30 Dec 2025
Questions of where, and how, veterinary professionals are trained were the subject of intense debate throughout the year.
Allister Webb
Job Title
University of Cambridge School of Veterinary Medicine © Mr Ignavy. Licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0 (edited with AI)
By far the most dramatic education story of 2025 was saved for its final weeks with the news that Cambridge University’s vet school was being recommended for closure.
If implemented, its 2026 student cohort – whose very status had itself been in serious doubt earlier in the year – is set to be its last.
A challenging year also saw the school battling to address concerns which had triggered a second RCVS accreditation assessment and will now yield a third in a few months’ time.
But the extent of the shock felt from the closure idea is perhaps best understood by reflecting that, only days after 2026 admissions were confirmed, the school retained its position among the top veterinary education providers in the world.
Shadow Defra minister and Cambridge alumnus Neil Hudson certainly had national and global considerations in mind when he urged ministers to intervene before Parliament rose for the festive break.
But Cambridge was not the only school to face accreditation challenges as the RVC particularly came under fire from some of its own students over its professional status with the North American regulator.
And, for all the furore that it caused, the Cambridge closure plan was not even the only major education story on the agenda as thoughts turned towards the season of goodwill.
Barely 24 hours before that bombshell, the RCVS was revealing that its national EMS placement database, which had only been opened to students in the spring, was being closed amid challenges of integrating it with vet schools’ own systems.
The news quickly prompted calls for a wider re-examination of the training requirements and the questions which inspired it and other reforms seem likely to remain high on the agenda into 2026.
Other education initiatives, such as the college’s Veterinary Graduate Development Programme (VetGDP), appear to be on steadier ground, at least based on the citation of its incoming president Tim Parkin in his plea for professionals to be mentors on Royal College Day.
But the year would end with calls for similar programmes to be developed for nurses as two questions endured – who accesses veterinary education and how is it paid for?
Financial pressures, both on vet schools and their students, are not a new problem and the calls for greater action to address those issues made during our summer visit to the University of Lancashire’s new Preston vet school have gained greater significance given subsequent events.
Yet perhaps the most sobering issue of the year had already been raised as a study detailing experiences of racism within the sector highlighted just how much more needs to be done before it truly has its house in order.
