The Uk Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) says it will investigate those who wrote its exams at a computer-based test (CBT) centre in Ibadan, Nigeria.
The council said the investigation is
necessitated by concerns that registrations of those who passed its exam at the
centre could be “fraudulent or incorrect”.
The development was announced by the council
in a statement on Thursday.
The NMC uses a test of competence (ToC) to
assess the skills and knowledge of people applying to join its register from
overseas.
The test is in two main parts: a
multiple-choice CBT which applicants usually write in their home country; and a
practical test known as the OSCE which people take in the UK.
But in the statement on Thursday, the NMC
said an organisation called Pearson VUE which runs the CBT programme on its
behalf, recently raised the alarm of “anomalous data” at one of its third-party
CBT centres in Ibadan.
The NMC said Pearson VUE stopped testing at
the centre immediately.
A total of 1,970 candidates took their CBT at
this centre, of whom 512 are on the NMC register.
“A total of 512 people on our register
(around five percent of all the professionals on our register who qualified in
Nigeria) took their CBT at this test centre,” the statement reads.
“We’re writing to them to set out what’s
happened and to tell them we’re opening cases to determine whether or not they
gained fraudulent or incorrect entry to the register.
“More people have applied to join the
register but are not yet on it, therefore they can’t practise as a nurse or
midwife. We’ve paused their applications.
“We’re writing to these applicants to ask
them to retake the test, and to request more information that we’ll use to make
a final decision about their applications.
“Pearson VUE has reviewed all data relating
to the NMC’s CBT from every test site globally, and there is no evidence of
similar activity at any other site.
“Our paramount concern is to maintain the
integrity of the register to protect the public. At the same time, it’s
critical we approach any investigations about individuals objectively and
transparently, avoiding any unfair discrimination.”
However, the UK NMC noted that it has “not
yet made any determinations about individuals.”
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