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- Council Members
- Role of Council Members
- Council meetings
- Council elections
- Previous election results
- Dr Louise Allum
- Dr Sam Bescoby
- Dr Andrew Clemence
- Dr Tshidi Gardiner
- Dr Reginald Godwin
- Paddy Gordon
- Dr Danielle Greenberg
- Dr Gerard Henry
- Dr Richard Hillman
- Dr Benjamin Kennedy
- Dr Tom Lonsdale
- Dr Darren Partridge
- Martin Peaty
- Alison Price
- Dr Peter Robinson
- Dr Jennifer Simmons
- Dr Sadie Spencer
- Dr Mary Thomas
- William Wilkinson
- Dr Lara Wilson
- Past-Presidents
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- Advancement of the Professions Committee
- Standards Committee
- Audit and Risk Committee
- Education Committee
- Disciplinary Committee
- Charter Case Committee
- Preliminary Investigation Committee and Disciplinary Committee Liaison Committee
- Registration Committee
- Preliminary Investigation Committee
- Paper classification: some definitions
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- About extra-mural studies (EMS)
- EMS requirements
- Information for vet students
- Information for EMS providers
- Information for vet schools
- Temporary EMS requirements
- Practice by students - regulations
- Health and safety on EMS placements
- EMS contacts and further guidance
- Extra-mural studies fit for the future
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- Code of Professional Conduct for Veterinary Surgeons
- Code of Professional Conduct for Veterinary Nurses
- Contact the Advice Team
- XL Bully dog ban
- 'Under care' - guidance
- Advice on Schedule 3
- Controlled Drugs Guidance – A to Z
- Dealing with Difficult Situations webinar recordings
- FAQs – Common medicines pitfalls
- FAQs – Routine veterinary practice and clinical veterinary research
- FAQs – Advertising of practice names
- GDPR – RCVS information and Q&As
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- Accrediting veterinary degrees
- Accrediting veterinary nursing qualifications
- Reasonable adjustments for student vets
- Reasonable adjustments for student veterinary nurses
- Health and disability in veterinary nurse education and training
- Reasonable adjustments for students and the UK disability discrimination legislation
- Educational assessment of veterinary nurses
- Roles of key stakeholders in the application of reasonable adjustments
- Examples of reasonable adjustments for vet nurse students
- External review of the RCVS by ENQA
- Requirements for remote and online student assessments
Accrediting veterinary degrees
The RCVS has a wide ranging interest in veterinary education and training. It has a statutory duty to set and monitor the standards of veterinary degrees for registration purposes, and runs the statutory examination for membership for overseas veterinarians wishing to practise in the UK.
Setting and monitoring the standards for veterinary education is a key responsibility of the RCVS. The RCVS defines the competences that need to be met by the new veterinary graduate, and specifies the requirements for veterinary degree courses to be approved for registration purposes. The RCVS undertakes formal visitations to universities to ensure that veterinary degree standards are being maintained, and for UK universities, reports its recommendations to the Privy Council.
Accreditation Status of UK Veterinary Schools
| School | Year of last visitation | Accreditation Status | Year of next visitation |
|---|---|---|---|
| University of Cambridge | 2024 | Conditional accreditation |
September 2025 |
| University of Bristol | 2024 | Full Accreditation |
2028 |
| University of Edinburgh | 2022 | Full accreditation |
2026 |
| University of Glasgow | 2021 | Full accreditation |
2028 |
| University of Liverpool | 2023 | Full accreditation |
2026 |
| University of Nottingham | 2021 | Full accreditation |
2028 |
| Royal Veterinary College | 2018 | Full accreditation |
2025 |
| University of Surrey | 2023 | Full Accreditation |
2028 |
| Harper and Keele Veterinary School | 2025 | Awaiting Accreditation Decision* |
For more information, please click on the relevant link below:
- Visitations (including latest visitation reports)
- Accreditation Standards
- Day One Competences
- RCVS Panel Members
- Extra-mural Studies (EMS)
In 2014, the RCVS published the Fitness to Practise guide for UK veterinary schools and veterinary students.
It provides guidance for veterinary schools on recognising and addressing fitness to practise concerns, and also sets out the broad principles of fitness to practise that students should follow and which veterinary schools should expect and uphold.
* There is provision within the Veterinary Surgeons Act (VSA), where a university does not yet have a Recognition Order (RO), that RCVS may be directed by the King’s Privy Council to hold examinations for students and that those who pass are then entitled to register as Members of the RCVS. When considering the first graduating cohort of a new veterinary programme, the RCVS is invited by the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (Defra) to appoint External Examiners (EEs) who have decision-making authority over the final pass list. These exams can then be deemed to be a RCVS examination for the purpose of the VSA, with the graduates meeting the requirements for Day One Competency and registration