Language tests for overseas nurses are set to be overhauled, with “less academic” versions introduced, following complaints that current exams are too difficult.

The Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) will announce that all nurses who come to Britain from countries where English is spoken, or who trained in such countries, will be able to skip tests.

And the remainder will be able to opt to take exams which are less “academic” after many nurses said they struggled with the current tests designed to show language competence.

Jackie Smith, chief executive of the NMC, said applicants had complained that the current tests were “a challenge” for many foreign nurses because they did not provide them with “occupational context”.

Under the new system, applicants who have spent at least a year working in a country where English is the native language, with language tests required for registration, will not have to undergo such exams. Those whose nursing training was taught in English will also be exempt.

And nurses from other countries will be given the option to take an “occupational English test” to demonstrate they can discuss clinical matters instead of the International English Language Test System.

Ms Smith said: “For some applicants the current tests appear to be a challenge in some ways - and the challenge is because it doesn’t provide the occupational context.”