Failed NMC CBT Part A: what happens next
You resit Part A only. The clinical part you passed is banked and you do not sit those hundred questions again, which is worth knowing before you spend a week revising material you have already proved you know. What follows is what the attempt rules actually are, and what the gap before the next attempt is best spent on.
- Why a Part A fail does not mean resitting Part B
- The three-attempt rule, the ten-day gap and the six-month wait
- How to find which kind of calculation actually went wrong
- Numeracy practice you can start on now
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Questions people ask
- Do I have to resit the whole CBT?
- No. The two parts are marked separately, so a fail on numeracy leaves the clinical part passed. You resit Part A on its own.
- How long do I have to wait?
- At least ten days between attempts. That is a minimum and not a recommendation: if you need three weeks, take three weeks, because the thing to be careful about is the six-month wait behind a third failure, not the ten-day floor in front of the second.
- How many attempts do I get?
- Up to three on one application, with a different version of the paper each time. If the third does not go your way the application closes and there is a six-month wait before reapplying.
- What should I do differently this time?
- Work out which kind of calculation went wrong rather than revising numeracy as a whole. Unit conversion, weight-based dosing, infusion rates and fluid balance all look like numeracy from the outside and are different skills, and most people who fail the part are not weak at all of them. A general sweep of everything is what most second attempts are, and it is why some go the same way as the first.
- Does a resit count against me professionally?
- No. The Test of Competence is a standard to be met rather than a competition, and nothing about your registration records how many attempts it took. Employers who sponsor overseas nurses are used to it.