Work as an ODP in the UK: HCPC registration from abroad

• You trained and gained your qualification outside the UK.
• Your training and qualification are relevant to operating department practice, as the HCPC requires for the international route.
• You have never been registered with the HCPC before (if you have, you apply for readmission instead).
• Your training, together with your experience, covers the ODP standards of proficiency across anaesthetic, surgical and post-anaesthetic care, not just one phase.
• Your university or training institution can complete, stamp and sign the HCPC course information form with theory and practical hours for each course.
• You have a referee who supervised you or was professionally responsible for you, on an official work email address.
• You meet the HCPC English requirement (IELTS 7.0 with no element below 6.5, or TOEFL iBT at the HCPC scores), unless your qualification is from a listed English-speaking country. OET is not listed for ODPs.
• If your qualification is in nursing, consider NMC registration instead: the ODP register is for training in operating department practice.

Check your route with the route finder

• HCPCHealth and Care Professions Council

  Physiotherapists, radiographers, paramedics and other allied health professions

  How to register with the HCPC

1. 1

   Check your training against the ODP standards

   Read the HCPC standards of proficiency for operating department practitioners against your transcript. Mark where anaesthetic care, scrub practice and post-anaesthesia care were taught and assessed, along with skills such as airway management, cannulation and drug administration. If one phase is missing, decide now how your work experience will show it.
2. 2

   Confirm that the ODP register is the right one

   If your qualification is a nursing degree, you will usually register with the NMC as a nurse and then work in theatres. The HCPC ODP route suits people trained as operating room, surgical or anaesthesia technologists or in a similar perioperative programme. Applying to the wrong register wastes the non-refundable scrutiny fee.
3. 3

   Pass the English test

   Unless you are exempt, take IELTS (7.0 with no element below 6.5) or TOEFL iBT (from 21 January 2026: Reading 4.5, Listening 5, Writing 4.5, Speaking 5, Overall 5). OET is not listed for ODPs. If you want one test for both the HCPC and the visa, an IELTS for UKVI result may serve both. Results must be under two years old.
4. 4

   Ask your university for the course information form

   The institution that delivered your qualification must complete the HCPC course information form with content, assessment and theoretical and practical hours for each course, stamped and signed. It is the main evidence the assessors use. Universities can take weeks or months, so request it first.
5. 5

   Write your experience section and gather documents

   Describe your theatre experience in your own words, most recent first, naming the specialties and phases of care you worked in. The HCPC says you must not use AI or copied content. Collect certified copies of identity, qualification and English certificates, with certified translations where needed.
6. 6

   Arrange referees

   Each referee must have supervised you or been responsible for you professionally and must use an official work email address; personal addresses are not accepted. A theatre manager or lead anaesthetist who knows your work is a strong choice. Warn them that the HCPC will contact them.
7. 7

   Submit online and pay the scrutiny fee

   Apply online and pay the £678.38 scrutiny fee by card. The HCPC says the application is not submitted until the fee is paid. Tell your bank about the international payment first.
8. 8

   Assessment and any test of competence

   Two ODP assessors review your file and send a first decision about 3 months after a complete application. You may be accepted, refused, or asked for more information, which can include a test of competence. Missing documents left unresolved for 6 months lead to withdrawal.
9. 9

   Verification and registration

   After acceptance the HCPC verifies your details with your education provider, regulators and referees, then invites you to pay the registration fee. Your registration number arrives by email. Only then can you use the title operating department practitioner.
10. 10

    Find a sponsored job and apply for the visa

    Search NHS Jobs for Band 5 theatre posts in anaesthetics, scrub or recovery. Many employers interview while your HCPC application is in progress. With a job offer and certificate of sponsorship, apply for the Health and Care Worker visa.

• HCPC test of competence (structured professional discussion)

  There is no written exam for ODPs. If the assessors cannot decide on paper, the HCPC may offer a test of competence: a structured professional discussion with two registered ODP assessors, focused on the gaps in your application and on UK practice. The HCPC says it is usually held online, must be completed within 12 months, and results arrive by email within two weeks. If you do not pass, the application is refused and you can appeal.

• English language test

  IELTS (Academic or General Training, at an official test centre) or TOEFL iBT (not taken in the UK). OET is not on the HCPC list for operating department practitioners.

• If the qualification that first let you practise was gained in a country where English is the predominant language, such as Australia, Canada, Ireland, New Zealand or the USA, you do not need to send English evidence.
• IELTS: overall 7.0 with no element below 6.5. Academic or General Training, UKVI or non-UKVI, taken at an official test centre.
• TOEFL iBT taken on or after 21 January 2026: Reading 4.5, Listening 5, Writing 4.5, Speaking 5 and Overall 5. Tests before that date needed 100 out of 120. The HCPC does not accept TOEFL tests taken in the UK or combined scores.
• OET: not accepted for ODPs. The HCPC lists OET only for certain professions, such as physiotherapists, radiographers and podiatrists.
• Your certificate must be no more than two years old when you apply.
• The visa has its own English rule (CEFR level B2). An IELTS for UKVI result can meet both requirements if the scores and dates line up.

Estimate your total cost

• Allow several weeks, sometimes months, for your university to return the course information form before you can apply.
• The HCPC says assessment by two assessors from your profession takes about 3 months from a complete application to a first decision, and high volumes can mean longer waits.
• If accepted, the HCPC says verification with your education provider, regulators and referees takes about 3 months before you are invited to pay the registration fee.
• If you are offered a test of competence, the HCPC says it must be completed within 12 months, with results by email within two weeks.
• GOV.UK says a Health and Care Worker visa decision usually takes about 3 weeks after you prove your identity and submit documents.
• In total, many applicants should plan for six to nine months from starting the course information form to registration, longer if a test of competence is needed.

NHS ODPs are paid on Agenda for Change. NHS Health Careers says ODPs typically start on Band 5. Figures are the NHS Employers 2026/27 annual pay points for England from 1 April 2026; Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have their own figures, and London posts add a high cost area supplement (20% of basic pay in inner London, minimum £5,794 and maximum £8,746). Theatre on-call and unsocial hours payments are extra.

• Band 5 (newly registered ODP)

  £32,073 to £39,043

  Intermediate point £34,592.

• Band 6 (experienced or senior ODP)

  £39,959 to £48,117

• Band 7 (team leader, theatre lead or advanced role)

  £49,387 to £56,515

• Band 8a (theatre manager)

  £57,528 to £64,750

  Banding for senior and management posts is set by each employer's job evaluation.

See your NHS band and annual pay

• NHS acute hospital trusts, in main theatres, day surgery, obstetric theatres, anaesthetic rooms and recovery.
• Specialist NHS centres such as cardiothoracic, neurosurgical and trauma units.
• NHS treatment centres and day surgery units.
• Private hospitals and independent surgical providers (these may not qualify for the Health and Care Worker visa unless they provide services to the NHS).
• NHS staff banks and agencies, once you are registered; check whether the organisation can sponsor your visa.

• GOV.UK lists operating department practitioners as an example job under occupation code 2259 (other health professionals not elsewhere classified), which is eligible for new Health and Care Worker visa applications.
• You need a job offer and certificate of sponsorship from a Home Office licensed sponsor that is the NHS, provides medical services to the NHS, or provides adult social care. Otherwise you may need the Skilled Worker visa.
• GOV.UK says you will usually need to be paid at least £25,000, or the going rate for the job if that is higher.
• Fees: £324 for a visa of up to 3 years or £628 for more than 3 years, per person. You and your family do not pay the Immigration Health Surcharge.
• English for the visa is separate from English for the HCPC. GOV.UK requires CEFR level B2; HCPC professionals usually prove it with a Secure English Language Test, a degree taught in English, or nationality.
• The visa can last up to 5 years before you extend it, and your partner and children may be able to apply as dependants.

1. 1

   A DHA, DOH, MOHAP, SCFHS, QCHP or other GCC licence as an operating room, anaesthesia or surgical technologist does not transfer. You apply through the HCPC international route, and the HCPC assesses the qualification that first allowed you to practise.

2. 2

   Gulf theatre experience counts. If your training covered only anaesthesia or only surgical technology, use your work in the other phases, including recovery, to fill the gap, described in your own words.

3. 3

   Ask your theatre manager or head of anaesthesia technology to act as a referee before you leave, and check they can use an official work email address.

4. 4

   List every Gulf registration on the application. The HCPC contacts regulators during verification, so keep your licences in good standing and be ready to request good standing or verification letters from each authority.

5. 5

   GCC countries are not on the HCPC English-speaking list, so you need IELTS or TOEFL iBT. OET is not accepted for ODPs.

• Application plan with every step, fee and deadline

• Document checklist tailored to you, and a review of each document before upload

• Timeline built around the regulator's closure windows and document validity periods

• Help completing the application forms accurately and consistently

• Support with profession-specific evidence, such as the HCPC standards of proficiency mapping

• Guidance on certificates of good standing, references and certified translations

• Preparation for identity checks and declarations on health and character

• Tracking your application and help responding to regulator requests

• Next steps after the decision: exams, adaptation, PIN or licence and your first job

Regulators make all registration decisions and set all fees. Our fee is separate from the regulator's fees, exam fees and translation costs.

What our registration and licensing support includesPackages and fees