Record year for overseas RCVS registry

The RCVS has welcomed a record number of overseas vets onto its register in 2025.

The college saw 80 successful candidates pass its Statutory Membership Examination this year, enabling them to practise veterinary medicine in the UK, more than double the previous record of 37 set in 2024.

RCVS president Tim Parkin and college registrar and director of legal services Clare Paget welcomed the cohort at a formal ceremony at Central Hall in Westminster earlier in December.

The exam, which must be taken by overseas vets with non-accredited veterinary degrees, is comprised of a written theory exam and a clinical practical exam, each covering the three species domains of companion animal, production animal and veterinary public health and equine.

‘Never gave up’

Prof Parkin told the candidates: “The UK veterinary profession is very lucky indeed to have you joining it and I know that you will make a massive difference – you’ve already demonstrated amazing energy and drive, and you will also no doubt bring fresh and different perspectives with you – that, as I said, will only serve to enrich all of our lives.”

Among those to pass the exam was Zahra Mohammedi, who completed her journey to become MRCVS four years after being forced to flee Afghanistan.

She said: “It wasn’t easy. When I first arrived in the UK, I still had the trauma from everything that had happened in my country. I struggled a lot because I’d never left my family before and when I arrived in the UK, I was alone.

“I’ve had a lot of support from many people to get me to where I am today, and I feel like one of the luckiest people to have all these wonderful people around me. There are millions of girls in Afghanistan who don’t have this opportunity.

“I never gave up because I didn’t want the Taliban to win. Now I feel like I’ve won and they’ve lost. I’ve proven that Afghan women are worthy to study and work and can do whatever they want.”

‘Always a dream’

Sohail Idrees, from Pakistan, said completing the exam “was always a dream”.

Chibuzor Onyekwelu, from Nigeria, said: “I dreamt of becoming a vet from the age of seven. When I qualified in 2016, I practised in Nigeria for five years but then I decided I wanted to work at a global level – I love a challenge and wanted to do something new.”

Dr Onyekwelu noted the new Statutory Membership Exam rules – which were amended this year to allow for same-year re-sits of written papers – helped support his progress.

College officials had said the reforms were shaped by feedback from candidates and would make the process more accessible.