Quick answer: clubbing means combining your OET sub-test scores from two sittings to meet a regulator’s requirement. The UK NMC allows it for nurses and midwives within 12 months. Australia’s AHPRA allows it within 12 months, with new numeric minimums since 23 April 2026. New Zealand’s Nursing Council allows it, and even single sub-test retakes. Ireland’s NMBI does not accept combined results at all. And doctors applying to the UK GMC or the US ECFMG must pass all four sub-tests in one sitting.
Every week a retaker writes to me with the same hope: I got B, B, B and a C+ in Writing, can I club it? And every week I watch students bet an exam fee on a rule they read in a WhatsApp group. Some believe Ireland clubs. It does not. Some believe Australia lets you retake only Writing. It does not. Some doctors believe they can club like nurses. They cannot. This page exists so that you never book a sitting on a wrong belief again. Every rule below comes from the regulator’s own page, and I will tell you the day I checked it.
The clubbing map, country by country
| Regulator | Who | Required scores | Clubbing two sittings | Single sub-test retake | Window | Floors in every sitting |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UK NMC | Nurses and midwives | B 350 in Listening, Reading, Speaking. C+ 300 in Writing | Yes | No, all four sub-tests in each sitting | 12 months | Listening, Reading, Speaking at least 300. Writing at least 250 |
| UK GMC | Doctors | B 350 in all four, OET Medicine | No, one sitting, most recent attempt | No | none | none |
| Australia AHPRA, tests from 23 April 2026 | All professions | Listening 350, Reading 360, Writing 350, Speaking 360 | Yes, maximum two sittings | No, all four in each sitting | 12 months | Listening 320, Reading 340, Writing 350, Speaking 350 |
| Australia AHPRA, tests to 22 April 2026 | All professions | B 350 in Listening, Reading, Speaking. C+ 300 in Writing | Yes | No | 12 months | C+ 300 in all four |
| New Zealand Nursing Council | Nurses | 350 in Listening, Reading, Speaking. 300 in Writing | Yes, over more than one sitting | Yes, in practice | Required scores within 12 months of the first sitting, all sittings within 3 years of applying | No stated floor |
| Ireland NMBI | Nurses and midwives | B 350 in any three sub-tests and C+ 300 in the one remaining | No, one test result only | No | none | none |
| USA ECFMG | Doctors | One administration, OET Medicine, 350 in Listening, Reading, Speaking, 300 in Writing | No | No | none | none |
Two details worth holding on to. Results are valid for two years almost everywhere, but New Zealand counts three years from your application. And OET@Home is not accepted by NMBI, AHPRA or the New Zealand Nursing Council for registration, while the NMC and the GMC do accept it. OET on computer at a test centre is accepted everywhere in this table.
Doctors, read this first: clubbing is not for you
Here is the distinction most academies never explain. Clubbing is a nursing world flexibility. The GMC wants all four grade Bs in one sitting, from your most recent attempt. The ECFMG wants all four required scores from one administration, and if one sub-test falls short, all four are sat again. Australia is the one door where doctors and nurses share the same rule, and there the rule allows two sittings but never a single sub-test retake. So for doctors the strategy is simple and hard: prepare all four sub-tests to the level, and book once.
Nurses: the three roads
The UK road. Two full sittings within 12 months. Across the two you need one B in Listening, one B in Reading, one B in Speaking and one C+ in Writing. And in every sitting, nothing below C+ in Listening, Reading and Speaking, nothing below C in Writing. Watch the floor trap: a single C in Reading in either sitting breaks the club even if your other Reading was a B. The NMC counts from test dates, not certificate dates, and it used to be six months, so a rule someone learned two years ago is now wrong in your favour.
The Australia road, after 23 April 2026. The letters are gone, the numbers arrived. Reading needs 360, not 350. Speaking needs 360, not 350. Writing needs 350, with no C+ concession any more. You can club two full sittings within 12 months, but every sitting must stay above the floors: 320 Listening, 340 Reading, 350 Writing, 350 Speaking. And you cannot retake only the sub-test you missed. If your first test was on or before 22 April 2026, the old rules apply to that sitting and the new numbers apply to any sitting after.
The New Zealand road. The most flexible. Your required scores, 350 in Listening, Reading and Speaking and 300 in Writing, can be collected over more than one sitting, as long as they are achieved within 12 months of your first sitting and all sittings fall within the three years before your application. There is no rule forcing a full four sub-test sitting, so a single sub-test retake is the sensible move here.
Ireland is not a road for clubbing. One sitting. Grade B in three components and C+ in the fourth, and the C+ can be in any one of them, which is a small mercy: a strong Writing score lets you carry a C+ in Speaking. But the sitting stands alone, and NMBI does not accept a single sub-test retake either.
The four traps that waste exam fees
- The WhatsApp rule. A rule from a group, a senior or an agent. Regulators change these: Australia changed its numbers this year, and the NMC extended its window from six months to twelve. Read the regulator’s page, or use the checker below.
- The floor trap. A club fails not only on the target scores but on the floors. One sub-test that drops below the floor in either sitting kills the combination, even if the other sitting was perfect.
- The window trap. Twelve months means twelve months from the first sitting, not from the result. Count from the exam day.
- The single sub-test trap. OET sells single sub-test bookings. That does not mean your regulator accepts them. For the NMC and AHPRA, a single sub-test sitting cannot be used for clubbing. Book the full test.
The clubbing checker. What do you need next time?
Choose your regulator, enter your first sitting, and the checker tells you exactly what each sub-test needs in the second sitting, which sub-tests are already blocked by a floor, and the last date you can sit.
Loading the clubbing checker. The table above carries the same rules.
And when you know your target, hit it once
Clubbing is a rescue, not a strategy. The students who club successfully are the ones who walk into the second sitting with a plan for the exact sub-test that failed. Find your real level on a paper built for this year’s difficulty before you book that second sitting. → Score calculator · Why students fail · Eligibility checker
How these tools stay accurate
Every number here was read from the regulator’s own page on 2 September 2026, not from a forum, an agent or a WhatsApp group. The three tools share one rules file, so when a regulator moves, all three move together on the same day. Australia moved in April 2026 and this is what that looks like when it is handled properly. And one line that never leaves these pages: the checker predicts, the regulator decides. Confirm with your regulator before you apply.
About the author
Dr. Nasir Bukhari is the Executive Director of CliniVerba, the house behind OET HQ, and an officially trained OET teacher, certified in all four skills by OET’s Head of Education. He has sat the OET exam and cleared it, and has taught healthcare professionals in more than 40 countries. More about Dr. Nasir.