Esther Temitayo Ayelabowo
Introduction
Esther Temitayo Ayelabowo was a nurse registered with the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC), registration number 23B0236O, on the Adult Nursing part of the register. On 15 April 2026 the NMC’s Investigating Committee found that her entry on the register had been fraudulently procured and directed her erasure — commonly described as being struck off the register — under Article 26(7) of the Nursing and Midwifery Order 2001, with an 18-month interim suspension order covering the appeal period . The finding centred on the Computer Based Test (CBT) result she had submitted when applying to join the register, which the committee found had been obtained through fraud, most likely through use of a human proxy .
Background Information
Ayelabowo was registered with the NMC as a nurse under PIN 23B0236O . Her profile records that she qualified in Nigeria and that her specialty was Adult Nursing . As part of her application to join the NMC register she submitted a Computer Based Test result obtained at the Yunnik Technologies Limited test centre in Nigeria on 29 March 2022 . Beyond her name, registration number, qualification country and specialty, the public pages published by MedicWatch contain little biographical detail . Her profile page carried a “registration status not yet verified” notice and directed readers to the official NMC register for current registration details .
The Controversy or Incident That Led to Their Cancellation
Adjudicated vs. alleged. The findings in this section come from a Nursing and Midwifery Council fitness-to-practise panel determination, which decided the charges on the balance of probabilities. Charges found proved are regulatory findings, not criminal convictions; the Investigating Committee found charge 1 proved and did not consider charge 2, which had been pleaded in the alternative, so no charge was found not proved. Nothing here is a criminal record unless the determination itself states one.
Charge 1 alleged that, as part of her application to join the NMC register, Ayelabowo submitted or caused to be submitted a Computer Based Test result obtained at the Yunnik Technologies Limited test centre on 29 March 2022 that had been obtained through fraud, and that, in light of this, her entry on the NMC register was fraudulently procured . Charge 2, pleaded in the alternative, alleged that the result had subsequently been declared void by the NMC due to concerns about the manner in which tests were being conducted at the test centre, and that her entry was incorrectly made . The Investigating Committee found charge 1 proved on the balance of probabilities and did not consider charge 2 .
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 against an allowed time of 150 minutes, and the numeracy CBT in 5 minutes 48 seconds against an allowed time of 30 minutes . The panel heard that the statistical likelihood of completing the clinical test honestly at her speed was approximately 1 in 56,478 globally . Applying the test in Ivey v Genting Casinos, 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 . It therefore found that her entry on the Adult Nursing part of the register was fraudulently procured, directed under Article 26(7) of the Nursing and Midwifery Order 2001 that the entry be removed from the register, and imposed an 18-month interim suspension order covering the appeal period .
MedicWatch’s plain-English summary states that her 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” .
Public Reaction and Consequences
The immediate consequence was regulatory. The committee directed that Ayelabowo’s entry be removed from the register and imposed an 18-month interim suspension order covering the appeal period . Neither the determination page nor the practitioner profile records any press coverage, public statements or online campaigns connected with the case; both confine themselves to the regulator’s findings and links to the underlying decision . The case sits within the wider scrutiny of the Yunnik Technologies test centre reflected in the charge sheet itself, which referred to NMC concerns about the manner in which tests were being conducted at the centre, and in the evidence of two other candidates who described proxy testing there . MedicWatch, which describes itself as an independent record service aggregating publicly published decisions of UK healthcare regulators, added the case to its record on 26 April 2026 .
Current Status
Ayelabowo’s most recent recorded outcome is erasure — struck off the register — decided on 15 April 2026 by the NMC . The hearing had begun on 18 February 2026 and ended on the decision date, a span of about eight weeks . The direction was made under Article 26(7) of the Nursing and Midwifery Order 2001, with the interim suspension order running for 18 months across the appeal period . MedicWatch’s explainer notes that the regulator directed removal from the register in this decision, that the decision sets out when the direction takes effect and any appeal provisions, and that readers should check the official NMC register for the practitioner’s current registration status . Her profile page carried the “not yet verified” registration notice rather than a live confirmation of her position on the register .
Impact on Their Career/Life
The erasure removed Ayelabowo from the register on which her status as a registered nurse in the United Kingdom depended, and the finding went to the validity of her registration itself: the panel concluded that her entry on the Adult Nursing part of the register was fraudulently procured . The determination page gives no information about her subsequent employment or personal circumstances, and the profile page records no later regulatory decisions . Her case remains part of MedicWatch’s browsable record of nurse erasures, listed under the outcome “struck off the register” with the decision date of 15 April 2026 .