26 Jan 2022
RCVS council votes to continue recognition of students from European Association for Establishments of Veterinary Education-accredited schools – as data shows EU registrants fell sharply.
Paul Imrie
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The number of EU vets registering in the UK has fallen by two-thirds in two years, according to latest data.
Figures presented to RCVS council revealed a combination of Brexit and the COVID-19 pandemic led to 352 registrations from the EU in 2021, compared to 1,115 in 2019 and 1,173 in 2018.
College council voted overwhelmingly at its last meeting to continue to recognise vet graduates from European Association for Establishments of Veterinary Education (EAEVE)-accredited schools as eligible to join the RCVS register.
A temporary policy to recognise vet students from EAEVE-approved or accredited schools was agreed in 2019 and is being reviewed annually.
Prior to the UK’s exit from the EU, students from the bloc were eligible under the Mutual Recognition of Professional Qualifications. The EAEVE temporary policy allows for graduates of accredited schools to join the register, subject to them meeting national entry requirements.
Sue Paterson, who chairs the RCVS’ education committee, said: “The rationale for the temporary decision was to mitigate the expected reduction in registration coming from the European Union as a result of Brexit, and the negative impact this would have on the workforce in the UK.”
Dr Paterson added: “It was at the time recognised that EAEVE accreditation standards are not directly equivalent to our own, and this was very much a temporary policy decision, which was to be kept under annual review.
“This is part of a multipronged initiative to increase our workforce; we are not totally reliant on this.”
The college coordinated a workforce summit on 30 November to look at key areas that were leading to shortages in practice.
Updating council, chief executive Lizzie Lockett said a full report on the summit was being prepared, and while solutions would not happen tomorrow, ideas that could be developed were discussed by participants. She added that discussions with regulators elsewhere showed workforce issues were not limited to just the UK.
