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OVs Authorised by APHA in GB

The counts in the table below will be updated on the 1st of each month between 10.00 and 10.30am.


Qualification England Wales Scotland Total
OCQ(V) - AX (Avian Exports) 164 23 49 205
OCQ(V) - CA (Companion Animals) 5695 491 698 6626
OCQ(V) - EQ (Equine Exports) 645 63 65 696
OCQ(V) - ES (Essential Skills) 3592 719 848 4745
OCQ(V) - EX (Exports General) 2439 341 484 3004
OCQ(V) - FA (Farm Animal Exports) 57 14 16 86
OCQ(V) - GX (Germinal Products Exports) 99 9 16 116
OCQ(V) - LX (Laboratory Animal Exports) 18 1 7 24
OCQ(V) - PX (Product Exports) 1099 168 251 1386
OCQ(V) - SS (Statutory Surveillance) 493 136 368 951
OCQ(V) - SX (Small Animal Exports) 362 52 94 483
OCQ(V) - TT (Tuberculin Testing) 1393 417 342 2029
OCQ(V) - UX (Ungulate Exports) 322 63 122 488
OCQ(V) - ZX (Zoo Animal Exports) 27 7 6 31
Total authorised OVs 8905 1132 1403 10801

Please note:

The total number of OVs with each qualification will not always be the sum of the OVs holding that qualification in England, Wales and Scotland. This is due to some OVs being registered in more than one country (e.g. working across the border in both England and Wales).

The figures in the 'Total authorised OVs' row will not be the sum of all OVs authorised in each qualification. This is due to the fact that some OVs hold more than one qualification. 

The OCQ(V) - TT count gives the number of fully authorised OVs. It does not include the number of OVs with conditional status who are still in training.

OVs must revalidate their qualifications every four years, at which point a certain percentage may choose not to continue with the work. Therefore, there will occasionally be noticeable changes to counts caused by groups of OVs sharing the same revalidation due date. For example, the number of OVs authorised for the OCQ(V) - AX (Avian Exports) dropped in April 2022, as the revalidation date for a group of AX OVs fell in March 2022 and a number of these OVs chose not to revalidate.

As of September 2023, the counts include OVs authorised for both OCQ(V) - ES (Essential Skills) and OCQ(V) - EX (Exports General). This will account for any jump in the number of authorised OVs between August 2023 and September 2023.

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Counts of OVs Authorised by APHA in GB

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