FAQs

Once you submit a completed declaration of intention to sit you will be eligible to ‘see practice’ in accordance with the provisions laid out in the Veterinary Surgeons Act.

This affords you the opportunity to gain practical, clinical experience, as part of your preparation for the examination and is strongly recommended. Further information about the regulations around ‘seeing practice’ can be found in the examination guidance and on the website.

Yes, at the end of each course you will be asked to complete a short survey about your learning experience. You will also be able to make comments about other areas. You can also feedback at any time by emailing us: [email protected]

Yes, throughout your course, you will notice our notes icon that can mark your page. View our navigational video which explains how to use our notes-learning tool.

Candidates who fail the synoptic assessment will be given one opportunity to retake the assessment.  After two attempts candidates may be asked to undertake further training and/or advised to retake modules at the examiner’s discretion. A third attempt at the synoptic examination may be allowed at the discretion of the RCVS CertAVP sub-committee.

Candidates may only take one synoptic exam per year from any assessment provider.

Candidates must take at least three further B or C modules (30 credits), in addition to the 60 credits already achieved, before they will be eligible for a second synoptic examination. You must have the correct modular combination to sit a synoptic exam but may have gained additional modules outside those necessary for a particular designation. If you wish to complete a third designation, you will need to complete a further three B or C modules in addition to the 90 credits already achieved.

Candidates may only take one synoptic exam per year from any assessment provider.

Yes, but your college will need to send us a signed VN Student Change of Details form (see 'Related documents' box) along with a covering letter explaining when you are taking a break. You will no longer be classed as an active student, so when you return to training, your college will need to inform the RCVS when you return to training so that your student status can be re-activated. Your enrolment period will remain the same.

Yes, the portfolio is yours, and all the reflections and progress updates will go with it and will be unique to you. If you change role you can take your VetGDP e-portfolio with you and sign in again with your new VetGDP Adviser. You can amend your EPAs if necessary.

To do this, you need to click the cog in the top right-hand corner of your portfolio and choose re-set. You will not lose any of your records. You will then be able to choose your new Adviser from the drop-down list. Please make sure that you have updated your relationship in your My account to the new practice. 

Find more guidance here.

The online learning to become a VetGDP Adviser totals 20 hours and as the learning is done entirely online, it offers complete flexibility and means you can fit it around your other commitments.

It also allows you to complete the training at a pace that suits you. You may also count the training towards your CPD target for the year.

The expectation is that a minimum of one hour per graduate per week, or equivalent, is required to provide support to graduates once they are employed, and it may be that some of this time (with appropriate reflection) might also count as CPD.  

Yes, in the conclusion to your witness statement, it will state that you are willing to attend a hearing if required and the expectation is that all those who have given statements will attend.

Prior to the hearing, you will receive a witness summons issued by the High Court. A witness summons is a legal document that makes it compulsory for you to attend. We issue witness summonses for all of our witnesses as many find it useful for the purposes of confirming to their employer the reason you will need to take time off work to attend the hearing.

If there are exceptional reasons why you are unable to attend (for example, due to ill-health), it may be possible to rely on your written witness statement as evidence without you needing to attend. However, in order to do this, you will need to supply evidence (for example a Doctor’s letter) to explain why you cannot attend. There is a formal legal procedure to go through to have a witness excused from the requirement to attend the hearing. Therefore, if you think you may not be able to attend for any reason, please contact us immediately to discuss.

In some limited situations, your evidence may be “agreed” prior to the hearing. This means that both parties agree that your witness statement can be relied on without you needing to attend and give live evidence. This is not normally confirmed until very close to the hearing (for example the week before, or week of, the hearing) so you should plan on attending unless told otherwise.

Yes – this is a post-registration qualification, therefore, only available once you have registered as a veterinary nurse with the RCVS. Stipulation on how long you must have been registered will be at the discretion of the programme provider.