Knowledge Bank
The B1 English Gap in UK Social Care, and How to Close It
Back to Menu ↩ The visa route that rebuilt the frontline care workforce set the English bar at B1. That route has now closed to
July 21, 2026
The UK healthcare service has relied for many years on the invaluable contributions made by overseas trained healthcare professionals. To register to work here, those who do not come from a country where English is the first language must demonstrate their language level by taking an English test and achieving the scores stipulated by the regulator.
This table sets out the scores required for OET and IELTS (Academic version), the two most popular tests. OET will always be the version appropriate to the role, i.e. OET Medicine for doctors, OET Nursing for nurses, OET Physiotherapy for physios, etc.
The scores stated are the minimum required.
|  |
Profession | OET | IELTS |
Doctor | 350 (B) in each paper | 7.0 in each paper 7.5 overall |
Nurse | 350 (B) in Reading, Listening, Speaking 300 (C+) in Writing | 7.0 in Reading, Listening, Speaking 6.5 in Writing |
Pharmacist | 350 (B) in each paper | 7.0 in each paper |
Dentist | N/A | 6.5 in each paper 7.0 overall |
Vet | 350 (B) in 3 papers 300 (C+) in 1 paper 350 (B) overall | 7.0 in 3 papers 6.5 in 1 paper 7.0 overall |
Chiropodist/podiatrist | 300 (C+) in each paper 1400 (B)overall | 6.5 in each paper 7.0 overall |
Dietitian | 300 (C+) in each paper 1400 (B)overall | 6.5 in each paper 7.0 overall |
Occupational therapist | 300 (C+) in each paper 1400 (B) overall | 6.5 in each paper 7.0 overall |
Physiotherapist | 300 (C+) in each paper 1400 (B) overall | 6.5 in each paper 7.0 overall |
Radiographer | 300 (C+) in each paper 1400 (B) overall | 6.5 in each paper 7.0 overall |
Speech and language therapist | 400 (high B) in each paper 1800 (A) overall | 7.5 in each paper 8.0 overall |
Other Allied Health Professions | N/A | 6.5 in each paper 7.0 overall |
Healthcare support worker | N/A | 4.0 in each paper 4.0 overall |
Social carer | N/A | 4.0 in each paper 4.0 overall |
SLC has prepared thousands of healthcare professionals for OET and IELTS since 2014. If you’re an individual or a sponsoring organisation, please get in touch to see how we can help you.
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