FAQs

This depends on the committees and working parties on which you are asked to sit.

There are at least four VN Council meetings per year, plus RCVS Day (our AGM and awards ceremony). Additional VN Council meetings may be called.

In addition, you will be asked to sit on a VN Council Committee or an RCVS committee, which generally sit four times a year.

You may also be asked to join a working party on a particular issue, and there may be other College activities, such as Regional Question Time meetings which you may choose to attend.

On average, therefore, successful candidates might expect to spend between eight and 10 days a year on VN Council business in terms of formal meetings during their first year on Council. Additional time will be required to keep on top of emails, read paperwork etc.

As your Council career develops you may be required to take a more active role. For example, two members of VN Council sit on RCVS Council which meets between six and eight times a year.

Several universities and awarding organisations expressed concerns regarding student veterinary nurses’ attendance in clinical placement and employment, due to the precautions around transmission of Coronavirus. This applies to all students in all years of a programme, although there were particular concerns as to the impact this will have on final-year students being unable to complete the required number of hours in order to complete their licence to practise qualification and be eligible to apply to register with the RCVS.

There have also been concerns raised over the completion of the RCVS Day One Skills for Veterinary Nurses (DOS) should students be unable to attend their clinical placements or employment. The RCVS Day One Competences and Day One Skills for Veterinary Nurses set out the minimum essential requirements that we expect all student nurses to have met when they register, to ensure they are safe and competent to practise on day one, in whichever area of the profession they start to work.

Universities and awarding organisations requested a degree of flexibility around the RCVS VN Registration Rules and completion of the RCVS Day One Skills, in light of the Covid-19 situation.

The following therefore applies:

• Veterinary Nurses Council recognises that it should not be compulsory for students to complete clinical placements or employment during the current pandemic. This will apply to students in any year of their studies.

• It is also recognised that for students in their final year of study, it may be difficult for them to make up the hours of clinical placement or employment missed prior to completing their programme. Universities, awarding organisations and colleges should continue to support their students and explore alternatives, however any shortfall relative to the requirements should not be a barrier to completion of the programme.

• It is anticipated that both further and higher education students not in their final year of study would have sufficient time to make up the number of hours prior to completing their programme however, this will be reviewed as the Covid-19 pandemic progresses.

• Student veterinary nurses will still be required to complete the RCVS Day One Skills for Veterinary Nurses in their totality as these seek to assure competence at the point of registration. Where a student has completed the Day One Skills in fewer than the required 1,800 hours, this will be assessed on a case-by-case basis on application to register.

• The RCVS Veterinary Nursing Department has issued guidance on completion of the RCVS Day One Skills to all programme providers. This guidance includes the use of professional discussion, set tasks and simulation where appropriate.

Contact the VN team:  [email protected] / 020 7202 0788

Last reviewed: 15 February 2022

Given the unique challenges of treating wildlife, the Standards Committee has decided that groups of wildlife brought into wildlife centres may be treated as an exception to the general rule contained within paragraph 9(a) of the new guidance, which says a physical examination should be carried out at the time of prescribing.

Instead, the Committee’s view was that they may be treated in a similar way to production animals [see paragraph 9(b) of the new guidance]. The basis for this being that wild animals should be kept at the centre for as short a time as possible with handling kept to a minimum and, once released, cannot be monitored to 'see how they go'.

We are also mindful that depending on the circumstances, releasing animals without treatment might cause additional problems in the species population.   

In practice, this means that when prescribing antimicrobials for wildlife in rescue centres the veterinary surgeon does not have to examine the specific animal being prescribed for, but does need to have attended the premises and examined at least one representative animal recently enough to have current information and knowledge.

They also need to have an in-depth knowledge of the premises, the local environment and disease challenges in the area.

As the RCVS is currently in temporary office space, we cannot guarantee at present where future meetings of RCVS Council will take place, although we are aiming to hold around 50% of these meetings virtually. However, more information about where the RCVS will be holding its committee and Council meetings will be published in due course.

As the RCVS is currently in temporary office space, we cannot guarantee at present where future meetings of VN Council will take place, although we are aiming to hold around 50% of these meetings virtually. However, more information about where the RCVS will be holding its committee and VN Council meetings will be published in due course.

For further information in relation to RVP and/or CVR or advice on whether a particular proposed procedure would be covered by this guidance, please contact the Secretary to the Sub-Committee via [email protected].

For further information in relation to ethics review of proposed veterinary clinical research studies, please contact the Secretary to the Panel via [email protected] or visit the Ethics Review Panel page.

No, you can do any combination of C-modules, although certain combinations are required for designated certificates.

Yes, you must demonstrate that you can communicate in English at an appropriate level. If your primary veterinary degree was taught and assessed in English then you may be granted exemption from language testing.

Candidates whose primary veterinary degree was not taught in English can demonstrate their English skills by taking either the academic version of the International Language Testing System (IELTS) or the veterinary version of the Occupational English Test (OET).

Please see the examination guidance for more information about these requirements.

Your practice should be an RCVS Approved Graduate Development Practice, meaning that they have at least one VetGDP Adviser within the practice. The training for the VetGDP Adviser is 20 hours of free, flexible, online training.

While the RCVS is not a representative body, unlike the British Veterinary Association and its divisions, it is important the views of the profession are understood. The College does this through consultations, surveys, and via the input of the professional members of RCVS Council and its committees.

An appointment system will ensure that Council Members come from those with an appropriate range of knowledge and expertise, including, crucially, front-line first-opinion practitioners.

Some other regulators have recruitment criteria that ensure not only appropriate expertise and knowledge but also ensures that its board members are recruited from across the UK, something not guaranteed by the current RCVS governance model.

An appointment system may also appeal to a wider range of candidates, as some veterinary surgeons who are highly qualified to be excellent members of a governing body may not also have the skillset or desire to campaign to be elected in a modern media environment.