Applying as a mature applicant

Mature applicants must be 23 years of age or over by 1 January in the year of entry to be considered for a place in an undergraduate education programme. 

If you are applying for undergraduate pre-registration honours degree programmes in nursing and midwifery for 2023, you must have a valid Central Applications Office (CAO) application number and must be successful in three assessment tests. 

Due to the number of places available on the programmes, success at the assessment tests does not guarantee an offer of a place and the results may not be carried forward to a future year (unless a deferred entry has been granted by an education body). The onus is on you to apply for the assessment tests in addition to your application to the Central Applications Office (CAO).  

The application process

• Step 1: Complete an application to the CAO
• Step 2: Using a valid CAO number, register for the assessment tests
• Step 3: Complete the suite of assessment tests within the timeframe 

The assessment tests

The tests will be delivered remotely online. This allows you to take them at your preferred location and time. 

The current assessment comprises of three separate tests: 

• verbal reasoning (also called understanding of basic instructions)  
• numerical reasoning
• job simulation

To pass, applicants must reach a minimum score on each assessment test. Please note that the minimum score for each test will not be decided until the results of all the assessment tests have been analysed.

Assessment Test Familiarisation Booklet 2023 

We have developed a familiarisation booklet for mature applicants to undergraduate nursing and midwifery degree programmes in 2023. The purpose of this booklet is to introduce you to the assessment tests used for selecting mature applicants. It aims to ensure that applicants are comfortable with the testing format and are aware of how to do their best in the test situation. We recommend that you read this booklet in full before registering and completing the assessment tests. 

Important dates

There is a set period during which you must register and complete the three assessment tests. We strongly advise you to be aware of the deadlines and complete your registration and all of your tests as early as possible.
 

Registration window

Registration for the assessment tests is open only from  1pm on Friday, 31 March to 1pm on Monday, 24 April 2023

 

Registering for the assessment tests 

The link to register for the assessment tests will be available on this page of our website between 1pm on Friday, 31 March to 1pm on Monday, 24 April 2023. 

When registering, please ensure you use the same email address you used in your CAO application. The test provider will use this email address to communicate with you.   

Please note that you will be asked to upload a scanned copy (clear photo) of your government issued photo identification when registering. We will only consider your completed assessment if you have uploaded your photo identification by the registration deadline of 1pm on Monday, 24 April 2023. We strongly advise you to prepare this scanned photo identification in advance of the testing window to avoid undue delay.  

We only accept the following forms of photo identification: 

• Your current passport
• Your current photo-bearing driving licence or learner permit.

After you have registered, you will receive an email from the test provider (nmbi.support@aon-assessment.com) on Wednesday, 3 May 2023. This email will contain the link and unique login ID that you will need to access your assessment tests. Please keep an eye out for this email and check your junk or spam folder if you have not received it on Wednesday, 3 May 2023. It is your responsibility to ensure that you follow these instructions and we will not be held responsible for any omissions on your part.

Reasonable accommodations/adjustments 

If you have a disability and require any reasonable accommodations/adjustments, you should contact nmbi.support@aon-assessment.com immediately after you register. It is your responsibility to contact the above address about any reasonable accommodations/adjustments and it is important that you do so after you have registered, but before the deadline. The team can only support you once you have registered.

The deadline for notification of your request for reasonable accommodations is 1pm on Monday, 24 April 2023. Please provide a medical/psychologist report to enable us to determine what accommodations you might need. Should you fail to submit a report by 1pm on Monday, 24 April we will not be able to provide you with a reasonable adjustment. 

Further details about reasonable accommodations/adjustments can be found on page 7 of the familiarisation booklet. 

Preparing for the assessment tests

Before completing the tests, we recommend that you read the familiarisation booklet in full. It provides detailed information which will assist you in preparing for the tests. In addition, Aon’s Assessment Solutions have developed videos which will give you an opportunity to familiarise yourself with the format and type of questions you can expect in the actual tests. Further details can be found on pages 8-12 of the familiarisation booklet. 

Taking the tests

 

Testing window

You must complete the assessment tests between  1pm on Wednesday, 3 May and 1pm on Wednesday, 10 May 2023

Before you begin the tests, you will be required to complete some practice questions. You can take the practice questions as many times as you wish before completing the assessment tests. Once you begin the actual assessment test, you must complete it. 

You do not have to take all three assessment tests together in one sitting and you can take them individually at different times if you wish. Please note that you must complete all three tests by the deadline of 1pm on Wednesday, 10 May 2023. If you do not take all three tests, you will be deemed to have withdrawn the application process.

You are strongly advised to give yourself sufficient time to complete the assessment tests as no time extensions will be given.

More information can be found on pages 13 and 14 of the familiarisation booklet. 

After the assessment tests

Test results will be released to all applicants at the end of June 2023. You will be notified of your results via email from Aon’s Assessment Solutions. In this email, you will be provided with a login ID to access your statement of results. This statement will let you know if you have been successful in reaching the qualifying standard. It will include a pass/fail result for each test. You will also be provided with your total score and the highest (the best) and lowest overall scores achieved by those who qualified.

Proceeding in the application

On passing the assessment test, applicants will be placed on order-of merit lists for the programmes they have applied for (see CAO Handbook 2023 for further details). Applicants must meet the registration requirements and complete the full suite of assessment tests in order to proceed as a mature applicant for an undergraduate pre-registration honours degree programme in nursing or midwifery. 

Contact us 

Please contact us by email on matters concerning the assessment test. All communications from our test provider Aon’s Assessment Solutions will be via email. 

To ensure that your email provider does not flag important emails from Aon’s Assessment Solutions as spam, please save the email address (nmbi.support@aon-assessment.com) to your list of safe senders.  

Both NMBI and Aon's Assessment Solutions will not answer queries relating to the content of the test. 

General queries: careersinformation@nmbi.ie 
Online assessment test queries only: nmbi.support@aon-assessment.com