Temporary EMS requirements

Information about the temporary EMS requirements which were implemented in response to Covid restrictions.

On this page:

• Why we put temporary requirements in place
• Summary of temporary requirements
• Students who graduated in 2023
• Students graduating in 2024
• Students graduating in 2025
• Students graduating in 2026 and 2027
• Intercalation and suspended studies

Why we put temporary requirements in place

At the peak of the Covid-19 pandemic, EMS placements were largely unavailable. Even after restrictions were lifted, there were fewer opportunities for vet students to gain hands-on experience.

To ensure students were not penalised for failing to meet EMS requirements, we updated our policies. The changes included:

• reducing the number of weeks of EMS that students had to complete (depending on year group)
• allowing virtual placements where available
• encouraging students to use online learning to help meet their learning objectives.

These changes to EMS policy continue are reviewed at each Education Committee meeting. This page will be updated if and when any changes are approved.

For more information, please contact the Education Team at [email protected] or on 020 7202 0791

Summary of temporary requirements

Students will not be prevented from graduating if they have:

• met the minimum required weeks
• completed supplementary online EMS (if required)
• demonstrated that they have achieved all of the RCVS Day One Competences.

Student Cohort		AHEMS requirement (usually 12 weeks)	Clinical EMS requirement (usually 26 weeks)
Year of programme starting in September 2022	Year of Graduation
Year 1	2027	12 weeks	26 weeks
Year 2	2026	12 weeks	26 weeks
Year 3	2025	6 weeks with online top-up around personal learning objectives	26 weeks
Year 4	2024	6 weeks with online top-up around personal learning objectives	20 weeks
Year 5	2023	6 weeks with online top-up around personal learning objectives	13 weeks with online top-up around personal learning objectives

University of Nottingham April cohorts

Students at the University of Nottingham who started their degree in the month of April in any given year should follow the requirements for the year they graduate. For example, those who started in April 2020 and are due to graduate in December 2024 are included within the class of 2024 group.

Students from the University of Cambridge

The following requirements apply to students at the University of Cambridge only.

Year of programme starting in 2022	Year of graduation	AHEMS requirement (usually 12 weeks)	Clinical EMS requirement (usually 26 weeks)
Year 1	2028	12 weeks	26 weeks
Year 2	2027	12 weeks	26 weeks
Year 3	2026	6 weeks with online top-up around personal learning objectives	26 weeks
Year 4	2025	6 weeks with online top-up around personal learning objectives	26 weeks
Year 5	2024	6 weeks with online top-up around personal learning objectives	20 weeks
Year 6	2023	6 weeks with online top-up around personal learning objectives	13 weeks with additional online top-up around personal learning objectives

Requirements by year group

Students who graduated in 2023

Students who graduated in 2023 had to complete the following:

• 12 weeks of pre-clinical EMS, comprising:
  
  • 6 weeks on placement, and
  • 6 weeks of online learning if 12 weeks on placement was not possible.
• 13 weeks of clinical EMS (instead of the standard 26 weeks).

Online learning

Students who were due to graduate in 2023 were encouraged to use online resources to meet their learning objectives.

For pre-clinical EMS, students were allowed to complete 50% of the 12 weeks required through appropriate online resources. At least 6 weeks of pre-clinical EMS placements had to be in-person.

For clinical EMS, online resources were recommended to ensure that students not doing the full 26 weeks weren’t at a disadvantage. Students were not expected to complete 13 whole weeks of online learning.

Virtual EMS placements

At the height of the pandemic, students were allowed to carry out a limited number of virtual EMS placements. These placements had to be directly related to a veterinary workplace environment.

Out of the 13 weeks of clinical EMS placements, we advised students to carry out 2 - 4 weeks of virtual placements. However, this was not specifically laid out in our EMS guidance.

Students graduating in 2024

Students who graduated in 2024 had to complete the following:

• 12 weeks of pre-clinical EMS, comprising:
  
  • 6 weeks on placement, and
  • 6 weeks of online learning if 12 weeks on placement was not possible.
• 20 weeks of clinical EMS (instead of the standard 26 weeks).

Students graduating in 2025

Students graduating in 2025 must complete the following:

• 12 weeks of pre-clinical EMS, comprising:
  
  • 6 weeks on placement, and
  • 6 weeks of online learning if 12 weeks on placement was not possible.
• 26 weeks of clinical EMS.

Students graduating in 2026 and 2027

Students graduating in 2026 and 2027 must complete the following:

• 12 weeks of pre-clinical EMS.
• 26 weeks of clinical EMS.

The requirements will be reviewed periodically going forward.

Intercalation and suspended studies

EMS requirements may differ for students who are on intercalated courses or suspending their studies.

Students in their pre-clinical years

Students who were:

• in their pre-clinical years, and
• intercalating during the academic year 2022 to 2023

must meet the requirements of the year group they rejoin when they return to the course.

Students in their clinical years

Students who were:

• in their clinical years
• not registered as a veterinary student, and
• intercalating during the academic years 2019 to 2020 and/or 2020 to 2021

must meet the requirements of the year group that they’re graduating with when they rejoin the course.

Students who were:

• in their clinical years, and
• intercalating during the academic years 2021 to 2022 onwards

must meet the requirements for the year in which they started the course.

Students suspending their studies

Students who in the academic year 2021 to 2022 were:

• in their clinical years
• taking time out of their studies, and
• not registered as vet students

must meet the requirements for the year in which they started the course.

Students resitting assessments

Students who are:

• resitting assessments
• delayed by a year to complete that year’s assessment cycle, and
• not registered as vet students at the time

must meet the requirements for the year in which they started the course.

Students repeating academic years

Students who are repeating a year must meet the requirements for the year in which they started the course.

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