Standard 4 - Educators and assessors

All personnel involved with the teaching and assessment of student veterinary nurses must be suitably qualified for their specific role; this does not mandate that all educators must be RVNs, sometimes utilisation of inter-professional expertise may be more appropriate (see Requirement 1.12).

This requirement indicates the necessity for student veterinary nurses to be supported by the right person, at the right time. Educators and assessors must, therefore, have the requisite qualifications and experience for the role they are undertaking. For example, an internal quality assurer (IQA) may not have a teaching qualification but should have IQA qualifications and experience. Clinical supervisors may have undertaken coaching and mentoring training, or they may have exclusively attended training at the AEI for the specific programme they are supporting.

All educators and assessors must be effectively inducted, in order to undertake their roles safely and in accordance with their role requirements. Following the induction period, ongoing review and support should be provided, identifying areas for development, with training made available to facilitate the required progression.

Regular training and updates relating to equality, diversity and inclusion is an expectation for all personnel and should be recorded in the 1CPD platform for regulated professionals.

Clinical supervisors must be trained and annually standardised; their access to equality, diversity and inclusion training will likely occur during the clinical supervisor training sessions.

As discussed in Standard 3 for students, educators and assessors are also likely to present with diverse needs and must also have access to the required and relevant support in order to undertake their roles. This requirement promotes the support of a diverse educational and assessment body, including considerations for diversity of religion, culture, and personal
needs, as expected by legislative compliance.

All educators and assessors must be able to achieve the requirements of their role within the time allocation afforded within their contract, be that full time or part time. Educators and assessors should have time available for teaching, assessing, marking, tutorials, and other role requirements such as line management.

Clinical supervisors must also have the requisite time allowance, such as time afforded for teaching and assessment of the RCVS Day One Skills. This should be noted within the MOU (see Requirement 2.5).

As discussed within Standard 3, the student body will likely present with a wide range of needs and requirements. It is, therefore, imperative that the educators and assessors involved in their training know and understand how best to support students and have the capability to do so.

It is common for AEIs and delivery sites to address this requirement via Student Support Services, or similar, but the individuals who regularly interact with students must also be able to facilitate supportive mechanisms. This is also true for clinical supervisors and is likely another area that can be covered during clinical supervisor training.

The progression process for student veterinary nurses must be clear and objective, following the academic regulations, or similar, of the AEI. This process should follow the assessment procedures and include an auditable trail of decisions.

Subjective decisions on assessment or progression should be avoided by educators or assessors, unless this is a part of a recognised system for awarding marks for the assessment type being used. For instance, a subjective global score might be used in conjunction with an objective marking scheme for certain assessments. Evidence must be available to demonstrate the approach undertaken and how the subjective element supports the objective decision.

Further to the feedback elements of Standard 3 (Requirements 3.15 and 3.16), the implementation of changes following feedback allows an opportunity to demonstrate the continual improvement of provision. Nonetheless, it will not only be student veterinary nurses providing feedback; information and data should also be sought from colleagues and wider stakeholders, such as TPs and external examiners.

All feedback should be constructively considered and applied as appropriate. This requirement specifies that the improvements should demonstrate progression of teaching and assessment practice. For example, OSCE examiners may provide feedback relating to a particular station, or a clinical supervisor may be given feedback following an observation in clinical practice. It would be expected that these processes are fully considered and addressed as required.

This requirement is the final consideration relating to concerns or complaints, as discussed in Requirements 1.6, 1.7, 1.8 and 3.11. Educators and assessors must be supported with the application of the concerns or complaints procedure and ensure that the process is effectively followed. Additionally, they must be able to recognise when feedback constitutes a complaint, and act accordingly.

Further to Requirement 4.1, this requirement mandates that the programme lead holds specific qualifications and has the necessary experience to oversee the veterinary nurse qualification.

The teaching qualification must be at a level appropriate to the programme being delivered, for example, a programme lead for a Level 3 Diploma qualification must hold at least a Level 3 Diploma or higher themselves, whereas a programme lead for a BSc (Hons) programme must have undertaken at least a Level 6 qualification, or higher. Whilst the programme lead must be an RVN, their licence to practise qualification does not need to be at the requisite academic level for the programme they are leading, providing they have an additional qualification at the appropriate academic level; usually this would be the teaching qualification, but can be altogether different, such as an MBA.

It is also important that the AEI and delivery site have considered the succession planning for the programme lead role, in order that other members of the team can be developed and there is a deputy type role who can cover for periods of absence.

Programme leads are encouraged to train as RCVS panel members for accreditations, which can assist with their knowledge and understanding of both the processes and the Standards.