Nursing and Midwifery Council determination — investigation committee
Struck off the register
The regulator’s term: erasure
What does “struck off the register” mean?
Being struck off (the regulator calls this "erasure") removes the practitioner from the register. They are no longer permitted to practise this profession in the UK. Erasure can be reviewed after a minimum of five years, but is otherwise indefinite.
Concerning Esther Temitayo Ayelabowo, nurse (Nursing and Midwifery Council 23B0236O).
Decision date: 15 April 2026 · Hearing started 18 February 2026 and ended 15 April 2026
In plain English
The NMC's Investigating Committee found that Esther Temitayo Ayelabowo's entry on the nursing register was fraudulently procured, because the Computer Based Test result she submitted from the Yunnik Technologies test centre in Nigeria on 29 March 2022 had been obtained through fraud, most likely through use of a human proxy. She completed the clinical test in under ten minutes against an allowed time of 150 minutes. The panel directed under Article 26(7) that her entry be removed from the register, with an 18-month interim suspension order covering the appeal period.
Charges
That the registrant, as part of her application to join the NMC register, (1) submitted or caused to be submitted a Computer Based Test (CBT) result obtained at Yunnik Technologies Limited test centre on 29 March 2022 that had been obtained through fraud, and that, in light of the above, her entry on the NMC register was fraudulently procured. In the alternative, (2) that the result was subsequently declared void by the NMC due to concerns about the manner in which tests were being conducted at the test centre, and her entry was incorrectly made.
Findings
The Investigating Committee found charge 1 proved on the balance of probabilities and did not consider charge 2, which had been pleaded in the alternative. The panel had regard to evidence from Pearson VUE's Director of Information Security (Bryan Friess), independent data analyst Richard Steele, two NMC witnesses, and two other candidates who described proxy testing at the Yunnik centre. The registrant completed the clinical CBT in 9 minutes 25 seconds (out of 150 minutes) and the numeracy CBT in 5 minutes 48 seconds (out of 30 minutes); the statistical likelihood of completing the clinical test honestly at her speed was approximately 1 in 56,478 globally. The panel concluded that the reason she was able to complete the test so quickly was more likely than not the use of a human proxy, applying the test in Ivey v Genting Casinos. The panel therefore found that the entry on the Adult Nursing part of the NMC register was fraudulently procured and directed under Article 26(7) of the Nursing and Midwifery Order 2001 that the entry be removed from the Register, with an interim suspension order for 18 months covering the appeal period.
Source
All facts on this page are drawn from the publicly published Nursing and Midwifery Council determination linked below. MedicWatch does not editorialise the regulator’s findings.
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