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.

Since 2nd November 2020, it has not been a requirement to complete a separate revalidation course for Essential Skills or Exports General (unless ES or ES/EX are the only qualifications held). However, you are expected to keep your Essential Skills and Exports General knowledge up to date at all times.

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, and will take one hour at most. All revalidation exams will feature ten questions specific to your revalidation subject. For courses with ES or ES/EX as prerequisites, there will also be five questions specific to Essential Skills and five specific to Exports General (you will find Essential Skills and Exports General revalidation content within your revalidation course). (For example, all export revalidation exams (except for EXr and CAr) will comprise of 20 multiple choice questions, to be answered within the hour.)

Since the COVID-19 pandemic, remote invigilation via screenshare has been recognised as an acceptable form of invigilation. Please click here for further information.

Alternatively, you may now register to be remotely invigilated by a member of the Improve International team. This form of remote invigilation 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.