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Council members conflicted over registrable degrees
qualifications
The education committee recommended it be made responsible for registrable degrees.
Delegation to the education committee to be discussed in November

At its recent meeting on June 5, the RCVS Council were unable to agree on whether to delegate decisions on registrable degrees to the education committee.

In paragraph 20 of the council papers, the committee recommends that it be made “responsible for all decisions on the recognition of registrable degrees”.

Currently, this is a duty of the council and the committee can only make recommendations on changes to the approved statuses of degrees.

Council members were divided on the issue, with 17 in favour of delegating this power to the education committee, 11 against the proposal and and seven abstentions.

There was then some debate as to whether or not to count the abstentions and Richard Stephenson proposed that the matter be discussed at the next meeting with the papers.

Councillor Chris Gray said: “I sense there are a number of us feeling conflicted so I would support Mr Stephenson's suggestion that we bring the matter forward with papers.”

As a result, RCVS president Neil Smith agreed that a paper would be brought to the next council meeting in November. Meanwhile, the recommendation has been removed from the papers.

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Annual submission deadline small pet animal exemptions

News Story 1
 Companies marketing medicines for small pets exempt from authorisation must submit their annual return to the Veterinary Medicines Directorate (VMD) by 30 November 2026.

Submitting this annual return ensures continued compliance with regulatory requirements for products marketed without a full Marketing Authorisation. The exemption specifically applies to products intended for animals, cage birds, terrarium animals, small rodents, ferrets and rabbits.

For further details and submission guidelines, visit the gov.uk website.  

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News Shorts
Bluetongue RZ extended across Scotland

The Scottish Government has announced an extension to a Bluetongue Restricted Zone that is in place in south-west Scotland.

From 3 October, the Restricted Zone will be extended to cover the whole of Scotland. The Animal, Plant and Health Agency (APHA) says this is in response to further disease spread, as well as simplify trading conditions ahead of the autumn.

Since the whole country will share a disease status, it will no longer be necessary to have a movement license to move susceptible livestock around the country. Restrictions on germinal products remain.

As of 1 October 2026, there were 1,979 cases of BTV-3 in England, 389 cases in Wales and 40 cases in Scotland.