25 Jun 2025
Officials say they hope the new papers will support training providers after they asked for greater clarity.
Allister Webb
Job Title
The RCVS has published new guidance for how vet schools and nursing training providers can make appropriate reasonable adjustments for disabled students.
The two documents set out key principles and potential examples of how support could be offered for both physical impairments and other conditions.
Officials have stressed that students still have to prove they meet Day One Competences to join the college’s register, with no limited licence provisions available under current legislation.
But it added: “People with disabilities should be welcomed and respected for the value they add to the veterinary professions, animal health and welfare.
“A diverse population is better served by a diverse workforce that has had similar experiences and understands their needs.”
Julie Dugmore, the college’s director of veterinary nursing, said the document had been prepared in response to calls for clearer guidance from training providers.
She continued: “We hope that they will find the practical elements of the guidance useful – with examples of the kind of physical and mental health conditions that may require reasonable adjustments, and how these can be accounted for within educational settings.”
The documents were released nearly a year after analysis commissioned by the college and British Veterinary Chronic Illness Support (BVCIS) highlighted significant problems of discrimination, bullying and harassment linked to either disability or a chronic condition.
Both employers and education providers are required to make reasonable adjustments for staff and students with a physical and/or mental health condition that has a “substantial and long-term impact” on their ability to complete normal daily activities under equality legislation.
The paper discusses a range of support options that could be appropriate and college officials said the document was also intended to help current and aspiring students by clarifying the extent to which support can be provided.
RCVS director of education Linda Prescott-Clements said: “Each educational establishment will need to make decisions on a case-by-case basis and all decisions must be made in the context of the competences, skills and professional behaviours that veterinary surgeons and veterinary nurses must meet upon joining their respective registers.
“We hope that providing this high-level information will help educators with the decision-making processes.”
The full documents are available via the college’s website.
