Always be polite, empathetic and honest to your patient. Listen to them carefully and let them speak. Thank them and the examiner at the end of the station. After all, they’ve given up their free time to help you. A significant amount of marks are often awarded just for demonstrating these generic communication skills, so don’t neglect them! These booklets give an overview of the CBT and OSCE, what candidates should expect on the day and how they can prepare. It can be easy to just wipe all memories of a bad OSCE out of your brain. However, if you write those errors down you can review them for your next exam and ensure you don’t make the same mistakes again. Talking to your coursemates about their experience can help too – no one said that you can only learn from your own mistakes.

Grab a fellow medic/friend/flatmate and practice regularly until your examinations are fluent and confident. Exam nervousness can affect your performance, so it’s better to be a bit overprepared than under. If your medical school allows you to practice with their equipment, then take advantage of those opportunities. If not, things like reflex hammers, blood pressure cuffs and penlights can be bought off the internet for a decent price. Remember to practice with a timer too as the minutes fly by in the real thing. Once you finish your examination you may have some spare time; don’t let this go to waste. Look around to see if there’s any equipment in the room you’ve not used. The following documents will support your preparation for the OSCE. We highly recommend you take the time to read these. We have also provided marking criteria for the relevant fields. Please note that this should only be used to supplement your education and learning.Our comprehensive OSCE revision guide has over 50 clinical examination guides across 12 chapters, including: The CBT and OSCE information booklets for all nursing fields apply to adult nursing, children’s nursing, learning disabilities nursing and mental health nursing pathways.

Read the instructions carefully before you enter the station. It sounds silly, but people have been known to do the wrong examination in OSCEs (e.g. upper limb instead of lower limb neurological examination). If you don’t do what you’ve been asked, you just won’t get the marks. All candidates who sit their assessment prior to 26 June 2023 will not be presented with the updates covered above. All candidates who sit on or after 26 June will experience the changes we have made. Our OSCE revision guide has been crafted by the Geeky Medics team, experts in producing high-yield OSCE revision materials for medical and healthcare students. These blueprints show how the relevant standards of proficiency and associated skills and procedures may be tested in either the CBT, OSCE or both parts. The marking criteria available to trusts and candidates have also been updated as we are seeing higher numbers of candidates attempting to rote learn the marking criteria. This is problematic as they no longer approach the assessment with an open mind and in some cases find the assessment challenging when presented with new or different scenarios.The updated marking guidance are more holistic and will give trusts and candidates the key points that that all candidates will be assessed on. They should be used by candidates to confirm understanding of the different skills that they need to demonstrate across the OSCE but the standards, code, and blueprint should form the basis of all teaching and learning.Don’t worry about making mistakes during the OSCE – you haven’t got time to panic. Stay calm, take a deep breath and continue as you were. Always begin and end a station with washing your hands! Not only is it just good clinical practice, this gives you vital and easy marks. Dress professionally and accordingly to NHS dress code. Looking neat might not give you extra marks, but it does help you make a good first impression. Remember to tie up long hair, roll sleeves up above the elbows and take off your wristwatch. As part of the ongoing development of the Test of Competence OSCE for midwifery, we have made some changes to the existing assessments and released a small number of new stations which will come into use from Monday 26 June. These changes will ensure a wider coverage of the standards, code of practice and blueprint and forms part of our routine maintenance to keep the test valid and reliable.

Candidates will still sit a 10 station OSCE but these changes will mean that there will be a greater selection of skills that could be assessed which will make the assessment less predictable. We will continue to develop new stations covering different skills and scenarios, so it is important that candidates and those supporting them incorporate the NMC blueprint and standards into their preparation for the test. Test specifications show how the test is designed, what it will assess and how, and how results will be produced and presented. The test specification for all nursing fields apply to adult nursing, children’s nursing, learning disabilities nursing and mental health nursing pathways. You may not be feeling very confident during your OSCE, but pretend you are! Stand up straight, smile when appropriate and speak loudly and clearly – being too apprehensive can give the impression you don’t really know what you’re doing and make the patient nervous too. OSCEs or Objective Structured Clinical Exams are the ‘practical’ exam of medical school. It aims to prepare you for the clinical and communication aspects of becoming a doctor. They can seem really difficult and stressful, but with enough practice, you are likely to score well. I hope these tips are helpful and make you feel a little less worried!As part of our ongoing review and maintenance of the test, the following documents have been updated. Pease note the changes made are minor and should not impact on the preparation that candidates complete ahead of sitting their test. Candidates should continue to read the full exam instructions, and apply their skills and knowledge to the station or scenario that they are presented with.