International Relocation Calculator
Weigh your estimated UK NHS take-home pay against the one-off cost of getting here — visa, IHS, OSCE/PLAB exam fees, flights and initial accommodation — and see a simple payback period.
For the full walkthrough of visas, OSCE, PLAB and settling in, read our companion guide: International Recruitment to the NHS.
Use your expected band and point — check the NHS Pay Calculator if you're not sure.
Convert your home-country salary to GBP yourself using a currency converter first. Leave as 0 to just see how long UK take-home pay alone takes to cover your relocation costs.
Typically 1-2 months. Budget for living costs across this gap with savings, on top of the one-off costs below.
UK annual take-home pay
£22,474
£1,873/month, after tax, NI and NHS pension contributions
Total one-off relocation costs
£5,000
Estimated payback period
2.7 months
Months of UK take-home pay alone needed to cover your one-off relocation costs (no home income entered).
Know where you'll stand financially 3 years after you land
The payback period above tells you when relocation costs are covered. It doesn't tell you what's left in your account after rent, food and everyday costs compound year over year — that's the number that actually decides whether the move was worth it:
- 3-year budget planner — rent, transport, food and utilities projected forward with compounding annual cost inflation
- Year-by-year disposable income, so you can see exactly when (or if) you move from tight to comfortable
- Cumulative 3-year net position after your one-off relocation costs, in one headline figure
- Every field fully editable with your own quotes, so the projection reflects your real target city, not a generic average
- Downloadable PDF budget report, ready to plan around or share with family
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Short answer
Internationally trained nurses generally register via the NMC's OSCE; internationally trained doctors generally register via the GMC's PLAB test (or a GMC alternative route). Both then typically need a Health and Care Worker visa to work in the NHS. This calculator doesn't guess exact current fees — it compares your estimated UK take-home pay against relocation costs you enter yourself, and shows a simple payback period in months.
How this calculator works
Enter your target NHS gross salary and we work out your estimated UK take-home pay after income tax, National Insurance and NHS pension contributions (England/Wales/NI rules), the same calculation used across FrontlinePay's other pay tools. Enter your current annual income (converted to GBP yourself) if you want a direct comparison, or leave it blank to just see how long UK pay alone takes to cover your relocation costs.
The relocation cost fields — visa fee, Immigration Health Surcharge, OSCE/PLAB or other registration exam fees, and flights/initial accommodation — are all editable, and each starts with a round, clearly-illustrative default rather than a precise-looking figure, because exact current fees change and we're not a verified source for today's number. Overwrite each one with your own quote before treating the result as a real budget, and check gov.uk, the NMC or the GMC for the current figures.
The payback period is deliberately simple: total one-off relocation costs divided by either your full UK take-home pay (if you didn't enter a home income) or the extra take-home pay UK work gives you over your current income (if you did). It's a useful planning number, not a complete picture — see our international recruitment guide for the practical and emotional realities of relocation that no calculator can capture.
OSCE route (nurses) vs PLAB route (doctors), at a glance
Which exam and regulator apply to you depends entirely on your profession. Here's how the two main routes compare:
| Nurses — OSCE / NMC | Doctors — PLAB / GMC | |
|---|---|---|
| Regulator | NMC (Nursing and Midwifery Council) | GMC (General Medical Council) |
| Core exam | OSCE — a single practical, simulated clinical exam across timed stations | PLAB — two parts: PLAB 1 (written) then PLAB 2 (practical clinical) |
| Route without sitting the exam | Not generally available | GMC alternative routes exist for some qualifications and countries |
| English language requirement | Commonly IELTS (Academic) or OET, unless exempt | Commonly IELTS (Academic) or OET, unless exempt |
| Typical visa route | Health and Care Worker visa (Skilled Worker category) | Health and Care Worker visa (Skilled Worker category) |
| Where to check current rules | nmc.org.uk | gmc-uk.org |
Both routes ultimately feed into the same visa step — the Health and Care Worker visa — and both involve costs (exam fees, travel to a test centre, preparation) that this calculator lets you enter and adjust yourself, since we deliberately don't publish a single "correct" figure that could go stale. See the full international recruitment guide for how each route actually works step by step.
What this calculator can't tell you
A payback-period number is genuinely useful, but it only measures one dimension of a decision that has several. A few things worth weighing alongside it:
1. The emotional cost of the move itself
Moving to another country to start a demanding, high-stakes clinical job — often away from children, parents, or a partner who hasn't yet joined you — is one of the hardest things a person can do, and it's normal for it to feel harder than expected even when everything on paper goes right. No calculator can price that in; our international recruitment guide covers what that adjustment period actually looks like, and where to find support.
2. Accommodation and banking before you have UK credit history
Most letting agents and banks expect proof of income, a UK guarantor, or a credit history that a newly arrived international recruit typically doesn't have. In practice, many people start in NHS-arranged or trust-facilitated accommodation while they build up a UK payslip history — worth asking your trust about specifically, since support varies a lot between employers.
3. Your first payslip may not match the headline salary
Tax code adjustments (often an emergency or temporary code in your first pay period or two), pension auto-enrolment, and a partial first month if you started mid-month can all make your first payslip look different from what you expected. Use the NHS Pay Calculator to get a realistic picture of ongoing take-home pay at your actual band and point, rather than budgeting off the headline salary alone.
4. Not every recruiter is acting in your interest
⚠Watch out for recruitment agency scams and unethical fees
Internationally recruited nurses and doctors are a frequent target for unethical or outright fraudulent recruitment practices — most commonly, agencies demanding large upfront fees for "guaranteed" placements, exam bookings, or visa sponsorship that a legitimate, ethically compliant recruiter wouldn't charge for in that way. Check any agency against the UK's Code of Practice for the International Recruitment of Health and Social Care Personnel, and be especially wary of any request for a large fee before you have a firm, verifiable offer from an identifiable NHS trust or approved sponsor. See our international recruitment guide for the full detail on ethical recruitment red flags.
Why trust this calculator
- ✓ Cost fields are clearly-labelled editable placeholders, not invented precise fees — we tell you exactly what to verify and where
- ✓ Take-home pay uses the same England/Wales/NI income tax and NI engine as FrontlinePay's other pay tools
- ✓ No currency conversion baked in — you control the exchange rate you trust, rather than one that might be stale
- ✓ Runs entirely in your browser — your figures are calculated locally, not sent to a server or stored against your name
More tools & guides
NHS Pay Calculator
Band, point & region → exact UK take-home pay.
Unsocial Hours Calculator
Nights, weekends & bank holiday enhancements.
NHS Pension Calculator
Project your 2015 CARE scheme pension at retirement.
Locum & Bank Rate Comparator
Compare PAYE bank pay, umbrella and Ltd company take-home.
International Recruitment to the NHS
The full OSCE, PLAB, visa and settling-in walkthrough.
Agenda for Change Pay Scales 2026/27
Where your band and point sit once you're settled in post.
Frequently asked questions
Are the visa, IHS and exam fee defaults the exact current figures? +
No — deliberately not. Visa fees, the Immigration Health Surcharge and NMC/GMC exam fees are set by the Home Office, the NMC and the GMC respectively, and they change from time to time. Every cost field on this page is a round, clearly-labelled illustrative placeholder you can and should overwrite with your own quotes. Always check gov.uk, the NMC or the GMC for the current figure before relying on any number here.
Does this include tax in my home country? +
No. This calculator only works out UK income tax, National Insurance and NHS pension contributions on your target NHS salary. The 'current income' field asks for your home-country income already converted to GBP, and we compare it directly against UK take-home pay — it does not attempt to model your home country's tax system. If you want a fairer comparison, use your home take-home (after-tax) pay rather than your gross salary.
What if my home country income is in a different currency? +
Convert it to GBP yourself first, using any currency converter, before entering it here. We don't do currency conversion in the calculator because exchange rates move daily and we'd rather you use a rate you trust and understand than one baked into a tool that might be stale.
Does this calculator account for the Immigration Health Surcharge exemption for Health and Care Worker visas? +
Not automatically — you control it. Many Health and Care Worker visa applicants are exempt from the IHS, but eligibility rules can change and depend on your specific visa route. If you believe you're exempt, simply set the IHS field to £0. If you're not sure, check the current rules on gov.uk before assuming either way.
Is 'months to break even' the same as a decision on whether to relocate? +
No — it's one useful, simplified number, not the whole picture. It only measures the financial payback of one-off relocation costs against pay. It doesn't weigh career progression, training opportunities, family circumstances, safety, climate, or the emotional cost of moving away from home, all of which matter enormously in a decision like this. Use it as one input among several.
Why isn't this calculator more precise about visa costs? +
Because precision we can't verify is worse than honesty about what we don't know. Visa and exam fees are exactly the kind of number that changes and that people rely on for life-changing financial planning, so we'd rather give you editable fields with clear placeholder ranges than a fixed number that might quietly be wrong. See our companion guide for the same approach applied to the wider process.
What's the difference between the OSCE and PLAB routes? +
The OSCE, used by the NMC, is a single practical exam where you move through timed stations simulating real clinical scenarios. PLAB, used by the GMC, has two separate parts — a written exam (PLAB 1) followed by a practical clinical exam (PLAB 2). Nurses generally sit the OSCE; doctors generally sit PLAB, though some doctors qualify for a GMC alternative route that skips PLAB entirely based on their qualification and country of training.
Do I need a job offer before I can sit OSCE or PLAB? +
Not necessarily as a strict legal precondition for the exam itself, but in practice most candidates move through this process as part of a structured pathway with an NHS trust — recruited directly or via an agency working with one or more trusts, many of which support candidates through preparation and booking. Check the NMC's or GMC's own guidance for the exact sequencing that applies to your qualification and country of training.
Will I need to sit an English language test? +
Most internationally trained nurses and doctors need to meet an English language requirement — commonly IELTS (Academic) or OET — as part of NMC or GMC registration, on top of any separate English language requirement attached to the visa itself. Requirements, accepted tests and exemptions are set independently by the NMC, GMC and Home Office, so check each one rather than assuming a single test satisfies all three.
What about accommodation and opening a bank account before I have UK credit history? +
Both are common early hurdles. Most letting agents and banks want proof of income, a UK guarantor, or credit history that a newly arrived international recruit typically doesn't have yet, so many people start in NHS-arranged or trust-facilitated accommodation and use employer-provided documentation to open a bank account in their first few weeks. Ask your trust's international recruitment or HR team what support they offer — it varies considerably between trusts.