Press Release: 11 February 2021
The company hopes to address the urgent demand for nurses in the UK. The level of vacant nurse jobs in the UK was high before the pandemic and healthcare workers have been put under enormous strain over the last 10 months. COVID-19 has highlighted the UK’s reliance on international health workers and exposed the current shortfall in the NHS. A third of nurses first entering the UK register in 2019-20 trained outside the UK.
The digital course will be available both as an app for self study and with tutor support, through the company’s Digital Learning Hub. Destination OET, will help international nurses prepare for the Cambridge Occupational English Test (OET), a prerequisite of working in the NHS.
Unlike current resources, the online OET course goes beyond practising to pass the OET. It uses speech recognition technology in realistic scenarios to prepare nurses to speak confidently to patients, relatives and interact with colleagues. It enables them to try out their professional and informal spoken skills and get real-time feedback through the software. Through Klik2learn’s valued partnership with the Centre for Voice in Performance at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, nurses will be also able to hear a variety of English accents and crucially, practice their ‘bedside manner’ to communicate re-assurance and empathy to patients.
Another unique feature of the course will be a 3D simulation activity of an interview scenario for a nursing post. Klik2learn are delighted to be partnering on this with the SimVid experts from Glasgow School of Art under the direction of Professor Steve Love, to provide a genuinely immersive experience.
Anne Attridge, CEO of Klik2learn, said:
“It’s clear that the NHS is under pressure to recruit more skilled health professionals than ever before. With support from the Ufi VocTech fund we partnered with City of Glasgow College and are on target to launch the course in May 2021. It’s important that anyone coming to work in the UK has all the vital English Language skills they need, not just to pass an exam but to do their job with confidence, regardless of their language background.”Christopher Khan, Project Manager at City of Glasgow College said,
“We are delighted to be continuing our successful partnership with Klik2learn in broadening our online programme offering. Our college recognises the importance of developing our digital and blended learning portfolio that will not only meet the changing study and skills needs of students, but also open up new opportunities for our learners.”
According to the Nuffield Trust, 5,000 migrants a year, are needed in England alone if the government is to meet its promise of delivering 50,000 extra nurses by 2025. International recruitment in the NHS, already impacted by Brexit, saw international recruitment fall off a cliff in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic. The pandemic has meant restrictions in travel, face-to-face language learning and closure of test centres, meaning the UK will need to recruit even more from abroad in the future, at a time of global shortage.
The course will provide the much needed occupational English language skills migrant health care workers need to work and live in the UK. The new digital vocational training course will provide non-native English speaking healthcare professionals with the skills they need to pass the mandatory Occupational English Test (OET) and start employment with the National Health Service.
OET tests health practitioners from the following 12 professions:
