RCVS and VN Councils’ 2025 elections open for nominations
The elections will take place under the newly-amended RCVS Election Scheme.
The nominations for the 2025 elections for the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons (RCVS) Council and Veterinary Nurses (VN) Council have officially opened.
Veterinary surgeons and nurses now have until 5pm on Friday, 31 January to submit their nomination forms to stand as election candidates. There are four elected veterinary surgeon places available on the RCVS Council and two elected veterinary nurse places available on the VN Council.
The elections will take place under the newly-amended RCVS Election Scheme, recently approved by the Privy Council. It will allow the college more flexibility in how it runs elections, and in the information it requests from candidates.
The college has also updated its downloadable information packs for prospective candidates for each election.
Each information pack sets out details on the roles of the members and the candidate nomination process. They also contain the nomination and information forms necessary for submission.
The RCVS Council is responsible for the governance of the veterinary profession, with its members involved with approving major policy decisions affecting the regulation and advancement of the profession. It also approves strategic and financial plans, as well as annual budgets.
Members sit on various committees and sub-committees relating to standards, education, registration, finance and the advancement of the professions, in addition to any ad hoc groups.
The VN Council represents the veterinary nursing sector, examining matters relating to education, training standards, post-qualification awards and the registration of new RVNs.
It has oversight over the joint British Veterinary Nursing Association and RCVS VN Futures project. Members may also be asked to sit on the VN Education Committee and other RCVS committees, sub-committees and ad hoc groups.
Candidates for each election will need to provide a biography (maximum 200 words) as well as a candidate statement (maximum 200 words).
Veterinary surgeons who are interested in standing for RCVS Council should contact Dawn Wiggins, RCVS Council secretary, on d.wiggins@rcvs.org.uk for more information. Candidates for the VN Council election should contact Annette Amato, VN Council secretary, on a.amato@rcvs.org.uk for details about their election.
The candidate information packs for each election can be found here.
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Companies marketing medicines for small pets exempt from authorisation must submit their annual return to the Veterinary Medicines Directorate (VMD) by 30 November 2026.
