About working in the UK

Hi! I've been registered here in Allnurses since 2008 and I believe this will be my first real post here. I've been working for 5 years now as nurse in the Emergency Department.

I've somehow nailed a job offer bound for the UK last week, about 40% of it only by happenstance (I stumbled upon this work agency after a failed attempt to get to an earlier interview bound for dammam and.. well..bam!) I still haven't taken any exams. In fact, I haven't even signed the contract agreement as I needed time to think about it. I don't have much of that really. I believe the hospital is under the NHS.

I'm from the Philippines and I know nothing about how life is working as an entry level nurse in the UK. So I'd like to ask about it here.

The offer is about £1.800. I was told in my orientation that it falls under Band 5 in UK's salary system. I don't know whether band 5 is any good or not. I'm guessing, it's entry level. (about £1,200 until I pass the OSCE)

Accommodation and food are not subsidized by the employer. But apparently, I don't think that's the practice when it comes to UK jobs as opposed to the middle eastern job offers which really is the bread-and-butter of local nurses here in the Philippines at the moment. No tax, a free house with food allowance but a rather...challenging work life (My gf is currently a nurse in Dammam, Saudi Arabia)

UK nursing jobs have this stigma locally, that Filipino Nurses would need to shell out a huge sum of about roughly £7,000 to get to the UK and work. Every local nurse that I know of has been telling me that. I didn't listen to them and to my surprise, none of that was true at all as I only need to shell out for my ILETS and the NMC registration, which is nowhere near £7000. Not even 10% (provided that I ace all the tests that is).

So do you suppose an entry level £1,800 would suffice for me to live in the UK? Will that cover the cost of living or would I just be scraping by? With all taxes and fees aside, the agency thinks I'll have £1,400 as net a month which I'll be using for rent, food, bills etc. I'm not supporting anyone. I have no kids, my old man's got lots of money (apparently I don't hence why I'm looking for a nice career hahaha!) and well I guess I'll be working on starting a great career as a nurse and getting married.

I'm currently reading UK taxation guides and I'm having trouble understanding it. There's an entry about 20% tax and allowances I don't really understand.

I'm having a hard time whether to take my chances with UK as I will be leaving my old man alone here, and the with the 3yr contarct, that means my gf and I won't be seeing each other for another 4-5yrs which could spell disaster. My brother's in Dubai and he said that he won't be coming home this year. Perhaps the next........ "perhaps," he said. 'Got no friends or relatives whatsoever in the UK. But I've always been fascinated with country way back when I was a kid. I remember telling my late mother that I'd work in the UK someday and here it is. An opportunity to make a dream a reality.

So I'm weighing my options very carefully and I've been having bad headaches for days now. I figured who else better to ask but the UK nurses themselves right? :)

Best regards! I think I'll be posting around the forum more.