NMC OSCE preparation: all 10 stations
The OSCE is the second half of the Test of Competence, sat in the UK once you have passed the CBT. It is 10 stations in three groups, and you may attempt it up to 3 times within one application.
4
APIE
Four stations linked by one scenario, taken in order: assessment, planning, implementation and evaluation. You meet the same patient throughout, so what you find in the assessment is what you plan and act on.
4
Clinical skills
Four practical skills, set as two pairs of two. These are performed on manikins and equipment rather than discussed.
2
Values, behaviours and evidence-based practice
Two stations on professional values and behaviours and on evidence-based practice.
What an attempt looks like
You type, the patient answers, and when you hand in you get a report against the station criteria showing what you met and what you did not.
An example attempt. Your station and your report will differ.
Hello, my name is Amara and I am one of the nurses looking after you this morning. Could you confirm your full name and date of birth for me?
Morning. Joan Whitfield, fourteenth of March 1952.
Thank you Joan. Before I start, do you have any allergies I should know about?
Penicillin. It brings me out in a rash all down my arms.
That is useful, thank you. I would like to take a full set of observations and record them on your chart. Is that all right?
Yes, go ahead. I have been feeling a bit short of breath since last night.
Her respiration rate is 24, oxygen saturation 93% on air, blood pressure 112/68, pulse 102, temperature 37.9, and she is alert.
Simulated verdict: not passed
Every essential criterion has to be met. One was not.
Essential criterion not met: escalates an abnormal NEWS2 score to a senior
Criteria
5 of 6 met- Introduces self and role
- Confirms patient identity before proceeding essential
- Asks about allergies essential
- Gains consent before assessment
- Records a full set of observations essential
- Escalates an abnormal NEWS2 score to a senior essential
Guides
- The 10 NMC OSCE stations, explainedWhat each of the 10 stations in the NMC Test of Competence OSCE covers, from the linked APIE scenario to the paired skills stations.
- The APIE assessment stationWhat the first of the four linked APIE stations asks of you, how a structured assessment is built, and the mistakes that cost candidates marks.
- How the NMC OSCE is markedWhat the NMC publishes about OSCE marking and results, what it does not, and why you should be sceptical of any site quoting a pass mark.
- OSCE resits, attempts and feesWhat an NMC OSCE resit costs, how long you wait between sittings, and what happens after a third attempt. Reduced resit fee £397, full fee £794.
- NEWS2 and observations in the OSCEHow the National Early Warning Score 2 chart works, what its 7 parameters are, and why charting observations without acting on them costs marks.
- How to prepare for the NMC OSCEA practical approach to preparing for the NMC Test of Competence OSCE, including what online practice can and cannot do for you.
Practise an assessment station
You hold the conversation by typing, a simulated patient answers, and you get a marked report afterwards showing which criteria you met and where you lost them.
Every account gets one OSCE station a week, free, with the full marked report. No card needed.
Our simulator covers one station of the 10: an assessment-style conversation with a simulated patient, marked against criteria we wrote ourselves. It is not a substitute for practising the clinical skills stations, and its result is a simulated verdict, not a prediction of how an NMC assessor would mark you.
Exam facts on these pages come from the NMC's published OSCE guidance, including the £794 fee and the attempt limits. The NMC does not publish a pass mark or a pass rate for the OSCE, so neither do we. NMCMATE is an independent preparation service and is not affiliated with, endorsed by or connected to the Nursing and Midwifery Council.