The UK Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) says it will probe the registrations of 512 Nigerians who passed its exams at a computer-based test (CBT) centre in Ibadan.

The test of competence is deployed by the NMC to assess people applying to join its register from overseas. It said 1,970 candidates took the test at the CBT centre- run on its behalf by Pearson VUE- with 512 joining the NMC register.

But a statement on the NMC website said the data of the affected persons could be “incorrect” and that Pearson VUE has stopped testing at the centre.

“An organisation called Pearson VUE runs the CBT programme on the NMC’s behalf. It recently alerted us to anomalous data at one of its third-party CBT test centres in Ibadan, Nigeria. Pearson VUE stopped testing at this centre immediately,” the Thursday statement read.

“A total of 512 people on our register (around five percent of all the professionals on our register who qualified in Nigeria) took their CBT at this test centre. We’re writing to them to set out what’s happened and to tell them we’re opening cases to determine whether or not they gained fraudulent or incorrect entry to the register.

“More people have applied to join the register but are not yet on it, therefore they can’t practise as a nurse or midwife. We’ve paused their applications. We’re writing to these applicants to ask them to retake the test, and to request more information that we’ll use to make a final decision about their application.

“Our paramount concern is to maintain the integrity of the register to protect the public. At the same time, it’s critical we approach any investigations about individuals objectively and transparently, avoiding any unfair discrimination.”

But, the body said it had “not yet made any determinations about individuals”.