VN exam results - pass rates up

The results of the first National Vocational Qualification Level 2 summer exams to have been taken under the new syllabus are out, and pass rates have gone up.

The pass rate for those taking the small animal veterinary nursing exam for the first time was 93%, compared with 82% for the summer exam in 2006 and 86% in 2005.

"This is great news and indicates that the new syllabus has had a positive impact," according to Andrea Jeffery, Chairman of the RCVS Veterinary Nurses Council and Principal Examiner.

The College's statistical consultants, DRS, found that candidates' mean scores showed a much more balanced result across papers. "This may be due to a decreased emphasis on anatomy in the new syllabus, which seemed largely to have been an exercise in learning by rote. By contrast, the new syllabus encourages the development of holistic nursing knowledge," explained Andrea.

"It is also likely that approaching the new syllabus catalysed lecturers to take a fresh approach to their material and this may have had a positive effect in terms of enthusing students to learn," she said.

To counter the inevitable cries of 'dumbing down' the College stresses that the new papers were drawn mainly from the same bank of questions as the old, and with a similar mix of difficulty levels set across the papers.

The results will be posted to candidates on Thursday 9 August and be available online from 12 noon on that date.