I failed the theory paper. Do I pay again for the repeat?

No. The €2,800 fee covers two attempts at each part. The repeat is offered on a proposed date; you pay again only if you start a new application after a second fail and an unsuccessful appeal.

Can I get a third attempt?

No. The NMBI page says plainly that a third attempt is not permitted. Two sittings of the theory, two of the OSCE, all within 12 weeks of the first theory sitting.

I failed the aptitude test twice. Can I do the adaptation programme instead?

Not on this application. NMBI: once you have completed one compensation measure and failed, you cannot switch to the other. The options are an appeal or, later, a fresh application.

I felt unwell on the day. Does that count?

Only if you say so before finishing. Tell the test centre staff before or during the test and they will rearrange the date without using an attempt. Once you hand in, the result stands and the attempt is used.

Failed the RCSI Aptitude Test? Repeat Rules, Second Fail, Appeal

Nobody writes about this part. The recruiter blogs stop at “good luck”, RCSI’s pages describe the happy path, and the NMBI text is spread over three sections. So here it is in one place: what a fail actually does, first the theory paper, then the OSCE, then the second fail and the appeal. All of it comes from the RCSI application page and the NMBI compensation measures page, linked at the end.

First fail at the theory paper

The result arrives by email by 6pm on the day of the test. If it is under 50%, RCSI offers a proposed date for the repeat. You do not pay again: the €2,800 covers 2 attempts at each part. What you do lose is time. Both attempts at both parts must be completed within 12 weeks of your first theory sitting, and there are no theory dates in July or December. A first sitting in late May leaves the repeat squeezed into June.

The repeat is the same paper in shape: 150 questions, 180 minutes, four options, one answer. Different questions, same reading list. The candidates who pass the repeat are the ones who go back to the list of documents and work through the topics they were weak on, not the ones who re-read a general nursing textbook. If you sat our mock before the real thing, your progress page shows which topics were under 70%; start there.

First fail at the OSCE

A theory pass gets you an invitation to the OSCE, normally the following weekend. Fail any of the 14 stations you need and a repeat OSCE is offered, usually three to four weeks later, still inside the same 12-week window. RCSI says about 60% of candidates pass the OSCE first time, so a repeat here is common and is not the end of anything. The theory pass stands; you do not sit the paper again.

The 12-week clock

This is the rule that catches people. RCSI: the applicant must complete both attempts at both parts within 12 weeks from the first attempt at the theory part. If the window closes with an attempt unused, RCSI notifies the NMBI that you are not continuing with the test, which is treated as the end of that compensation measure. Visa expiry, a flight home, an employer who will not release you: none of these stop the clock. Keep your immigration documents in date for the whole window, not just the first date.

Second fail

Fail either part on the second attempt and RCSI informs the NMBI. The NMBI then issues a decision letter saying your qualification recognition application is provisionally refused. Two things are now closed: a third attempt (NMBI: “a third attempt is not permitted”) and the other compensation measure (you cannot now choose the adaptation programme instead). The fee is spent.

One thing stays open: the appeal.

The appeal

NMBI is obliged to offer one. You submit an appeal form through MyNMBI and pay the appeal fee. The Registration Department then asks RCSI for a report on your test: the date, your result, and confirmation that the score was calculated correctly. They also look for mitigating factors at the test centre on the day, anything that could have reduced your chance of passing. A qualifications assessor writes a report for the Registration Committee, which decides. If the committee refuses, you can appeal that decision to the High Court within three months.

Be realistic about what an appeal can do. It checks that the process was followed and the marks were added up, and it weighs circumstances you raised. It does not re-mark the paper on the grounds that you nearly passed, and NMBI says so: submitting an appeal does not necessarily mean the refusal will be overturned. If you were unwell, had a documented incident at the centre, or the result was communicated wrongly, put the evidence in the form. If you simply scored under 50% twice, the appeal is unlikely to change that.

After that

A provisional refusal is not a ban from Irish nursing. It closes this application. Candidates do reapply to the NMBI later, and the assessment starts again from the documents. That is the slow, expensive route, and the reason to treat the theory paper seriously the first time: half marks on a Saturday against a €2,800 fee and a job offer. The paper is passable. It is written from public documents, most of them Irish, and the candidates who fail it usually fail on those, not on nursing.

If your first sitting is still ahead

Sit a full-length timed mock before you book. Under 70%, do not book yet.
Work topic by topic through the reading list; the paper samples every heading, not just the clinical ones.
Plan the 12 weeks: a first theory date with room for a repeat and two OSCE dates before July or December.
If you feel unwell on the day, say so before you start. Postponing then costs nothing; finishing costs an attempt.

Sources: RCSI application process and test dates (steps 6 to 8, the 12-week rule, no tests in July and December), RCSI fees; NMBI compensation measures (results, second attempt, provisional refusal, choice of measure, submitting an appeal, process for appeals). Checked 10 September 2026.

Failed the RCSI aptitude test. What happens now