RCVS Council votes to extend registration arrangements with European vet schools for further year

At its meeting on Thursday 20 January, RCVS Council members voted to extend the College’s temporary policy whereby graduates of veterinary schools accredited or approved by the European Association for Establishments of Veterinary Education (EAEVE) could join the Register of Veterinary Surgeons without having to first take the Statutory Membership Examination.

The temporary policy had been established in June 2019 ahead of the UK formally leaving the European Union to help mitigate the expected reduction in veterinary surgeons who graduated in the EU coming to live and work in the UK following the end of the Mutual Recognition of Professional Qualifications (MRPQ) Directive. The MRPQ had allowed EU citizens with EU veterinary degrees to freely work as a veterinary surgeon in the UK and vice versa.

The decision by Council has extended the temporary policy for a further year and will be reviewed again at Council’s January 2023 meeting. In the meantime, more permanent arrangements, including direct accreditation of individual European veterinary schools and bilateral agreements with individual European countries, are being explored.