In Sweden, 25 graduate nursing programmes are offered by different universities. They vary regarding organisation, content and quality. There is also considerable variation in the amount of clinical practice in Sweden and the quality outcomes vary significantly between these. A multi-method strategy is suggested for clinical competence assessment for nursing to be sure that assessment reveals whether or not students have achieved the complex repertoire of knowledge, skills and attitudes required for competent practice. The aim of the Swedish National Clinical Final Examination (NCFE) is to examine third-year nursing students’ clinical competence and ensure that they have the clinical knowledge and skills required as laid out in the legislation. The examination is a tool/model for a safe and equivalent assessment of clinical competence at the national level. The examination is divided into two parts; a written test and a bedside test. The written exam consists of two cases there medical issues and essential information will be added gradually and continuously throughout each of the cases, followed by questions related to the next scenario. The questions are constructed to have limited answers. The students proceed by turning the top page/paper, one at a time and they must only have one page/paper faced up at a time. Upon completion of a page, it should be placed faced down again. It is not permitted to go back and forth between the pages of the exam. Completed and turned pages must stay tuned. The bedside part of the examination is performed after the written part, and is also of four hours’ duration. The student is expected to demonstrate an adequate capacity for reasoning based on theory about issues of relevance for patient care. Feedback from the patient about the student’s performance is obtained by the observing nurse. The final assessment is made by the clinical lecturer, resulting in the decision to pass or fail the student