Authorisation

The following steps must be completed in order to be successfully authorised as an Official Veterinarian (OV):

Step 1: Registration

• The candidate must complete the registration form and make sure to enter their ‘Region of work’. This will be Great Britain (select England/Scotland/Wales) with APHA as the competent authority (CA), or the Falkland Islands with the Veterinary Service section of the Department of Agriculture as the CA.

Step 2: Confirmation of registration

• Once registered, the candidate will receive an automated email with a payment receipt and their log in details. If this does not arrive, candidates should check their ‘Junk’ folder.

Step 3: Enrolment

• After logging in, the candidate will be able to enrol on their chosen course and complete the online training.

Step 4: Authorisation box

• If the candidate wants to be authorised to work as an OV, they must tick the relevant OV Authorisation' box on their ‘Training details' page and must sit and pass the end-of-course online exam.

Step 5: Online exam

• The invigilated online exam can be taken at a convenient time for both the candidate and their invigilator.
• Currently, invigilation can be carried out via Zoom. Alternatively, there is an option to use a third-party company to invigilate the exam – but this will be at a cost. All information can be found here.

Step 6 (TT only): Confirmation of conditional authorisation

• If a TT candidate passes the exam, they will need to nominate a Supervisor and complete and return a Sam declaration form before they can receive conditional authorisation. TT candidates must not start work while they are waiting for conditional authorisation.
• The TT candidate will receive an email confirming their conditional authorisation and will be able to view and print a certificate of conditional authorisation as a downloadable PDF file from their OV Personal Training Dashboard. 

Step 7 (TT only): Practical training and assessment

• Conditional TTs must conduct practical TB testing training.
• Conditional TTs must then pass a Practical Assessment with Improve International.

Step 8: Confirmation of authorisation

• Once a candidate (for all qualifications other than TT) passes the online exam, this will notify the relevant authority (i.e. APHA or the Veterinary Service section of the Department of Agriculture, Falkland Islands), who will then approve their full authorisation. 
• Once a TT candidate passes the Practical Assessment, this will notify APHA, who will then send an email approving the TT's full authorisation to TB test.
• The candidate will be prompted to log in to their OV Personal Training Dashboard, where they can view and print a certificate of authorisation as a downloadable PDF file. 

Step 9: Reminders

• OVs will be contacted via email every six months to confirm their status and to remind them to update their details if appropriate. They can do this by logging in to their OV Personal Training Dashboard.

Step 10: Revalidation in order to maintain authorisation

• Revalidation of OV training will be required every four years.
• OVs holding qualifications for which ES or ES/EX are prerequisites will not have to revalidate ES or ES/EX separately (except when ES or ES/EX are the only qualifications held). Instead, the revalidation of these qualifications is now included in the revalidation courses for which they are prerequisites.
• OVs will receive their first reminder email six months prior to the revalidation due date for their qualification, and then at frequent intervals after that, so they can enrol on and complete the revalidation training in good time. Failure to complete the revalidation training will result in the OV's authorisation being first suspended and then expired.

Step 11: Change of region

• If an OV changes region at any point, they must update their details on their Personal Training Dashboard.
• They will then be deauthorised in their previous region and will be automatically presented to their new region for authorisation. The exception is when changing nation within the GB region (i.e. England to Wales), in which case APHA authorisation will not be changed.
• OVs must wait until they have received official authorisation from the authority in their new region before commencing work there.
• Once they have received confirmation of authorisation from their new region, they will be able to download a new certificate of authorisation from their OV Personal Training Dashboard.