Despite the decision by the UK to leave the EU in last week's referendum and the uncertainty that this brings, the NMC has made a very clear statement regarding the status of EU nurses coming to work in Britian.

Jackie Smith, Chief Executive and Registrar of the NMC has said "there will be no immediate impact on either the registration status of EU nurses already on our register, or on the NMC in terms of our role as the UK-wide regulator for nursing and midwifery."

On top of that, the NMC has also announced a change to their English language requirements for all overseas nurses regarding the IELTS test. Under the previous system nurses had to achieve 4 band 7s in one sitting of the Academic IELTS test. But now, even though the same results are required, the 4 band 7s can be achieved across two tests taken within 6 months of each other with no individual score less than 6.5.

At iPass we certainly welcome this change as we think the added flexibility will definitely benefit our students who are waiting to accept job offers in the UK. 

Chance to win €300!

If you're taking your IELTS test in August or September, now's a great time to sign up for one of our online preparation courses and be in with a chance of winning €300 in our 3-2-1 IELTS competition!! 

We are offering 3 cash prizes to 3 successful iPass students who achieve 4 band 7s in their Academic IELTS test after completing any one of our tutored online courses.

1st prize - €300

2nd prize - €200

3rd prize - €100

Please see our special offers page for more details!

Speaking test tips!!

"I think I have a good level of spoken English but I can't get beyond Band 6 in IELTS!" Sound familiar?

This week's blog post looks at speaking test tips and tricks to help you understand the band 7 speaking criteria and what you can do to meet it.

Don't forget to check out the iPass blog archive to find posts related to each of the 4 IELTS skills.

iPass student of the month!

Our June iPass student of the month is Sofia Robellini from Italy, who signed up for the IELTS Lite course in April and got her results in June: 7 in speaking, writing and listening; 8.5 in reading and 7.5 overall.

Sofia is a nurse who needed a minimum of band 7 in each test to apply for NMC registration to work in the UK, which she is now able to do!

Everyone on the iPass team wishes Sofia all the best in her future career!