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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' - new 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
Standard 5 - Curricula and assessment
Standards
Curricula and assessments are designed, developed, delivered, evaluated, and validated to ensure that students achieve the RCVS Day One Competences, Skills and Professional Behaviours for Veterinary Nurses, QAA HE Subject Benchmark Statements for Veterinary Nurses (HE) and outcomes for their accredited programme.
Requirements
Accredited education institutions, together with delivery sites and training practices, must ensure:
- curricula are mapped and fulfil the RCVS Day One Competences and Skills for Veterinary Nurses, regulatory requirements, and programme outcomes.
This may be evidenced through:
- Programme/qualification specification
- Programme/qualification handbook
- Programme/qualification level mapping documents
- Module/qualification mapping documents
- Assessment material mapping/blueprint
- QAA HE Subject Statement Benchmark Statements for Veterinary Nursing mapping
- Professional behaviour mapping
- programmes are designed, developed, delivered, evaluated and improved based upon stakeholder feedback
This may be evidenced through:
- Self-assessment reports
- Annual programme/qualification reviews
- Periodic programme/qualification reviews
- Regulatory reports
- Programme/qualification meeting minutes
- Quality and Standards meeting minutes
- Stakeholder meeting minutes
- Action plans following stakeholder meetings
- Evidence of implementation of feedback
- curricula and assessments remain relevant in respect of contemporary veterinary nursing practice, with consideration of ongoing developments within the professions and international veterinary communities.
This may be evidenced through:
- Curriculum meeting minute
- External examiner reports
- Stakeholder feedback
- Module/qualification documents
- Authentic and relevant assessment methodologies
- curricula and assessments are appropriately weighted in accordance with the type and length of programme.
This may be evidenced through:
- Programme/qualification specifications
- Mapping to RCVS Veterinary Nursing Registration Rules
- Module/qualification mapping documents
- Timetables
- Assessment matrices
- Programme/qualification assessment strategies
- Learning outcomes
- curricula provide appropriate structure and sequencing that integrates theory and practice at increasing levels of complexity, with due consideration of assessment timings and clear progression points.
This may be evidenced through:
- Programme/qualification structure
- Timetables/schemes of work
- Programme/qualification assessment strategies and schedules
- Clinical practice model
- Curriculum map (include vertical and horizontal integration)
- Programme/qualification handbooks
- Module/qualification documents
- Board of Examiners/student progression meeting minutes
- a range of appropriate assessments are delivered, within the educational setting, to accurately measure the knowledge, skills and understanding outlined in the programme. At least one summative assessment must be in the form of an Objective Structured Clinical Examination (OSCE) or similarly robust, objective and evidenced-based form of practical examination to test the safe and effective acquisition of a broad range of skills and competences outlined in the RCVS Day One Competences and Skills for Veterinary nurses.
This may be evidenced through:
- Academic regulations
- Student feedback
- Module/qualification descriptors
- Moderation policies and processes
- Moderation meeting minutes
- Exam Board minutes
- Examination rules
- Examination policy and procedure documents
- Examples of assessment materials for each different assessment methodology
- Assessment blueprint
- Programme/qualification assessment strategy
- Grading criteria and setting pass marks
- Statement of proposed interpretations and uses of the examination/assessment
- Assessment rationale
- Examiner handbook
- Student handbook
- Security policies
- Artificial intelligence policy
- Academic integrity policy
- students are assessed practically across clinical practice settings and learning environments as required by their programme with relevant observations undertaken.
This may be evidenced through:
- Day One Skills recording tool
- Monitoring of teaching and learning
- Student observation records
- Examination papers and mark sheets
- Student feedback records
- Day One Skills sampling plan
- processes are in place to establish a high degree of validity and robustness to support the decisions made based on the results of the assessment.
This may be evidenced through:
- Examination policy and procure documents
- Rationale for the design of examinations
- Moderation policies
- Assessment blueprint
- Mark schemes
- Validity data
- Reliability data
- Training and standardisation of markers
- Test and item statistical analysis mechanisms
- Statistical analysis of item level and question level data such as analysis of question difficulty
- Grading criteria and setting pass marks
- Standard setting documentation
- Mechanisms to detect plagiarism
- Assessment appeals policy
- Invigilation agreements
- Assessment validation reports
- Programme/qualification assessment sampling strategies
- moderation processes are in place and demonstrate that assessment is fair, reliable and valid, and the integrity of the assessment is upheld.
This may be evidenced through:
- Student feedback
- Moderation meeting minutes
- Exam Board minutes
- Moderation protocol
- Internal verification meeting minutes
- External examiner reports
- Responses to action plans
- Sampling strategy
- Day One Skills sampling plans
- Artificial intelligence acceptable use policy
- Academic integrity policy
- mechanisms are in place to minimise bias in all assessments.
This may be evidenced through:
- Examination policies and procedures
- Examiner handbook
- Rationale for the design of the examination
- Invigilation arrangements
- Assessment validation reports
- Examiner standardisation processes
- Moderation processes
- Grading guides
- Examiner training
- Anonymous marking processes
- Grading criteria and setting pass marks
- Conflict of interest policy
- adjustments are provided in accordance with relevant equalities and human rights legislation for assessments in theory and practice.
This may be evidenced through:
- Reasonable adjustment policy
- Mitigating circumstances policy
- Records of reasonable adjustment
- AEI/delivery site fitness to practise policy
- Student support plans
- Individual learning plans
- students’ self-reflections contribute to, and are evidenced in, assessments.
This may be evidenced through:
- Student feedback forms
- Tutorial reports
- Clinical practice reports
- Reflective logs
- Example assessments
- Quality assurance reports
- Professional behaviour evaluations
- Reflection opportunities
- Module/qualification descriptors
- Day One Skills recording tool audits
- there is no compensation between assessments that address the RCVS Day One Competences and Skills for Veterinary Nurses.
This may be evidenced through:
- Module/qualification specifications
- Candidate handbooks
- Student programme handbooks
- Example of a pass list
- Progression board/student progression meeting minutes
- ensure modules/units that address the RCVS Day One Competences for Veterinary Nurses include unseen (closed book) examination as an element of the assessment strategy.
This may be evidenced through:
- Module/qualification mapping
- Assessment methods
- Assessment compensation policy