16 Jun 2020
Veterinary schools in England will now be able to apply for a share of 5,000 extra student places following lobbying by veterinary associations.
Vet Times
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The Department for Education has announced it will add veterinary medicine to the list of subjects that can apply for additional student places if needed.
A cap had been placed on the number of student places at universities in England, in response to the coronavirus pandemic.
However, the BVA, RCVS and Veterinary Schools Council (VSC) wrote to universities minister Michelle Donelan MP to express concerns about the plans, and their potential impact on veterinary medicine degrees in England and the veterinary workforce.
The letter outlined evidence of a shortage of veterinary surgeons in the UK, with overseas vets – the vast majority of whom are from the EU – filling in this shortfall by making up more than half of new registrants in a given year.
It stated that the coronavirus pandemic was likely to severely limit the flow of EU registrants and that any cap placed on the six universities in England offering veterinary medicine degrees would further diminish “home-grown” veterinary capacity.
As a result, the Department for Education – in its “Introduction of temporary student number controls in response to COVID-19” document – has confirmed veterinary medicine is now among a number of subjects for which course providers in England, if needed, could apply for a share of 5,000 additional places it has made available.
Susan Dawson, dean of the University of Liverpool Institute of Veterinary Science and chairman of the VSC, said: “The coronavirus has had an obvious and understandable impact on the number of EU veterinary surgeons choosing to live and work here.
“Combined with continued uncertainty over the status of the Brexit trade talks and the future of the Mutual Recognition of Professional Qualifications Directive, we were looking at a potential ‘perfect storm’ situation with the addition of caps on the number of student vets in the UK.”
Prof Dawson added: “We thank the Department for Education and Defra for listening to our concerns, and making the changes to allow vet schools in England to apply for extra places accordingly.
“It should be noted, however, that there are only 5,000 places available among a number of subjects and that there is no guarantee that individual courses/institutions in England will get additional places allocated even if they apply.”
