Senior vet nurse issues migration warning

A senior RVN has warned the UK veterinary sector is already feeling the impact of tougher migration rules on overseas recruitment even before any fresh measures are implemented.

New figures outlined during the latest meeting of the RCVS VN council revealed a significant drop in applications for registration from nurses educated outside the UK.

The statistics also followed the release of a UK Government white paper outlining proposals for stricter immigration measures, which veterinary groups have said would make recruiting overseas staff more difficult.

Decrease

Speaking at the 21 May meeting, former council chairperson Matthew Rendle said: “I think if you’re an outside person looking at the veterinary professions in the UK, I’m not sure you would particularly want to come at the moment anyway.”

There were 73 completed registration applications between 1 April 2024 and 31 March 2025, compared with 109 the previous year – a decrease of 33%.

Over the same period, there was a 41% fall in the number of applicants entering the register, from 90 down to 53.

‘General decrease’

RCVS VN examinations quality lead Victoria Hedges said there had been a “general decrease” in applications “across the board” since Brexit.

She continued: “Many people are withdrawing because they cannot get the necessary visa.

“They have to go through the process of putting in the application to us to tell the visa authorities that they have applied, and that they have been given permission to sit the exam.

“So, we are losing people who are just then not being able to pass that next stage of entering the country.”

Mrs Hedges said the introduction of a mandatory theory exam in April last year is also likely to be a contributing factor in the drop-off, due to it increasing the time the registration process takes.

There was also an expected decrease in applications from Hong Kong, because the postgraduate course many attended has closed.

New regulations

Applications for temporary student enrolments – all of which came from the Netherlands and the Republic of Ireland – increased during the period from 19 to 28.

Universities and colleges are set to face stricter thresholds for admission for overseas students as part of the Government’s proposals, including a new tax on every international student enrolled in the UK.

An immigration law expert, Julianna Barker, had also previously urged veterinary practices to consider speeding up their recruitment of overseas professionals if they are able to do so before any new regulations are introduced.

RCVS VN qualifications lead Shirley Gibbins said the college was monitoring the situation. She said: “It’s not that we’re naive to what’s happening politically.

“We are staying abreast of it and will continue to kind of see if there is anything that we need to kind of be mindful of or aware of, and what that could or should look like in terms of vet nursing.”