NMC Test of Competence
Know the CBT before you sit it
Questions weighted the way the NMC weights the real paper, numeracy with the calculator you get on the day, and full mocks in two separately timed parts.
No card needed. Full access is £9.90 and you pay once.
- Questions
- 115
- Time
- 3 hr
- Two parts
- Numeracy, then clinical
timed and passed separately - Marking
- 1 mark a question
nothing taken off for a wrong one
The exam, in short
Our mocks copy this, both timers included.
Everything the CBT can ask you
The NMC publishes how many questions come from each area. We built the bank and the mocks to those numbers, so what you practise is weighted the way the real paper is.
Numeracy
15 questions, 30 minYou type the number in, with units where the question asks for them. There is a calculator on screen.
- Measuring the correct dose2
- Metric units2
- Oral medications4
- Injections3
- Intravenous infusions3
- Fluid balance1
Clinical
100 questions, 2 hr 30 minFour options, one right answer. Drawn from the seven Future Nurse platforms and both annexes.
- Platform 1: Being an accountable professional17
- Platform 2: Promoting health and preventing ill health10
- Platform 3: Assessing needs and planning care14
- Platform 4: Providing and evaluating care15
- Platform 5: Leading and managing nursing care and working in teams10
- Platform 6: Improving safety and quality of care10
- Platform 7: Coordinating care10
- Annexe A: Communication and relationship management skills7
- Annexe B: Nursing procedures7
It is not all recall
Part B is spread across three levels of thinking. Two thirds of it asks you to apply something, work it out, or judge between options. So our explanations walk through the reasoning instead of just naming the answer.
- 38
- Remember and understand
- 32
- Apply and analyse
- 30
- Evaluate and create
Your field of practice
Most of the CBT is the same whichever field you are joining. About a tenth of Part B is specific to yours. Filter practice down to your field, or work through the shared content.
- Adult nursingRN1
- Mental health nursingRN3
- Learning disabilities nursingRN5
- Children's nursingRN8
- Midwifery
Tied to the standards
Every question is tagged to one of the 103 proficiency statements in Future nurse, which is what the CBT is written against. Your progress reads back against them, so a weak spot comes out as a named statement instead of a vague topic.
- Timed two-part mocks that never reuse a question you have seen
- Flag anything to come back to, then drill only what you flagged
- A worked explanation and references on every question
- Patient safety proficiencies in every mock, as the NMC requires
10 questions a day, free
No card, and no trial that runs out on you. If you want the whole bank and the timed 115-question mocks, that is £9.90 and you pay once.