<\/h3>\n<p>Both countries have reciprocal healthcare agreements with Australia, but they are not the same agreement. <strong>UK residents can enrol in Medicare<\/strong>, which covers GP visits, public hospital treatment as a public patient, and some PBS medicines. <strong>Irish citizens cannot enrol.<\/strong> No Medicare card, no cover for out-of-hospital care, and \u2014 importantly \u2014 <strong>no ambulance cover.<\/strong> If you are Irish, budget for private health and ambulance cover in a way a British colleague does not have to.<\/p>\n<h2>You are not alone in thinking about this<\/h2>\n<p>The RCN surveyed more than 3,000 internationally educated nursing staff in the UK. <strong>42% plan to leave<\/strong> \u2014 around 55,000 people. Two-thirds of those leaving intend to go somewhere other than their home country, and Australia is named among the primary destinations. 70% cite salary; 40% cite immigration policy; 64% report experiencing discrimination since arriving.<\/p>\n<p>Meanwhile Australia registered 16,622 internationally qualified nurses in the last financial year, up from 5,610 in 2018\/19, and faces a projected shortfall of more than 70,000 full-time nurses by 2035. Only 16% of those arrivals came from the six comparable countries \u2014 which means, if you hold an NMC or NMBI registration, you are in a genuinely privileged lane that most applicants are not.<\/p>\n<h2>The nine mistakes that cost people months<\/h2>\n<ol>\n<li><strong>Assuming the fast track covers English.<\/strong> It does not. Different standard, assessed separately.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Confusing trained-in-the-UK with schooled-in-the-UK.<\/strong> The exemption is about your schooling, and NHS experience does not substitute.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Requesting your Certificate of Current Professional Status too early.<\/strong> Three months&#8217; validity, and it will expire mid-assessment.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Underestimating international criminal history checks.<\/strong> Every country you lived in for six months or more, roughly $175 each, each with its own turnaround.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Missing the 1,800 hours through part-time work or a career break.<\/strong> Do the sum first.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Betting on points-tested PR.<\/strong> 2.5% invitation rate. Treat 482 or state nomination as the actual route.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Paying for an ANMAC assessment you do not need<\/strong> \u2014 it is not required for a 482 or a working holiday visa.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Running Ahpra and ANMAC sequentially<\/strong> when they can go in parallel.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Lodging a visa after 1 July 2026 without checking the fee.<\/strong> Charges rose about 25% and apply by lodgement date, not decision date.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<h2>Where to start<\/h2>\n<p>Work out your 1,800 hours. Then work out whether your schooling exempts you from English testing. Those two answers determine everything else \u2014 the route, the cost and the timeline \u2014 and both are free to establish.<\/p>\n<p>If you want the whole thing mapped out for you \u2014 every stage, every document, every fee, in order, with the deadline tracker \u2014 that is what <a href=\"https:\/\/thenursepathway.com\/learn\/courses\/the-nurse-pathway\/\">The Nurse Pathway to Australia &amp; New Zealand<\/a> is. It is $297, once, with lifetime access and updates as the rules change. And unlike an agency, we never charge you a placement fee \u2014 if you want help finding the job at the end, that is paid by the employer.<\/p>\n<p><em>Last reviewed 8 August 2026. English test scores updated to reflect AHPRA&rsquo;s 23 April 2026 changes. Registration rules, fees and visa charges change \u2014 always confirm current requirements with Ahpra and the Department of Home Affairs before making decisions or payments.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><script type=\"application\/ld+json\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@type\":\"FAQPage\",\"mainEntity\":[{\"@type\":\"Question\",\"name\":\"Do UK and Irish nurses need to sit the NCLEX-RN or OSCE to register in Australia?\",\"acceptedAnswer\":{\"@type\":\"Answer\",\"text\":\"No, provided they qualify under the streamlined registration standard for internationally qualified registered nurses, in force since 23 April 2025. The UK and Ireland are both NMBA-approved comparable jurisdictions. Eligible applicants are exempt from the outcomes-based assessment, which means no NCLEX-RN, no OSCE and no bridging programme.\"}},{\"@type\":\"Question\",\"name\":\"What is the 1,800 hours requirement for AHPRA's streamlined pathway?\",\"acceptedAnswer\":{\"@type\":\"Answer\",\"text\":\"You must have practised at least 1,800 hours since 1 January 2017 in an NMBA-approved comparable jurisdiction. That is roughly one year full-time, calculated by the NMBA as 38 hours a week over 48 weeks. Long-term part-time work or an extended career break can leave you short despite years on the register.\"}},{\"@type\":\"Question\",\"name\":\"Are British and Irish nurses exempt from AHPRA's English language requirement?\",\"acceptedAnswer\":{\"@type\":\"Answer\",\"text\":\"Not automatically. There is no nationality-based exemption. The exemption depends on schooling: at least six years of primary and secondary education taught and assessed solely in English in a recognised country, including at least two years between years 7 and 12. A nurse schooled overseas who then trained in the UK is not exempt by that route, and NHS work experience does not count.\"}},{\"@type\":\"Question\",\"name\":\"Which countries are NMBA-approved comparable jurisdictions?\",\"acceptedAnswer\":{\"@type\":\"Answer\",\"text\":\"The United Kingdom, Ireland, the United States, Canada (British Columbia and Ontario only), Singapore and Spain.\"}},{\"@type\":\"Question\",\"name\":\"I trained in India or the Philippines but hold an NMC PIN. Do I qualify?\",\"acceptedAnswer\":{\"@type\":\"Answer\",\"text\":\"Yes, under the second pathway, if you completed your qualification outside the approved jurisdictions, passed the examination process that led to general registration in a comparable jurisdiction such as the NMC's CBT and OSCE test of competence, and have practised at least 1,800 hours in an approved comparable jurisdiction since 1 January 2017.\"}},{\"@type\":\"Question\",\"name\":\"How long does AHPRA registration take for a UK or Irish nurse?\",\"acceptedAnswer\":{\"@type\":\"Answer\",\"text\":\"The NMBA puts the old route at 9 to 12 months and the streamlined route at 1 to 6 months. AHPRA targets four to six weeks to assess a registration application, but that clock only starts once every required document has been received.\"}},{\"@type\":\"Question\",\"name\":\"What are the current English test scores for AHPRA registration?\",\"acceptedAnswer\":{\"@type\":\"Answer\",\"text\":\"AHPRA changed the minimum scores on 23 April 2026, and which set applies depends on when you sat the test. For tests sat on or after that date: IELTS Academic 7 overall with 6.5 writing; OET 350 listening, 360 reading, 350 writing, 360 speaking; PTE Academic 63 overall with 76 speaking; TOEFL iBT 91 overall. IELTS is the only test whose scores did not change.\"}}]}<\/script><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The AHPRA route for NMC and NMBI-registered nurses changed in April 2025. No NCLEX, no OSCE, no bridging programme \u2014 if you qualify. 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