The RCVS has called for wide-ranging improvements to a UK veterinary degree programme after dozens of concerns were identified during an accreditation assessment.

University of Cambridge vet school leaders say work is already underway to address the issues identified, and further external support will be brought in.

But, while the school stressed the course remains accredited at the moment, college officials said barely a third of its accreditation standards were found to have been met during the latest assessment in the spring.

‘Conditional accreditation’

Following a meeting of its education committee last Tuesday (19 November), the RCVS revealed it had granted the school “conditional accreditation” for just the next 10 months.

A further assessment has been scheduled for next September and a college spokesperson said a decision would be taken at that point “on the future status of the degree”.

He added: “In the meantime, we recognise that both students and staff might have concerns about this outcome, so we remain able and very willing to work closely with the department in the coming weeks to ensure it has appropriate support plans in place.”

Standards not met

Although the school was granted full accreditation in 2020, a newly published report of the latest assessment, which took place in May, revealed it had been brought forward from its expected date in 2025 due to concerns dating back at least a year.

The RCVS said only 27 of its 77 accreditation standards were being met and 55 separate recommendations for improvement were put forward by the assessment panel.

While it described the decision to only grant conditional accreditation as “difficult”, the college said it had been reached unanimously because of the number of standards not being met across all domains.

Its spokesperson added that committee members had “firmly agreed on the need to help the vet school support both existing students on, and future applicants to, the Cambridge veterinary programme.”

‘External expertise’

In a joint statement, department head Mark Holmes and Jon Holmes, acting head of the university’s school of biological sciences, said: “To address the serious issues raised, the university will immediately bring in external expertise to support the Department of Veterinary Medicine and help lead the intensive work required over the coming months.

“The department has been acting on the recommendations since being informed in the summer and this work will now be accelerated.

“The RCVS noted strong research-led and clinical teaching, which we provide to excellent students, so there is a strong foundation from which to meet these recommendations.

“While we recognise the RCVS report will cause concern, it is important to be clear that we remain accredited. We will do everything we can reasonably do to support students to complete their course and receive full accreditation.”