Revalidation training and exam

Online training

The revalidation training can be accessed via your Personal Training Dashboard once you have logged in and enrolled on your chosen revalidation course.

You must complete a short pre-course self-evaluation and will then have unrestricted access to the course materials on Moodle (the learning management system), even when you have completed the course and passed the exam. You may access the training in your own time and it does not have to be completed in one go.

The online course supplies the most up-to-date information, alongside a number of quizzes and exercises to complete. Links to useful websites and documents are provided to enhance your learning further through extra reading.

As of 2nd November 2020, it is no longer a requirement to complete a separate revalidation course for Essential Skills or Exports General. However, you are expected to keep your Essential Skills and Exports General knowledge up to date at all times.

Therefore, if you are completing a revalidation course for which the OCQ(V) - ES is a prerequisite, Essential Skills revalidation content will also be included in the course. Similarly, if you are completing a revalidation course for which the OCQ(V) - EX is a prerequisite, Exports General revalidation content will also be included in the course. Completion of the Essential Skills and Exports General revalidation content is at your own discretion – it is advised that you review the content at least once every revalidation cycle, but it is not compulsory in order to record completion of your revalidation course and progress to the exam.

Support is available for any vet who needs it when completing the courses – either email your query to enquiries@improve-ov.com or phone the Improve OV team on 0330 202 0380 and we will be happy to help.

Everyone studies at their own pace, but the revalidation courses equate to between three and ten hours of CPD.

Online exam

Once you have completed the online training, you must then complete a short post-course self-evaluation and nominate an invigilator before proceeding to the online exam. The post-course self-evaluation, invigilator nomination and link to the online exam can all be found on your Personal Training Dashboard.

Your invigilator must be an MRCVS/FRCVS (this can be a DVM for overseas students), an RVN, a doctor or a lawyer. Both the candidate and invigilator will be required to sign the disclaimer and give their professional membership number before the online exam takes place.

Your online exam can be taken at a time that is convenient for both you and your invigilator. All revalidation exams (except for ESr and CAr) will comprise of 20 multiple choice questions, to be answered within one hour. Ten of these questions will be specific to your revalidation subject, five will be Essential Skills questions and five will be Exports General questions (you will find Essential Skills and Exports General revalidation content within your revalidation course).

In light of the ongoing COVID-19 situation, we recognise that in most cases it is no longer viable for candidates to be invigilated in person whilst maintaining safe social distancing. Please click here for information on remote invigilation via screenshare.

Alternatively, you may now register to be remotely invigilated by our partner, ProctorU; a live online proctoring service that is available 24/7. Further information on ProctorU is provided on your Personal Training Dashboard when you come to nominate an invigilator. Remote invigilation via ProctorU has a fee of £49 + VAT.

Once you have passed, you will be able to download a certificate of achievement.

If you fail the exam, you have two opportunities to retake it. The retake fee is £49 + VAT. Two weeks are allowed for further study; you will not have access to resit the exam until after these two weeks have passed. If you fail for a third time, your status will be revoked and you will have to take and pass the full course to regain your OV status.