- Purpose
ANCVA is the Association for Non-clinical Veterinary Accreditation and as an Awarding Organisation its purpose is to accredit continuing professional development courses for veterinary teams which focus delivering on non-clinical education.
- Objective
ANCVA exists to promote the importance of non-clinical skills for veterinary teams. The organisation seeks to advance the quality of training in this area by accrediting courses that meet the standards set. ANCVA’s standards have been developed to give credibility and weight to courses that offer non-clinical skills education so that those choosing to complete ANCVA accredited CPD can have confidence in the calibre of the training they will receive.
- Accreditation
ANCVA accreditation comprises the following:
- a) Levels
- Non-qualification courses. These are courses that are simply approved to ANCVA standards for the CPD offered. Certificates, confirming the CPD hours achieved are produced by the course provider and are entitled to bear the ANCVA logo
- Courses that result in a qualification. ANCVA awards 2 levels of non-clinical skills qualification:
- Certificate in Non-Clinical Skills (CertNCS)
- Diploma in Non-Clinical Skills (DipNCS)
For these courses, ANCVA will provide successful learners with a certificate of their award and qualification and the course provider will provide certificates confirming the CPD hours achieved (which may bear the ANCVA logo)
- b) Process
ANCVA’s accreditation process involves reviewing courses to ensure that the required standards are met in the following areas:
- Relevance of the subject matter. Courses must deliver knowledge and skills in non-clinical skills for any member of the team in a veterinary practice. Whilst clinical information may be included, the relevance of this should be linked to the non-clinical aspects of work in a veterinary practice
- Course title. This must fairly reflect the content of the course so that the learner is clear about the training they choose to undertake
- Individuals creating the courses must be knowledgeable in the subject matter at a level higher than those of the intended audience. Appropriate qualifications include:
- Academic degrees or formal educational qualifications in the subject matter being presented and / or
- Extensive experience or training in the subject matter being presented
- Where neither of these requirements are met, authors must provide 2 letters of recommendation from individuals that do meet the qualification / experience requirements
- Proof of the authors’ knowledge and / or experience must be produced. This can take the form of a current CV and either a Certificate of qualification, or confirmation of registration with a regulatory body, such as the RCVS
- CPD hours provided. This can include both taught hours and self-directed learning hours
- Learning Objectives. These must be clearly stated so that learners are fully informed of the knowledge and skills they should expect to achieve from the course
- This must be appropriate to deliver the stated learning objectives and CPD hours
- Learner experience. The method of delivery of the course material must be appropriate to the educational content, the objective of the course and the intended audience. Additionally, ideally learners should be encouraged to actively participate in the training; this could be achieved directly through in-person training, or through the learner completing work which requires application of their knowledge
- Assessment process. There must be a method of marking work that the learner completes; this may be automated and / or by an approved assessor
- Individuals marking the courses must knowledgeable in the subject matter at a level higher than those of the intended audience. Appropriate qualifications include:
- Academic degrees or formal educational qualifications in the subject matter being taught and / or
- Attainment of the award for which they mark learners’ work (and where their own work was of a consistently high standard and they demonstrated a thorough understanding of the knowledge and skills being taught)
- Extensive experience or training in the subject matter being taught
- Where neither of these requirements are met, authors must provide 2 letters of recommendation from individuals that do meet the qualification / experience requirements
- Proof of the authors’ knowledge and / or experience must be produced. This can take the form of a current CV and either a Certificate of qualification, or confirmation of registration with a regulatory body, such as the RCVS
- Learner evaluation. Feedback must be sought from all learners
- Customer satisfaction and complaints
- c) System
ANCVA will conduct initial evaluation of new courses. Thereafter, course providers will be required to self-certify annually, with full re-accreditation being required either every 3 years or if the course undergoes significant changes
- Course provider responsibilities
To maintain ANCVA accreditation of courses, course providers must comply with the following:
- Ensure that accredited courses meet the requirements for accreditation, supplying any necessary supporting documentation when requested by ANCVA
- Maintain a list of learners undertaking accredited courses
- Monitor the learners’ progress through accredited courses, following up those who are not completing the training as expected, and / or who do not go on to achieve their qualification
- Collect and maintain details of feedback from learners
- Investigate any issues of poor customer satisfaction including having a procedure in place to deal with any complaints
- Complete the annual self-certification renewal documentation within the required time frame, notifying ANCVA of any significant changes to any accredited course(s) and following the re-accreditation process if considered necessary by ANCVA
- Notify ANCVA when a new assessor is recruited and ensure that the individual is approved by ANCVA before they undertake the marking of any learners’ work
- Ensure that they comply with Equality and Diversity legislation and have an Equality and Diversity policy in place
- Ensure that promotion materials for any ANCVA accredited courses include a course overview statement, clearly setting out the agenda and learning objectives in brief, with learners being provided with more detailed information about the syllabus either on request or when starting the course
- Ensure that reference to ANCVA accreditation is only made after such accreditation has been confirmed. Appropriate wording might be:
This course provides ….. hours of CPD and is accredited by ANCVA
Where appropriate for courses that deliver a qualification, the level may be stated, eg.
This course provides ….. hours of CPD and is accredited by ANCVA as a CertNCS or DipNCS
- Specific requirements for courses that result in qualifications
ANCVA has set criteria that must be satisfied by courses in order for them to be accredited for one of the Non-clinical Skills Awards.
- a) Certificate in Non-Clinical Skills (CertNCS) must provide the following:
- 25 learning hours
- Assessment of learners’ work by an assessor approved by ANCVA
- A final assessment that must be successfully completed to achieve the qualification. This could include a specific piece of written work or an oral assessment
- b) Diploma in Non-Clinical skills (DipNCS) must provide the following:
- Learning that follows on from a CertNCS at a more advanced level
- 30 learning hours
- Assessment of learners’ work by an assessor approved by ANCVA
- Learners must be required to demonstrate both knowledge and understanding of the subject as well as application of their learning
- A final assessment that must be successfully completed to achieve the qualification. This could include a specific piece of written work or an oral assessment