Which licensing exam should a Pakistani nurse take to work abroad?
The short answer
Choose the exam by the country. Gulf (UAE, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Oman, Kuwait, Bahrain): a Prometric exam set by the health authority you apply to, such as DHA, DOH or MOHAP in the UAE and SCFHS in Saudi Arabia. United States and Canada: the NCLEX-RN, which Australia also uses for internationally qualified nurses. United Kingdom: the NMC CBT, then an OSCE in the UK. All of them assume PNMC registration at home, most also ask for verified experience and documents, and every Western regulator adds an English test (IELTS or OET). The clinical content overlaps heavily, so one well-prepared nursing bank serves all three.
Which exam does each country ask for?
| Destination | Licensing exam | Also usually required | Practise |
|---|---|---|---|
| UAE (Dubai, Abu Dhabi, northern emirates) | Prometric exam for DHA, DOH (formerly HAAD) or MOHAP | Primary source verification of your documents, post-registration experience | Prometric for nurses |
| Saudi Arabia | Prometric exam for the Saudi Commission for Health Specialties (SCFHS) | SCFHS registration and classification, document verification | Prometric for nurses |
| Qatar, Oman, Kuwait, Bahrain | Prometric exam for each country's health authority | Document verification, experience | Prometric for nurses |
| United States | NCLEX-RN | A state board of nursing application, credential evaluation, English test | NCLEX-RN |
| Canada | NCLEX-RN | Assessment through the national nursing service and the provincial regulator, English test | NCLEX-RN |
| Australia | NCLEX-RN, then an OSCE | Ahpra's assessment for internationally qualified nurses, English test | NCLEX-RN |
| United Kingdom | NMC CBT, then the OSCE in the UK | NMC eligibility application, English test | NMC CBT |
Routes change, regulators decide
Eligibility, experience requirements, English scores and the exam itself are set by each regulator and revised. Confirm the current route on the regulator's own website before paying for verification or booking an exam date.
What is the Prometric exam for nurses in the Gulf?
Prometric is the testing company; the exam belongs to the health authority. DHA licenses nurses for Dubai, DOH for Abu Dhabi, MOHAP for the rest of the UAE, SCFHS for Saudi Arabia, and Qatar, Oman, Kuwait and Bahrain each have their own. The exam is multiple choice on general clinical nursing, taken at a Prometric centre, and the number of questions and the time are stated on the eligibility letter the authority issues.
- What it examines: medical surgical nursing above all, then fundamentals, pharmacology, maternity, paediatrics, mental health and community health. There is no Gulf-specific law or code to learn for the exam itself.
- What comes before it: most authorities verify your degree, registration and experience through a primary source verification service before you are eligible to book.
- Why most Pakistani nurses start here: the Gulf has the largest demand for Pakistani nurses, the exam is general clinical nursing, and there is usually no separate English test for the exam.
What is the NCLEX-RN?
The NCLEX-RN is the licensing exam for registered nurses in the United States, set by the National Council of State Boards of Nursing. Canada uses it for registered nurses, and Australia uses it, followed by an OSCE, for internationally qualified nurses. It is computer adaptive: between 85 and 150 items in up to five hours, ending once a pass or fail decision is certain. The Next Generation NCLEX, in use since April 2023, adds case studies that measure clinical judgement.
What catches Pakistani nurses out is not the clinical content but the American frame: which tasks a registered nurse may delegate to a licensed practical nurse or an assistant, informed consent, advance directives and patient privacy as US law defines them. Those are practised in International Nursing Practice, scoped to the NCLEX topics on the NCLEX-RN page.
What is the NMC CBT for the UK?
The UK Nursing and Midwifery Council's Test of Competence has two parts. The CBT comes first and is taken at a test centre: Part A is numeracy, 15 questions in 30 minutes, and Part B is clinical, 100 questions in 2 hours 40 minutes. Both must be passed. The OSCE, a practical exam, follows in the UK.
The numeracy part is drug calculations, which Nursing Pharmacology covers. The clinical part is set against the NMC Code and UK practice: consent and mental capacity, safeguarding, the duty of candour, and recognising and escalating deterioration with NEWS2 and SBAR. Those are practised on the NMC CBT page.
How do you prepare for any of them?
Build the shared clinical core first
Medical Surgical Nursing, Fundamentals and Pharmacology are the bulk of every one of these exams. Time spent here counts for Prometric, NCLEX and the NMC CBT alike. Start with Medical Surgical Nursing.
Then the country's own frame
For NCLEX, US delegation and legal practice; for the NMC CBT, the Code, UK law and escalation. For the Gulf, nothing extra: the clinical core is the exam.
Practise priority questions
Every one of these exams asks what the nurse does first. Airway, breathing and circulation, then safety, then the rest; assessment before action unless it is an emergency.
Sit full-length mocks on the right pattern
Each exam page runs mocks on that exam's length and weighting. Use them in the final weeks, not the first.
Start the English test early
For the US, UK, Canada and Australia the English score is often the slowest part of the route. OET is written for healthcare and many nurses find it easier than IELTS; see OET explained.
Every licensing exam for doctors and nurses on the site, side by side, is on the licensing exams page.