Official veterinarians training support

Only vets holding the relevant Official Controls Qualification (Veterinary) (OCQ(V)), who are full members of the RCVS and are working in GB can be authorised as Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) Official Veterinarians (OVs).

Funding available for new entrants and revalidation courses

We are currently funding new entrant courses for essential skills (ES), statutory surveillance (SS) and tuberculin testing (TT) and ongoing revalidation courses for SS and TT.

This is in recognition of the important work undertaken by large animal veterinarians who deliver Official Veterinarian work in Scotland.

Eligibility

The support is available to new and existing OVs and relates to the following OCQ(V)s:

New entrants

• Registration
• OCQ(V): ES
• OCQ(V): SS
• OCQ(V): TT

Existing OVs

• OCQ(V) - SS revalidation

• OCQ(V) - TT revalidation
• remote invigilation (for solo practitioners working in remote areas)

Further information on the revalidation process is available from Improve International.

Funding

In order to secure funding, practice managers should email animal.health@gov.scot with the names and SP numbers of all Official Veterinarians in your practice who meet the criteria and what funding is required.

Please make sure that your practice name is included in any correspondence. All names will be checked for eligibility.

Once eligibility for funding has been confirmed, we will email you to confirm funding with instructions on next steps.

Please await confirmation before OVs register and undertake the training through Improve International. 

Timescales

New entrants

Funding for new entrants is limited and must be claimed, and qualification complete before 31 March 2026.

Revalidation

Existing OVs must revalidate their qualifications after four years. If the revalidation deadline is reached, your qualification will be suspended for six months during which time revalidation training can be completed. If the training isn’t completed within this period then the qualification will be expired.

If you don’t complete this training and it expires, you will need to complete the full training course as a new entrant.

The rates payable for OVs undertaking these services can be found in the Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) Scale of fees.