Every section of the NMC CBT
The CBT is 115 questions in two papers that are timed and passed separately. The NMC publishes how many questions come from each section, so it is possible to know before you sit it where the marks are and what each section is going to ask you.
There is a page below for every one of those sections, with what it covers, what it is worth, where candidates tend to lose marks, and a couple of real questions from our bank with the explanation that comes with them.
The bank is not finished and is not meant to be. New questions and corrections go live as they are written, and every paper is built from the current bank, so what you practise is what we know today rather than a file you downloaded once.
Part A: numeracy 15 marks, 30 minutes
Six categories. You type a number rather than choosing an option, and you have an on-screen calculator.
- Measuring the correct dose2 marksThe NMC CBT numeracy questions on working out a dose: weight-based dosing, concentrations in mg/mL, and body mass index, with worked examples.
- Metric units and conversions2 marksConverting between grams, milligrams and micrograms, and between litres and millilitres, in the NMC CBT numeracy paper, with the errors that cost marks.
- Oral medication calculations4 marksTablet, capsule and oral liquid calculations for the NMC CBT: the largest numeracy category, with worked examples and the mistakes that cost marks.
- Injection and reconstitution calculations3 marksWorking out an injection volume for the NMC CBT: drawing up from an ampoule, reconstituting a powder, and the volumes that are safe at one site.
- Intravenous infusion rates3 marksInfusion pump rates in mL/hour and gravity drip rates in drops per minute for the NMC CBT, including giving-set drop factors and rate changes.
- Fluid balance calculations1 markAdding up intake and output, insensible losses, percentage dehydration and fluid deficit for the NMC CBT numeracy paper.
Part B: clinical 100 marks, 2 hours 30 minutes
The seven Future Nurse platforms plus the two annexes. Four options, one best answer, one mark each.
- Platform 1: being an accountable professional17 marksAccountability and the Code, consent and capacity, record keeping, candour and raising concerns. The largest clinical category of the NMC CBT, and where marks go.
- Platform 2: promoting health and preventing ill health10 marksHealth promotion and behaviour change, screening and immunisation, health inequalities and communicable disease, and what the NMC CBT expects a nurse to say next.
- Platform 3: assessing needs and planning care14 marksAssessment, recognising deterioration with NEWS2, capacity, risk of harm and interpreting results. The NMC CBT category where the scored tools live.
- Platform 4: providing and evaluating care15 marksCommon conditions, medicines administration and pharmacology, devices, first aid and basic life support. The widest clinical category of the NMC CBT.
- Platform 5: leading and managing nursing care10 marksDelegation and supervision, team working, managing conflict and evaluating care given by others. How the NMC CBT asks a registered nurse to lead, not to cope.
- Platform 6: improving safety and quality of care10 marksRisk assessment, incident reporting and candour, audit and improvement, and health and safety law. The NMC CBT category about the system, not the patient.
- Platform 7: coordinating care10 marksDischarge and transition, multidisciplinary and interagency working, carers and equitable access. What the NMC CBT asks about the gaps between services.
- Annexe A: communication and relationship management skills7 marksListening and questioning, checking understanding, interpreters, handover, records and difficult conversations. What Annexe A of the NMC CBT asks, with examples.
- Annexe B: nursing procedures7 marksObservations and vital signs, venepuncture, ECG, transfusion, devices and lines, specimens and infection prevention. The procedural half of the NMC CBT standards.
Want to see what a question in these categories looks like? Clinical questions with the reasoning behind each answer works through examples in the format Part B uses.
Every figure on this page is read from the blueprint rather than typed. The blueprint in full has the whole table: each category with its question count, its split across the Bloom bands, and the proficiency statements behind it.
Start practising
Every account gets 10 new questions a day, with no card and no time limit on the offer. Full access opens the timed two-part mocks.
These fifteen sections are what the paper is built from. Work through the whole thing with the NMC CBT study guide.