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UK-qualified veterinary nurses

Depending on your route of training, the information you will need to provide to register will differ. Find out what you need to supply below.

Diploma route

Once you have received your registrable qualification and have completed the required training hours, you will be eligible to register as a newly-qualified veterinary nurse.

You will be eligible for admission to the Register of Veterinary Nurses when you have completed at least 2,990 hours, excluding annual leave or absence, completed an approved programme of training of not less than 1,800 hours since the date of your enrolment as a student veterinary nurse and received your registrable qualification. For more information about this requirement please download the Veterinary Nurse Registration Rules 2017 (see the 'Related documents' box at the bottom of the page).

Upon receipt of your name on a pass list from the relevant Awarding Organisation, you will receive an email from the RCVS with instructions on how to apply online for registration. As part of your online application you will be asked to make a declaration, upload your Record of Training and pay your registration fee.

You will receive your Certificate of Registration and your Veterinary Nurse Badge through the post within 4 weeks of us receiving your completed application form and payment.

Please allow 8 weeks for the Awarding Organisations to inform us of your confirmed qualification. If you have not received an email inviting you to apply for the registration after this time then please contact the Registration Department.

Please visit our Fees page to view the fee payable.

Degree route

Once you have received your registrable qualification and have completed the required training hours, you will be eligible to register as a veterinary nurse.

8 weeks before graduation, all final year degree student nurses will receive an email from the RCVS with instructions on how to apply online for registration. As part of your online application you will be asked to make a declaration and pay your registration fee (Record of Training sheets should be submitted directly to your university). Please note all applications must be submitted at least 4 weeks ahead of graduation.

You will be eligible for admission to the Register of Veterinary Nurses once your university have submitted your name on a pass list. For more information about this requirement, download the Veterinary Nurse Registration Rules 2017 (see the 'Related documents' box).

You will receive your Certificate of Registration and your Veterinary Nurse Badge at your university’s graduation ceremony.

If there are less than 4 weeks until your graduation and you have not received an email inviting you to apply for the registration then please contact the Registration Department.

Please visit our Fees page to view the fee payable.

Frequently Asked Questions

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Coronavirus advice

  • 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