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Cambridge University Vet School given 10 months to meet recommendations for improvement of veterinary degree

25 November 2024

Following a meeting of our Education Committee last week [Tuesday 19 November 2024], we have notified the University of Cambridge’s Department of Veterinary Medicine that it must demonstrate improvements to its veterinary degree programme by September 2025, following an RCVS accreditation visit earlier this year that identified wide-ranging concerns.

The veterinary school was given "conditional accreditation" [see 'FAQs', below] for its degree, as it had met only 27 of the 77 RCVS accreditation standards.

The visitation was conducted by an accreditation panel comprising representatives from veterinary academia and clinical practice, as well as student and international representatives.

As part of the accreditation process, the panel considered a wide range of evidence including documents and records submitted in relation to the standards, discussions and interviews with students and faculty members, a tour of the teaching facilities, and meetings with other key stakeholders.

Based on the evidence, the panel agreed 55 recommendations for improvement which were then discussed, alongside the formal response from the Department, in September this year, by our Primary Qualifications Subcommittee (PQSC), the body responsible for considering accreditation reports and making recommendations to Education Committee. 

Due to the unusually high number of recommendations and concerns about the delivery of the Cambridge degree, PQSC recommended that the degree programme receive conditional accreditation for 10 months, which was then agreed by Education Committee.

Summarising the views of the Education Committee, an RCVS spokesperson said: "Following careful review of the evidence, during the Committee’s detailed discussions, it was unanimously agreed that the number of standards not currently being met, which extended across all domains, meant that the Committee made the difficult decision to grant conditional accreditation.

"The Committee thanked those panel members who took part in the visitation for the careful and robust way in which they considered the evidence against the standards and what they heard and observed during the visitation process, and for their candour in identifying the problems they found and providing the recommendations to set them right. It also thanked members of PQSC for their careful and comprehensive discussions around the issues.

"In reaching a decision and timeframe, given the problems identified, and the impact these will have on student learning and experience, Education Committee members firmly agreed on the need to help the vet school support both existing students on, and future applicants to, the Cambridge veterinary programme."

The spokesperson continued: "At the next visitation in September 2025, a panel will consider the evidence submitted and then a decision will be made on the future status of the degree.”

"In the meantime, we recognise that both students and staff might have concerns about this outcome, so we remain able and very willing to work closely with the Department in the coming weeks to ensure it has appropriate support plans in place."

The full list of recommendations, suggestions and commendations for Cambridge following the visit in May 2024 are available to read in the full report.

For more information, please read our FAQs, below:

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Frequently Asked Questions

  • How does the RCVS accreditation process work?

    In order for someone to work as a vet in the UK, they must be registered as a Member of the RCVS (MRCVS). To be eligible to register, the individual must either hold a veterinary degree that is recognised by us (via accreditation or other arrangement) or they must pass our Statutory Membership Examination.

    Those studying in the UK, are automatically eligible to register if their UK veterinary degree is accredited by the RCVS. RCVS accreditation of a new veterinary degree enables a Recognition Order (RO) to be granted by the Privy Council that allows graduates from the programme to be automatically eligible to register, become an MRCVS and obtain a licence to practise.

    In order for veterinary degrees to be accredited by the RCVS, they need to meet the required 2023 Standards and Methodology. This is checked through both accreditation events (where an accreditation panel visits the school/department to check they are meeting the standards) and through yearly reports, that all programmes must complete.

  • What are the different types of accreditation available for veterinary degrees?

    A full accreditation cycle is 7 years; however, the RCVS may grant shorter accreditation for programmes where they feel an earlier review is needed to consider progress being made towards areas needing improvement. This accreditation classification is known as ‘Accreditation for a shorter period’.

    Regardless of the period of classification, the RCVS may trigger an earlier accreditation event if the yearly reports indicate there are standards that are not being met, that there are risks to student learning and experience or if there are major changes to the programme.

    In some instances, where the problems are perhaps widespread and / or could severely impact student learning and experience, an accreditation classification of ‘Conditional accreditation’ could be granted. Conditional accreditation is essentially a ‘final warning’ for the programme; the Department must work to meet all the RCVS standards and provide evidence of this by the date set.

  • Why has the VetMB programme at Cambridge University been awarded conditional accreditation?

    As a result of concerns arising on the programme later in 2023, an accreditation event was triggered which took place in May 2024. The accreditation report showed that there was evidence that a wide range of accreditation standards were not being met by the Department in relation to the degree programme. All accreditation reports are published on our website.

    Considering the Cambridge report, the RCVS Primary Qualifications Subcommittee and Education Committee agreed that the concerns about the programme were sufficiently significant that they needed to be addressed quickly, to prevent further risk to students’ learning and experience. For these reasons, on 19 November 2024 the programme was awarded ‘conditional accreditation’ with the need for the department to address the standards not currently being met by September 2025.

  • I am a student currently enrolled on the VetMB programme… what are the implications of conditional accreditation or terminal accreditation for me?

    While the programme has conditional accreditation, students successfully graduating from the programme will remain eligible to automatically register with the RCVS, and this will continue if the degree programme remains accredited after the September 2025 visit.

    If, following the accreditation event in September 2025, the programme is awarded ‘terminal accreditation’ the Department will no longer be able to enrol new students onto the programme, and they must ensure that the standards needed to allow all currently enrolled students to complete the programme and graduate are maintained.

  • If the school goes into terminal accreditation will I be able to practise as a veterinary surgeon upon graduation?

    If the school is unable to ensure the relevant standards are met, the RCVS may ask Privy Council to suspend or revoke the Recognition Order (RO) for the programme. If the RO is suspended or revoked, students graduating from the programme will not be automatically eligible to register as an MRCVS and would need to pass the RCVS Statutory Membership Examination after they have graduated.

  • Will my accreditation last the usual four years?

    It has been agreed by the VMD, the PSG and the RCVS Covid Taskforce that the usual interim accreditation period of four years will apply, with the caveat that we reserve the right to continue carrying out spot-checks for quality and monitoring purposes.

  • Will my accreditation last the usual four years?

    It has been agreed by the VMD, the PSG and the RCVS Covid Taskforce that the usual interim accreditation period of four years will apply, with the caveat that we reserve the right to continue carrying out spot-checks for quality and monitoring purposes.

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