Applying as a mature applicant

Mature applicants must be 23 years of age or over by 1 January 2025 to be considered for a place in an undergraduate education programme leading to an honours degree in nursing and midwifery. 

You must have a valid Central Applications Office (CAO) application number and must be successful in the three assessment tests outlined below. 

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). You must apply independently for the mature applicant's assessment tests via a link on the NMBI website in addition to your application to the 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. 

Assessment Test Familiarisation Booklet 2025

We have developed a familiarisation booklet for mature applicants to undergraduate nursing and midwifery degree programmes in 2025. 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. 

Information for mature applicants 2025 

Mature applicants applying for nursing or midwifery undergraduate degree programmes in 2025 should familiarise themselves with the key dates. There is a set period during which you must register and complete the three assessment tests.  

Registration

Registration for the assessment tests is open only from 1pm on Monday, 10 March to 1pm on Wednesday, 2 April 2025.

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 have your CAO number to hand as you will need this to complete your registration. 

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 Wednesday, 2 April 2025.

The assessment tests

The tests will be delivered remotely online. This allows you to take them at your preferred location and time. The testing window will open at 1pm on pm on Wednesday, 23 April and close at 1pm on Wednesday, 30 April 2025.

The current assessment comprises of three separate tests: 

• verbal reasoning (also called understanding of basic instructions)  
• numeracy
• 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.

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 its email address (nmbi.support@aon-assessment.com) to your list of safe senders.  

Both NMBI and Aon 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