Guidance for Advanced Practitioner applicants

What is an Advanced Practitioner?

Advanced Practitioner status is an official recognition of a veterinary surgeon’s knowledge and skills in a specific field of veterinary practice.  

Advanced Practitioners hold a postgraduate qualification in their area of interest (or designation), in addition to their first veterinary degree. They also demonstrate a commitment to keeping their knowledge and skills up-to-date.

RCVS Advanced Practitioners are not specialists, but their additional knowledge can be reassuring to animal owners.  

You can find a list of Advanced Practitioners on Find a Vet.

How to apply

You apply for Advanced Practitioner status on MyRCVS.

Applications are open from March to July each year. The deadline for all applications is 31 October.

For your application, you will need:

• A completed reference form from your referee(s) covering the previous five years
• A full five years of CPD records
• A covering letter explaining any pauses in your CPD or periods off the Register
• Details of your qualifications  
• Evidence that you have completed the professional skills requirement
• Clinical governance statement with two examples of how you’ve applied it to your work

For full details on how to apply, see our dedicated page.

What you’ll need to qualify

To qualify for accreditation as an Advanced Practitioner, you must:

• Be a practising member of the RCVS – non-practising members are not eligible to apply
• Have been in practice for a full five years or more since graduation
• Have completed either the Professional Development Phase (PDP) or Veterinary Graduate Development Programme (VetGDP), if you graduated in the UK from 2007 onwards
• Hold an RCVS or other relevant postgraduate qualification
• Have completed at least 250 hours of continuing professional development (CPD) over the last five years, including 150 hours in your chosen field

Be able to provide two specific examples of clinical governance cases you’ve been involved in.

You’ll also have to demonstrate:

• Advanced problem-solving skills  
• Advanced and current knowledge and understanding in your area of expertise
• Advanced professional skills and commitment to the continuing improvement of personal and professional practice
• Awareness of your own limitations in your designated area, referring to specialists where appropriate  
• Involvement with your subject or species community

Experience you’ll need

To achieve Advanced Practitioner status, you’ll need to have had five full calendar years in practice since graduation. You’ll have to be currently working, at least in part, in your chosen designation.  

If you graduated in the UK after 2007, you’ll also need to have completed the Professional Development Phase (PDP) or Veterinary Graduate Development Programme (VetGDP).

You will need on average 100 cases per year in your designation for the last five years and will be asked to self-certify that this is the case. These cases should be those where you’ve had primary responsibility.  

If you think you can’t meet this requirement, get in touch with us to discuss your situation: [email protected]

Qualifications you’ll need  

You’ll need to hold at least one appropriate post-graduate qualification. Accepted qualifications are:

• An RCVS Certificate in Advanced Veterinary Practice with a designation. You must have completed a certificate with at least 60 credits, including a synoptic exam and a designated certificate.
• An RCVS Certificate. You’ll have to provide evidence that you’ve developed your professional skills, or have passed an equivalent qualification or module, in addition to the minimum CPD requirements.
• A postgraduate, or Level 7, clinical qualification. This should include at least 60 credits/30 ECTS, of which 40 credits are in the clinical area you’re applying for.
• A relevant clinical masters degree.

If you hold a ‘non-approved’ qualification

If you are applying with a non-RCVS qualification that’s not on our list of accepted qualifications, we will need to assess it first. Contact [email protected] for information on how and when you can do this. We approve qualifications for five years, then review them.

If you achieved your qualification from 2017 onwards

If you achieved your postgraduate qualification in 2017 or later, you’ll need to complete module A of the CertAVP (‘Foundations of Advanced Veterinary Practice’) before applying.  

Evidence of further study

We require vets applying for Advanced Practitioner status to present evidence of further study in the key skill of professional development. This means building on what’s included in module A of the CertAVP, or equivalent modules.

CPD requirements  

Vets applying for Advanced Practitioner status need to demonstrate an ongoing commitment to their development. CPD is an important part of this.  

To meet the CPD requirements for Advanced Practitioner status, you’ll need:

• At least 250 hours of CPD over five years, of which 125 hours must be within your chosen field
• A minimum of 35 hours of CPD a year, in line with RCVS CPD requirements
• At least 10 hours a year of CPD activity with an external focus, where you engage with other practitioners in your designation
• Evidence that shows you engage with your subject or species community
• A breadth of CPD activities in areas outside of the programme specified by your qualification
• To record your CPD on 1CPD. You can enter your information retrospectively and the system allows you to annotate records if you need to.

CPD with external focus

Engaging broadly with your community of practice is important. There are lots of CPD activities which count as having an external focus, some examples are:

• Directly engaging with the content or attendees of national or international meetings or conferences  
• Observing the practice of others in your field outside of your normal workplace
• Being mentored in your field by someone outside of your practice
• Participating in discussion groups or other formal or informal learning networks
• Secondments to other workplaces to develop your skills in your field
• Taking part in online groups or networks where discussion of practice takes place
• Webinars involving direct engagement and discussion with facilitators and other participants (when delivered by an external body)

Labelling your CPD

• When recording your CPD, it’s important to label each activity relevant to your application. This way, panel members viewing your record can easily see whether you’ve met the threshold of 125 hours of CPD specific to your area.
• Use the ‘topic’ field to indicate which area the activity relates to. For example, ‘Equine medicine’, or ‘Fish health and production’.  
• Add ‘EXT’ to the topic field to show the activity has an external focus. This makes it easier for the panel to see that you’ve done the required 10 hours of externally-focused CPD.
• Use the ‘note’ field to explain why an activity counts towards your 125 hours, so the panel understands your reasons.  

If you have any problems annotating your previous CPD records, you can email [email protected]

Family leave and CPD

If you’re planning to apply for Advanced Practitioner status but are also planning to take family leave, you have two options:

• Come off the Register for the time you’re off. We will look at your CPD records for the last five years you’ve been on the Register.  
• Pause your CPD through 1CPD. You can do this for up to six months, which reduces the requirement for that year (see our CPD pages for more information). You’d still need to meet the 10-hour external focus requirement for the year the pause was granted and meet the overall Advanced Practitioner requirements.

If you came off the Register or paused your CPD within the period covered by your application, please give us the relevant dates in a covering letter attached to it.

Clinical governance requirements

Making your clinical governance statement

Your Advanced Practitioner application will need to be accompanied by a clinical governance statement. You will create it as a separate document and upload it as part of the process.  

The examples you give in your statement should ideally be from cases that were within your designation.

What your statement should include

Your statement needs to describe two specific examples of your involvement in clinical governance. It should detail:

• How your involvement aligns with the RCVS Code of Professional Conduct (you do not need to evidence every point in the Code)
• The impact that these examples have had on your practice
• The whole clinical governance cycle

Parts of the Code you should reference

These are the most important sections of the Code to reference when you’re making your clinical governance statement.

• 1.7 - Veterinary surgeons must ensure that clinical governance forms part of their professional activities 

• 6.1 – a definition of clinical governance 

• Guidance for individual veterinary surgeons and veterinary nurses, 6.2 

• Guidance for the veterinary team, 6.3 

Choosing the right examples

Completing continuing professional development (CPD) on its own doesn’t provide evidence of benefits for patients or clients. More detail is required if CPD is being used as a clinical governance example.  

For example, you might have observed poorer outcomes than published figures for particular types of cases in your designation field. You might then undertake relevant CPD and, through reflection, create a plan of action involving changes to the original treatment. For the purposes of your clinical governance statement, we’d also want to see that you’ve audited the results of the revised protocol to confirm an improvement in outcomes.  

Similarly, reports of Morbidity and Mortality Rounds, and revision of treatment protocols, in isolation, do not guarantee changed clinician or team behaviours. We would also need to see either evidence of adherence to those protocols in clinical records or improved patient outcomes, and ideally both.

Getting references  

As part of your application, you will need references to cover the previous five years. You’ll need separate references if you’re applying for multiple designations.

Referees must be currently practising veterinary surgery, must know you professionally and be familiar with your work. We may approach them directly for verification.

If you’ve been asked to be a referee  

Being a referee involves completing and signing a questionnaire.

You will be asked to confirm that:

• You know the applicant professionally
• You know their work
• They are working and are active in their field of designation  
• You support their application for Advanced Practitioner status

Filling in the questionnaire

You can type or handwrite your questionnaire, but it must be returned to the applicant in electronic form. We also accept electronic or typed signatures.

Each question on the form will include guidance in italics. This can be typed over.

Please provide as much detail as possible, including examples of the applicant’s work. This helps our panel come to a decision. We’d recommend completing the questionnaire in electronic form, that way you can write as much as you like in each field.  

If you have not known the applicant’s work for a full five years, please state on the form the dates that your reference covers. The applicant will be able to submit more than one reference in these circumstances.  

Once you have completed the form, please return the reference to the applicant so they can attach it to their online application.

How we consider applications  

All applications are considered by a panel of assessors, made up of Advanced Practitioners and RCVS certificate or diploma holders. The panel is representative of a wide range of veterinary disciplines and species areas. The panel chair reports to the Education Committee for final ratification.  

When you’ll hear from us

We’ll be in touch by email with the outcome of your application. When you’ll hear from us depends on the month you applied.

• Apply in March and April – outcome in July
• Apply in May, June or July – outcome in October
• Apply in August, September or October – outcome in March

If your application is successful

We’ll let you know in writing if your application is successful. You’ll also be added as an Advanced Practitioner on Find a Vet. You’ll also be able to use the description RCVS Advanced Practitioner on practice websites, stationery and in other places where your status is important.  

Being an Advanced Practitioner isn’t a qualification, so we suggest you use it under your name and qualifications, like this:

Mary Jones, BCSc, CertAMP (SAM), MRCVS 
RCVS Advanced Practitioner in Small Animal Medicine

Maintaining your Advanced Practitioner status

To keep your Advanced Practitioner status and remain on the list, you’ll need to reapply for accreditation every five years. See our dedicated reapplication page for more information.

If your application is unsuccessful

We’ll let you know in writing if your application is unsuccessful, explaining why the assessment panel made that decision. You are welcome to reapply in future, unless the panel specifies that you can’t. 

You have 28 days to appeal the decision from the date you receive it. You must submit your appeal in writing to the Registrar, stating your reasons for the appeal as briefly as you can.  

Appeals will be considered by an Appeals Panel, which reports directly to the Education Committee. The appeals panel will be made up of people who weren’t on the original assessment panel. The Appeals Panel can’t consider new information in support of your application.

Unfortunately, RCVS staff and members of the panel won’t be able to discuss your unsuccessful application.

Advanced Practitioner Fees

There’s both an application fee and an annual fee for being on the list of Advanced Practitioners.  

• Application fee: £109 per designation
• Annual fee: £109, charged each July by Direct Debit (one annual fee, even if you hold multiple designations)
• Reapplication fee: £109 per designation

If accepted, your first annual fee is due in the July following your designation.

Fees will not be refunded if your application isn’t successful.

About Advanced Practitioner designations  

When applying for Advanced Practitioner status, you should choose the designation that reflects your area of practice. There’s an accepted list of qualifications linked to each designation.

You can apply for more than one designation by submitting a separate application form and paying a fee for each one. You’ll need to demonstrate 125 hours of CPD for each designation, in addition to the 250-hour yearly requirement.

Advanced Practitioner designations you can apply for

Here’s a current list of the options.  

• Animal Welfare Science, Ethics and Law  
• Bovine Reproduction
• Camelid Practice  
• Companion Animal Behaviour  
• Emergency and Critical Care  
• Equine Dentistry  
• Equine Internal Medicine  
• Equine Lameness  
• Equine Practice  
• Equine Stud Medicine  
• Equine Surgery – Orthopaedics  
• Equine Surgery – Soft Tissue  
• Fish Health and Production  
• Health and Production  
• Laboratory Animal Medicine and Science  
• Pig Medicine  
• Poultry Health and Production  
• Production Animal Practice  
• Ruminant Nutrition  
• Sheep Health and Production  
• Small Animal Cardiology  
• Small Animal Dentistry  
• Small Animal Dermatology  
• Small Animal Medicine  
• Small Animal Medicine – Canine  
• Small Animal Medicine – Feline  
• Small Animal Orthopaedics  
• Small Animal Practice  
• Small Animal Surgery  
• State Veterinary Medicine  
• Veterinary Anaesthesia  
• Veterinary Cardiology  
• Veterinary Dermatology  
• Veterinary Diagnostic Imaging  
• Veterinary Neurology  
• Veterinary Ophthalmology  
• Veterinary Pain Management – you’ll need to supply extra supporting information for this designation. Please contact us for details before applying
• Veterinary Public Health  
• Veterinary Reproduction  
• Zoological Medicine

Accepted qualifications for Advanced Practitioner status

If you hold an RCVS Certificate or CertAVP

If you hold an RCVS Certificate of RCVS CertAVP you can only apply for the designation to which your qualification is linked. Here’s how qualifications are mapped to designations:

Accepted qualifications and additional requirements  

We review all accepted qualifications every five years. This list was last reviewed on 10 December 2024. Qualifications will be added to the list as they are approved. Qualifications eligible for RCVS Specialist applications may also be eligible for Advanced Practitioner applications.  

If you hold a qualification that’s not on this list, contact [email protected] to discuss your circumstances.

*Those whose qualification was awarded in 2017 or later will need to have completed the ‘A’ module of the CertAVP before applying.  

** Provided you have completed the relevant professional skills module and have covered the specific technical content required for Advanced Practitioner status as detailed in the Harper Adams module specification.  

*** Awarded in 2021 or later.  

**** For qualifications achieved in 2017 or later. If your qualification was awarded in 2016 or earlier, when you apply, you will need to provide evidence that you’ve completed professional skills.