Honours & Awards

A chance to recognise outstanding achievement

The public expects veterinary professionals to meet high standards. Sometimes, however, individuals far exceed expectation, and we feel this ought to be recognised.

Ready to make a nomination?

The nomination period for RCVS Awards 2024 is now open, and the deadline for nominations is 5pm, on Friday, 13 December 2024.

For more information about each of our Honours and Awards, or to download the relevant nomination form, please select from the following list:

• The Queen's Medal
• The Veterinary Nursing Golden Jubilee Award
• The RCVS International Award
• The RCVS Impact Award
• The RCVS Inspiration Award
• Honorary Associateship
• The RCVS Compassion Award
• The RCVS Student Community Award 

Please note: the number of awards in each category varies, but RCVS Council need not confer any of the honours and awards if the calibre of nominees is not sufficiently high.

Background

Our Honours & Awards recognise and celebrate a breadth of achievement across the veterinary world and encompass, for example, veterinary surgeons, veterinary nurses and laypeople who have contributed to the health and welfare of animals, to the veterinary profession as a whole or public health.

If you know someone whose achievements are outstanding and who has worked above-and-beyond the call of duty in the fields of veterinary medicine or science, or related areas, you can use the RCVS Honours & Awards to try and ensure that they are considered for wider recognition.

Below is a video featuring footage of and interviews with some of the 2023 Honours & Awards recipients at Royal College Day. 

How to nominate

Nomination forms are available to download from each of the award pages listed above.

Please ensure that you submit two additional supporting statements within the nomination form.

At least one of these must be from someone who is not a close working colleague of the person nominated, to demonstrate breadth of support.

The supporting statements should be no longer than 250 words long and should include:

• The name of the nominee
• The award/honour for which they are being proposed
• Supporter’s job title
• Relationship to the nominee
• Date

Please note

It is important to remember that:

• Nominees should not know about their nomination, to avoid disappointment in the event that their nomination is unsuccessful.
• Nominators and supporters should only be involved in one nomination per year.
• No correspondence will be entered into following Council’s decision on the nominations and Council’s decision is final.

Self-nominations

We now welcome self-nominations for our Honours & Awards, with the exception of the Queen’s Medal, Honorary Associateship and the VN Golden Jubilee Award, which must still involve a third-party nomination.

Self-nominators must fulfil all the same criteria for the award in question as those who are being nominated by a third party and must also produce at least two supporting statements for their nomination.

Self-nominators must fill out the form in the third person in order to avoid bias,and refer to themselves by their own name and pronouns rather than using 'I', 'me', etc.

Supporting statements can be from MsRCVS, RVNs or laypeople, but these cannot be close relatives, including spouses.

What happens next?

All nominations will be considered by the RCVS Officer Team and then by RCVS Council at its March 2025 meeting. The VN Golden Jubilee Award will be considered by VN Council on a separate basis.

We will notify nominators and individuals who have been successful in March 2025, and then confer the awards at RCVS Day in July 2025.

Any questions?

If you have any questions about RCVS Honours & Awards, please email Antalena Alexandre, Executive Assistant to the CEO, on [email protected].