Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what proportion of internationally recruited NHS workers were required to retake the International English Language Testing System more than once to meet employment eligibility criteria between 2020 and 2025.

The Department does not collect data on repeat International English Language Testing System (IELTS) attempts or average test scores for National Health Service staff. Information on English language competence for professional registration is held by the relevant United Kingdom healthcare regulators. Any assessment data for candidates applying to join the NHS Performers List would be managed by NHS England, while local NHS trusts and employers may hold records of candidate performance where assessments form part of their recruitment process. Additionally, IELTS publishes global test statistics on its website, at the following link:

https://ielts.org/researchers/our-research/test-statistics