The Education Committee of the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons (RCVS), at its meeting on 25 November 2025, has made the difficult decision to discontinue the RCVS Extra-Mural Studies (EMS) National Booking Database.
The EMS database began development in 2022 and was launched for placement providers a year ago and for students in March this year. It was implemented following lengthy stakeholder consultation amongst veterinary students, EMS placement providers, and the veterinary schools, which resulted in broad support for, and commitment to, the project.
Feedback from graduates had indicated that EMS was a hugely valuable part of their undergraduate studies, but that access to placements could be difficult. The aims of the database were therefore to streamline the EMS placement booking process for providers, to support vet schools in their implementation of EMS, and to provide students with comprehensive information to help them find available placements relevant to their learning needs and personal circumstances.
Initial reaction to the database from providers and students was positive; hundreds of providers joined the system and provided feedback that they appreciated a central system which allowed students from all schools to be able to book placements.
Students accessing the system reported that the database was easy to use and contained many welcome features that improved EMS accessibility, such as the ability to locate placements geographically, and information on transport links and available accommodation.
However, the success of the database relied on ongoing support from all three stakeholder groups and, although a few veterinary schools had managed to take this forward, the majority of schools were, in part due to a range of IT and legal complexities, no longer able to commit to the project at the present time or within a necessary timeline to make it viable.
Tim Hutchinson, Vice-Chair of the Education Committee, said: “This decision has not been taken lightly, as the Education Committee recognised both the substantial work from EMS providers in creating and maintaining their placement profiles, and the support shown from students using the database.
“RCVS staff and stakeholders have put a tremendous amount of effort into getting this system off the ground, however it could only have worked with all parties continuing to engage and, despite best efforts, this unfortunately has proved not to be.
“On behalf of the Education Committee, I would like to thank those stakeholders who signed up to the database for their engagement, and I share their frustration that this project did not succeed.”
The RCVS will provide support for those veterinary schools that were signed up and using the database whilst the system is wound down. Any bookings already in the system will be relayed to veterinary school internal systems. It is expected that the software will be retired by February 2026.