+1(514) 937-9445 or Toll-free (Canada & US) +1 (888) 947-9445

IELTS v/s CELBAN for NURSES( IEN'S)

pkkalras

Full Member
Apr 27, 2015
28
9
canada
It has been a very common question asked by every International nurse seeking upgrading as an LPN or RN. CELBAN* is a four module English assessment test that is required for International nurses in Canada. It is accepted by all licensing bodies all over Canada. It is specially designed in Canada.
In this four module test in which reading, writing, listening and speaking abilities of a student are accessed individually.
The CELBAN test is designed in Canada, especially for nurses by Canadian Language Benchmark an is entirely from the medical background. The Nurses feel comfortable to take the test as it requires the test of English proficiency for medical report writing, medical vocabulary and interaction with patients for treatment. Reading section may include reading topics as Diabetes, Rabies etc. Similarly Listening section has video and audio scenes like bed shift report, communication between nurse and doctor, patient and nurse, etc. Speaking section has role plays for history taking and giving discharge instructions to the patient. The writing section is the easiest one where you have to write an incident report and filling an entry form of a patient. All questions in reading and listening modules have only one type; multiple choice questions. The students have to score in Listening-10 bands (92% Out of 84 questions, they have a chance of making 5-6 mistakes.) Reading- 8 bands, Writing 7 bands and Speaking 8 bands. Listening is a bit challenging, still most students are able to pass the test in the first chance.

The nursing students have already done the medical topics very well in their nursing school. So, most of the modules of the test are based on medical topics; therefore it is easier for the nurses to pass the test. Chances of passing CELBAN test by the nurses are quite higher than IELTS.
However, IELTS (the International English Language Testing System) is an internationally recognized language test designed to assess the language ability of candidates in all four modules as Listening, Reading, Writing and Speaking from the topics based to meet an academic standard.

Nurses are required to take an Academic module, in which all topics are taken from English Journals, Magazines, Research books and Newspapers. Nurses study English as a subject up to Grade 12. So, their basic English is not of very high standard. In writing section they have to write a 250 word essay on any current, debatable issue or a philosophical topic. There is a graph writing also which is totally new for the student. Similarly, reading section is again highly challenging. The vocabulary is very tough in the academic module. Moreover, the topics are very confusing and all question types are different. They need grammatical accuracy. The band Score requirement is; Listening-7.5 bands, Reading- 7 bands, Writing- 7 bands and Speaking -7 bands. The Reading and Writing sections are the most challenging for the nurses.

In the nutshell, I must say that CELBAN test is easier for nurses than IELTS. I have been teaching both for almost 9 years in Canada for CELBAN and 21 years for IELTS. On the basis of results, I have seen more pass rate in CELBAN test for the nurses.

Parvinder Kaur Kalra
Guru Learning Institute
604-953-0003
 

angel123456

Star Member
Aug 24, 2015
63
4
As per my experience with both the tests, I would highly recommend CELBAN!!!

Please go for CELBAN at any cost... If you dont find test dates in your city, go to another city to write this test. For nurses, i highly recommend this test!

Also, just for your info,

In homeland, I got 7.5 overall bands
Then In canada, I got 6.5 overall bands with the same hardwork and effort. And multiple times, i attempted and the results were more or less same.
Eventually, I wrote CELBAN exam and i cleared it on the first attempt...

So, Now the ball is in ur court!

BEST OF LUCK...
 

canada11

Hero Member
Feb 7, 2015
575
55
Category........
Visa Office......
London
Job Offer........
Pre-Assessed..
App. Filed.......
18-Jul-2014
VISA ISSUED...
02-Jul-2015
LANDED..........
15-Sep-2015
I gave IELTS almost 10 times, but could not get the required dreadful Band 7 in all. I gave CELBAN & got the requried is
 

Biny

Newbie
Nov 13, 2019
1
0
Hi
How & where can i appear for celban ?
Would i able to appear for RN program from my place ?
 

alfredmak

Newbie
Nov 24, 2019
5
1
hi, I want to know that dosen't NNAS require applicant (IEN) to take IELTS (acad. mode) to validate his/her nursing background.in Canada? What this CELBAN is for in Canada?
 
Nov 26, 2019
3
0
hi, I want to know that dosen't NNAS require applicant (IEN) to take IELTS (acad. mode) to validate his/her nursing background.in Canada? What this CELBAN is for in Canada?
You can give either IELTS or CELBAN as per your wish. You should go through nnas applicant handbook. It is available as pdf on google for free
 

mhenchz

Member
Aug 27, 2017
11
0
Hello, regarding celban listening,so you are listening to an audio /video , then you will fill in the blanks with words or phrases ,like:
1. Employed as ______.
The answer should be ,an electrician.
But you only write electrician.will that makes your answer wrong? Or will it still count as correct?
Thank u
 

Beconfident

Newbie
Feb 28, 2020
2
0
Hello, regarding celban listening,so you are listening to an audio /video , then you will fill in the blanks with words or phrases ,like:
1. Employed as ______.
The answer should be ,an electrician.
But you only write electrician.will that makes your answer wrong? Or will it still count as correct?
Thank u
You don't need to fill in. Celban Listening test questions are all multiple choices.
 

Smartnurse

Full Member
Jun 26, 2018
32
4
So I wrote celban 2020 passed all module above the required score except listening , just one score below. It was painful , I have never failed an exam since I was born. Trust is that celban doesn’t have study materials and the listening audios given by most of these tutors are nothing compared to the main thing, I was thrown unawares and I panicked . If only I repeat if only they can distribute study materials and stop milking ien of their hard earned money.
 

j0pd008

Star Member
Jul 7, 2018
97
3
Hi i submit my job description to cno and my manger sent letter with use of english at workplace .i already clear rpn exam.well i worked in call center in canada for 5 month.will it fulfill my language requirement?any idea from anyone would be helpful