The route into regulatory inspector

Financial regulation and supervision, where audit experience is directly relevant.

Four years in the Kingdom, three to four in the UK, followed by three or more years of professional examinations while working.

Building control, planning enforcement and heritage regulation.

Five to seven years in total across degree, practical experience and professional examinations. The Saudi and US B.Arch routes run five years; the UK route is three plus a year out plus two.

Food safety, biosafety and health product regulation.

Three to four years, with a laboratory or research year common and worth taking.

Process safety, environmental and industrial regulation.

Four to five years, with a preparatory year common in the Kingdom and industrial placements widely available.

Chemical, environmental and product safety regulation, where the science is the qualification.

Three to four years, with four-year integrated master's routes standard for research-bound students in the UK.

Building control, safety and standards enforcement.

Four to five years, plus several years of supervised experience before chartered or professional status.

Laboratory accreditation, biosafety and diagnostic device regulation.

Four years plus an internship year in the Saudi system; three to four years in the UK with accredited training.

Dental regulation, infection control and health facility inspection.

Five to six years, clinical from early on. Independent practice follows almost immediately, unlike medicine.

Mining, groundwater and environmental regulation.

Three to four years, with fieldwork throughout and a mapping project that is often the defining piece of work.

Health facility inspection, ambulance service standards and occupational safety.

Two to four years depending on whether you take the diploma or the bachelor's, plus an internship year in the Saudi system. The choice between them sets your classification for the whole career.

Environmental regulation, monitoring and enforcement — a core public-sector destination.

Three to four years, usually with fieldwork and often a placement.

Enforcement and regulatory bodies, an expanding sector in the Kingdom.

Three to four years for the LLB, plus one to three years of professional training and examinations. In the US, law is a graduate degree taken after a first bachelor's.

Safety, standards and plant inspection, where the engineering knowledge is the qualification.

Four to five years, often including a preparatory or foundation year in the Kingdom and an industrial placement year elsewhere.

Medicines regulation and inspection, where the qualification is close to a prerequisite.

Four to six years depending on the country, plus a pre-registration or internship year before licensure.

Regulatory and public administration bodies.

Three to four years, often with a language, an exchange or an internship year.

Radiation safety and medical device regulation, a genuinely specialised field with few qualified people.

Four years plus an internship year in the Saudi system; three to four years in the UK. Licensed practice follows immediately.

Food safety, import certification and animal health regulation — a large public-sector employer.

Five to six years undergraduate outside North America; four years after a first degree in the US and Canada.

The Saudi admission composite; some business colleges require the humanities Tahsili and some do not.

• Several periods across the yearQudurat (General Aptitude Test), open from Grade 11. Computer-based and paper sittings both run.
• Final months of the school yearTahsili (Scholastic Achievement Test), sat near the end of Grade 12 once the syllabus is covered.
• Spring and summer of Grade 12University applications through the unified admission portals and each university's own portal.

For US applications, where business schools are often a separate admission.

• March, May, JuneSpring sittings. The standard first attempt, in Grade 11.
• August, October, November, DecemberAutumn sittings. The second attempt, and the last one that reaches early US deadlines is usually the October or November date.
• Two to four weeks after each sittingScores released; sending them to universities is a separate step with its own timing.

SOCPA, ACCA, CPA, CIMA or ICAEW. This is the qualification employers pay for and value; the degree mainly buys you exemptions from parts of it.

The decisive requirement at most schools, and the one that cannot be assembled in a month. Drawing, models, photography and sketchbooks showing how you think, not just finished pieces.

Usually a conversation about your portfolio. Being able to explain why you made a decision matters more than the decision.

Cambridge natural sciences; most universities require no test for biology.

• July to SeptemberUCAT testing window, sat at a test centre.
• September to JanuaryLNAT testing window for most law courses.
• OctoberMost Oxford and Cambridge subject tests — TMUA, ESAT, PAT, TSA.
• JuneSTEP, sat alongside A-Levels as a condition of a Cambridge or Warwick offer rather than for shortlisting.

Decides whether an English preparatory year is required at the engineering colleges.

• Weekly, year-roundIELTS and TOEFL both run frequently at centres across the Kingdom; Duolingo and PTE can be sat at very short notice.
• 3 to 13 days after the testResults, depending on the test. IELTS computer-delivered is among the fastest; paper-based is slower.
• Autumn of Grade 12 at the latestWhen to have sat it by, leaving room for one repeat before offers are decided.

The licence to practise, with the classification level following your qualification and setting both your scope and your pay.

Not a test, and the thing most likely to go wrong. A biology or biomedical science degree that is not accredited for clinical practice will not license you — check this before enrolling, because it cannot be fixed afterwards.

Required by most UK dental schools, on the same timetable and with the same September booking deadline as medicine.

• July to SeptemberUCAT testing window, sat at a test centre.
• September to JanuaryLNAT testing window for most law courses.
• OctoberMost Oxford and Cambridge subject tests — TMUA, ESAT, PAT, TSA.
• JuneSTEP, sat alongside A-Levels as a condition of a Cambridge or Warwick offer rather than for shortlisting.

A heavy component of the Saudi health-college composite.

• Several periods across the yearQudurat (General Aptitude Test), open from Grade 11. Computer-based and paper sittings both run.
• Final months of the school yearTahsili (Scholastic Achievement Test), sat near the end of Grade 12 once the syllabus is covered.
• Spring and summer of Grade 12University applications through the unified admission portals and each university's own portal.

Sat by every applicant regardless of track.

• Several periods across the yearQudurat (General Aptitude Test), open from Grade 11. Computer-based and paper sittings both run.
• Final months of the school yearTahsili (Scholastic Achievement Test), sat near the end of Grade 12 once the syllabus is covered.
• Spring and summer of Grade 12University applications through the unified admission portals and each university's own portal.

The US graduate-entry dental admission test.

An absolute requirement in every system, and one people forget to plan for.

This job involves lifting people in bad positions. Back and joint conditions can be disqualifying, and the medical standard is real.

Environmental science rarely requires a subject admissions test anywhere, which makes this one of the least administratively demanding science applications.

Required by Oxford, UCL, LSE, KCL, Bristol, Durham, Glasgow, Nottingham and SOAS among others. Nothing to revise and a great deal to practise; the official practice materials are free.

• July to SeptemberUCAT testing window, sat at a test centre.
• September to JanuaryLNAT testing window for most law courses.
• OctoberMost Oxford and Cambridge subject tests — TMUA, ESAT, PAT, TSA.
• JuneSTEP, sat alongside A-Levels as a condition of a Cambridge or Warwick offer rather than for shortlisting.

The US graduate-entry route, and years away from a school decision.

Required by Cambridge and Imperial for engineering; most other universities require nothing.

• July to SeptemberUCAT testing window, sat at a test centre.
• September to JanuaryLNAT testing window for most law courses.
• OctoberMost Oxford and Cambridge subject tests — TMUA, ESAT, PAT, TSA.
• JuneSTEP, sat alongside A-Levels as a condition of a Cambridge or Warwick offer rather than for shortlisting.

Oxford's engineering, physics and materials test.

• July to SeptemberUCAT testing window, sat at a test centre.
• September to JanuaryLNAT testing window for most law courses.
• OctoberMost Oxford and Cambridge subject tests — TMUA, ESAT, PAT, TSA.
• JuneSTEP, sat alongside A-Levels as a condition of a Cambridge or Warwick offer rather than for shortlisting.

Requirements vary by PharmD programme and several have dropped standardised testing.

Oxford PPE and related courses.

• July to SeptemberUCAT testing window, sat at a test centre.
• September to JanuaryLNAT testing window for most law courses.
• OctoberMost Oxford and Cambridge subject tests — TMUA, ESAT, PAT, TSA.
• JuneSTEP, sat alongside A-Levels as a condition of a Cambridge or Warwick offer rather than for shortlisting.

Most Saudi health colleges teach in English, and registration in the UK, Australia or the Gulf requires an English score that is often higher than the university asked for.

• Weekly, year-roundIELTS and TOEFL both run frequently at centres across the Kingdom; Duolingo and PTE can be sat at very short notice.
• 3 to 13 days after the testResults, depending on the test. IELTS computer-delivered is among the fastest; paper-based is slower.
• Autumn of Grade 12 at the latestWhen to have sat it by, leaving room for one repeat before offers are decided.

Not a test, and a harder requirement than any test on this page. Most veterinary schools want weeks of experience across more than one setting — practice, farm, kennels, stables — and will not consider an application without it. It cannot be acquired in the month before the deadline.