Key takeaways
- The NMC CBT is two tests in one sitting: Part A numeracy (15 questions, 30 minutes) and Part B clinical (100 questions, 2 hours 30 minutes).
- Each part is passed or failed on its own, and a resit covers only the failed part. Teach and test the two parts separately.
- Part A needs 13 out of 15. Part B pass marks are generally 60% to 70%, set by field of nursing.
- The NMC tells students only pass or fail. Your own practice-test reports are the only map of what went wrong.
- Use Vacademy for classes and timed practice on its standard test screen, and the free practice tests from Pearson (formerly Pearson VUE) for the real exam screen.
Take a nursing coaching center in Kochi. (It is an example, not a customer.) On a Monday evening its online class has three kinds of student. Some have not sat the NMC CBT yet. Some passed the clinical part but failed numeracy. One has failed the clinical part twice. The center runs one timetable for all of them, so two of the three groups are always waiting for the other.
India is still the largest source of nurses and midwives who trained abroad and join the UK register: 4,215 in the year to March 2026. That is 54.4% fewer than the 9,249 of the year before, according to the NMC. With fewer nurses applying, each student an institute enrolls matters more, and so does each result. This guide organizes NMC CBT coaching around the way the test is built.
The test in one table
The CBT is Part 1 of the NMC Test of Competence. It is taken at a test center run by Pearson Professional Assessments (formerly Pearson VUE), the NMC’s CBT test provider. The facts below come from the NMC’s CBT page and the test specification for nursing.
| Part | What it tests | Questions | Time | Answer | Pass mark |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part A: Numeracy | Drug calculations: doses, units, oral medicines, injections, IV infusions, fluid balance | 15 | 30 minutes | Typed number, sometimes with a unit | 13 of 15 (87%) |
| Part B: Clinical | UK nursing practice across the 7 platforms of the Future Nurse standards, plus 2 annexes | 100 | 2 hours 30 minutes | Four options, one correct | Generally 60% to 70%, varies by field |
Every question is right or wrong, with no partial credit. The candidate booklet also says there is no negative scoring for a wrong or blank answer, so students should never leave a question empty.
How hard is it? Between January and March 2026, the NMC reports that 76% passed Part A and 77% passed Part B at the first attempt, out of 2,150 first attempts. Roughly one student in four fails each part the first time.
Two parts, two batches: why to split teaching and practice
The two parts test different skills. Part A is arithmetic under time pressure. One slip in a unit and the answer is wrong, and a student can drop only two questions out of fifteen. Part B is knowledge of UK nursing practice, spread unevenly across the platforms of the NMC’s Future Nurse standards.
From the NMC test specification
Part B questions by platform (100 in all)
- 1. Being an accountable professional17
- 4. Providing and evaluating care15
- 3. Assessing needs and planning care14
- 2. Promoting health and preventing ill health10
- 5. Leading and managing nursing care10
- 6. Improving safety and quality of care10
- 7. Co-ordinating care10
- Annexe A (communication skills)7
- Annexe B (nursing procedures)7
Put those facts together and the timetable splits itself. Numeracy needs short, frequent drills. Clinical needs longer classes, taken platform by platform, with the most time on Platform 1. Keep them as two courses, each with its own tests. A resit student then joins only the course they need.
Numeracy track
First-time students, and anyone resitting Part A
Short drills two or three times a week. One timed 15-question test every week.
Clinical track
First-time students, and anyone resitting Part B
Longer classes, one platform at a time. A full 100-question mock every two weeks, then weekly.
Resit track
Students who passed one part and failed the other
Only the failed part. A fresh mock, then the weak topics from the report, then another mock.
In Vacademy, each track is a batch, and live classes run on Zoom, Google Meet or YouTube Live with attendance recorded on its own. See how to run live online classes and how to manage several online batches.
Want to see three NMC tracks set up?
We will show numeracy, clinical and resit batches, each with its own timed tests, in a 20-minute call.
Resit students: a separate track for the failed part
A resit covers only the failed part: 30 minutes for Part A or 2 hours 30 minutes for Part B. The NMC allows three attempts in one application, at least 10 days apart, all within one year. A resit costs £50 for Part A or £70 for Part B, against £83 for both.
The resit clock
From the first sitting to the last attempt
- 1
Day 0
Both parts in one sitting
- 2
Within 48 hours
Pass or fail for each part. No other feedback.
- 3
Day 10 at the earliest
Resit of the failed part only, on a new form of the test
- 4
Within one year
Three attempts in all. After a third fail, a six-month wait.
Here is the hard part. The NMC says, “We cannot give you further feedback on your test results.” A student who failed Part A does not know whether it was IV rates or units. Your practice reports must answer that, and the student may be back in ten days. They trusted you once. A clear plan for the failed part keeps that trust.
Practice tests in Vacademy
Vacademy runs NMC practice on its standard test screen. It is not a copy of the Pearson VUE screen. What it gives you is the timing, the question types and the reports.
Group every question under its topic: the six numeracy areas for Part A, the platform for Part B. Then read the strong- and weak-area report and the question-wise results against the NMC’s blueprint. That is the feedback the exam will never give. For building the numeracy side in detail, see NMC CBT numeracy practice tests. For a large question bank from your own textbook, see turning a medical textbook into question banks.
Use Pearson VUE’s free practice tests for the real screen
The practice tests on the Pearson site are, as the NMC puts it, “accessible to all and do not need to be booked”. The numeracy practice test matches the live part: 15 questions in 30 minutes. The clinical practice test is shorter than the real one, with 50 questions in 1 hour 15 minutes. Students can take them as often as they like. There are only a few papers per field, though: three numeracy papers for adult nursing, one for the other fields.
What students should notice on that screen
- The clock shows time remaining, with a question count such as “3 of 15” just below it.
- An on-screen calculator and a Flag for Review button.
- Only Previous and Next to move. There is no grid of question numbers to jump around.
- At the end, a review screen lists every question, so students can go back to any of them before finishing.
A simple plan: one numeracy and one clinical practice test in the first week, only to learn the screen. Save the remaining papers for the last week, as a final check.
Worth saying plainly
The NMC’s booklet says it does not endorse any course or training provider. So no “NMC approved” or “official” in your ads.
Self-check
5 signs your NMC CBT program needs splitting
- Numeracy and clinical are taught in the same class, on the same days.
- Resit students sit through the whole course again, including the part they passed.
- Your mock tests are not timed the way the real parts are (30 and 150 minutes).
- After a failed attempt, you cannot tell a student which topics to fix.
- Students see the Pearson VUE exam screen for the first time on exam day.
Two or more of these? A split timetable and timed mocks will help.
NMC CBT coaching: questions institutes ask
What is the NMC CBT pass mark?
Part A (numeracy) needs 13 out of 15, which is 87%. Part B (clinical) pass marks differ by field of nursing and are generally set between 60% and 70%, according to the NMC's test specification. Each part is passed or failed on its own.
How long is the NMC CBT and how many questions does it have?
115 questions in up to 3 hours. Part A has 15 numeracy questions in 30 minutes. Part B has 100 clinical multiple-choice questions in 2 hours and 30 minutes. Both parts are taken in one sitting at a test center run by Pearson Professional Assessments (formerly Pearson VUE).
Is there negative marking in the NMC CBT?
No. The NMC booklet says the CBT does not use negative scoring for a wrong or blank answer. Every question is simply right or wrong, with no partial credit, so students should answer every question.
Can NMC CBT coaching be run fully online?
The teaching and the practice can. Live classes, recorded lessons, timed practice tests and reports all work online. The exam itself is taken at a Pearson (formerly Pearson VUE) test center, so students should also try Pearson's free NMC practice tests on a computer before the real day.
Does an NMC CBT resit mean taking both parts again?
No. A resit covers only the part the student failed: 30 minutes for Part A or 2 hours 30 minutes for Part B. There are three attempts in one application, at least 10 days apart, all within one year. That is why a separate resit track makes sense.
Does Vacademy show the same screen as the Pearson VUE NMC test?
No. NMC practice in Vacademy runs on the standard Vacademy test screen. It gives timed mock tests, typed numerical answers, MCQs and detailed reports. For the exact exam screen, use Pearson's free NMC practice tests alongside it.
Try Vacademy for your NMC batches
Send us one numeracy paper and one clinical paper. We will set them up as timed mocks and show your team the reports.