30 Oct 2023
Twenty-seven vets have been welcomed to the RCVS register after completing the membership exam as the overall number of overseas vets registering in the UK looks set to hit a four-year high.
Allister Webb
Job Title
RCVS chief executive Lizzie Lockett (left) and Sue Paterson (right) with some of the vets from overseas at the ceremony where they were officially welcomed to the UK profession.
The RCVS has formally welcomed the UK veterinary sector’s latest overseas recruits after a record number of candidates passed its Statutory Examination for Membership.
Twenty-seven professionals from 19 countries, including the first with refugee status, successfully completed the written and practical elements of the exam, for vets whose degrees are not formally recognised by the college, this year.
Many of them attended a ceremony at the Law Society in London on 24 October, where they were formally welcomed by college president Sue Paterson.
Dr Paterson said it was “particularly gratifying” to admit a vet with refugee status and the new college members were drawn from almost every continent of the world.
She added: “We are delighted to welcome you all to the veterinary profession in the UK.”
A total of 121 candidates sat the initial written exam this year, with 29 reaching the required standard to take the practical assessment. They were joined by two others who had previously deferred places, with 27 passing.
The exam candidates’ success coincides with a broader upturn in the number of overseas vets registering to work in the UK, which could see this year’s new registrations reach levels not seen since before the COVID-19 pandemic.
Figures for the year to late September showed a total of 1,672 vets had registered with the college so far this year.
Of those, around 40% (659) are non-UK registrants, with the total from outside the EU (278) already exceeding the annual recorded figure for any year since 2013.
A further 391 EU vets, exceeding the lowest annual total of 327 in 2021, had also registered to that point and it is hoped the final figure will be higher than the 473 recorded last year.
While that figure is still nearly 60% below the peak of 1,159 recorded in 2018, before Brexit, the overall number of overseas vets registering in 2023 is thought to be on course to be the highest since 2019.
Temporary arrangements enabling RCVS recognition of graduates from vet schools accredited by the European Association of Establishments for Veterinary Education (EAEVE) have been in place since 2019 and are next due to be reviewed by its council in January.
The college has also been seeking Government support for a new mechanism that would enable it to offer direct accreditation to vet schools within the EU, amid concerns that seeking mutual recognition agreements with individual states was an unrealistic prospect.
