Information for registered nurses

Once your portfolio has been approved, your IQNM dashboard tracker will update and you will be advised to register and pay the exam fee with Pearson VUE for the NCLEX-RN via the NCSBN website.

After your registration is completed, the IQNM exams team will confirm your eligibility to sit the NCLEX-RN exam and you will receive an authorisation to test email from Pearson VUE. Once you are authorised to test you can contact Pearson VUE to book your examination location, date and time.

Candidates who are eligible to sit the MCQ will be advised of available locations once you contact Pearson VUE to complete their registration to sit the examination.

The MCQ fee must be paid prior to confirming your examination date. The registration fee amount is $200 USD per sitting.

Candidates that are sitting in an international centre, will also need to pay an additional International Scheduling fee (+value added tax where applicable) of $150 USD. 

This advice is for IQNMs who have completed the NCLEX-RN authorised by another nursing regulatory body.

To have your previous examination results considered by Ahpra, you will need to provide a copy of your NCLEX-RN candidate report, which includes the authorising jurisdiction, test date and result.

If you cannot provide a copy of your candidate report, you can provide a copy of the test booking for the NCLEX-RN examination.

This advice is for IQNMs who have completed the NCLEX-RN which was authorised by Ahpra to enable progression through the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia’s Outcomes Based Assessment pathway.

The NCLEX-RN Score Transfer Process allows candidates who have passed the NCLEX-RN to transfer their score between nursing regulatory bodies.

Important: Please note that if you transfer your score to another nursing regulatory body, your IQNM case will become inactive if you do not have an unused RN OSCE fee. An unused RN OSCE fee is where a candidate has paid the fee but not sat the OSCE. If your case is inactive, you can’t continue participating in the OBA pathway with the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia. If your case becomes inactive and your circumstances change, you can contact the Ahpra Customer Service Team to reactivate your case and continue with the OBA pathway.

Candidates will only be able to have their NCLEX-RN score transferred from Ahpra to another nursing regulatory body if they:

• Complete an Application to transfer a NCLEX-RN score - ATNS-40  (319 KB,PDF) ,  
• Upload the application to the Online Upload Service and
• Pay the Score transfer fee

Important information about the Texas Board of Nursing and British Columbia College of Nurses and Midwives

The Texas Board of Nursing and British Columbia College of Nurses and Midwives have advised Ahpra that they will not accept NCLEX-RN score transfers from Ahpra.

If you have any questions about transferring a NCLEX-RN score to either of these nursing regulatory bodies, please contact them directly at:

• Texas Board of Nursing
• British Columbia College of Nurses and Midwives

Your MCQ result will be recorded within your record in the IQNM database. If you have passed the MCQ, your IQNM dashboard will advise you that you are eligible to sit the OSCE. At this time it will also advise you to pay the OSCE fee.

Once your fee payment has been received, the IQNM exams team will contact you in relation to upcoming dates for OSCE examinations.

The OSCE is delivered at two locations:

• Adelaide Health Simulation (AHS) in Adelaide, South Australia, and
• The Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RANZCOG) in Melbourne, Victoria.

Candidates are required to travel to Australia to undertake the examination.

No contact should be made to Adelaide Health Simulation or The Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists in relation to the OSCE. All queries should be directed to the IQNM exams team.

RN OSCEs are held in each calendar month at one of the exam locations. Candidate demand for the OSCE is monitored and exam days can be added to meet the demand.

Once you have completed all the requirements to be eligible for the OSCE, the IQNM Exam team will contact you when exam days become available.

The fee amount is $4000 AUD per sitting. The OSCE fee must be paid prior to confirming your examination date.