The University has announced that the School of the Biological Sciences (SBS) will no longer be responsible for the management of the Vet School, following the decision by the General Board two weeks ago to continue the course.

In a notice published on Tuesday (03/03), the General Board outlined the need for “new leadership” in the short-term, while the School attempts to regain full accreditation and finds savings in the day-to-day running of the veterinary hospital.

The notice outlines the two primary problems facing the Vet School in its current form as the “small size of the course, which is constrained by the number of places available in the Colleges,” and the “science-intensive curriculum, which is difficult to align with the evolving accreditation standards of the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons (RCVS)”.

It goes on to say that the SBS originally stepped in to support the Vet School towards the end of 2024, when issues surrounding the accreditation of the course by the RCVS, as well as the Vet School’s financial difficulties, had “reached a crisis point”. This took place alongside an evaluation by the SBS of possible alternative models for the continuation of the course, which concluded with the recommendation that the Vet School be closed.

The General Board states that although it ultimately did not take on this recommendation, it “affirms the careful and rigorous analysis carried out by the School of the Biological Sciences” in this regard, and “will draw on it as it considers options for the course going forward”.

However, it also states that while the Vet School will continue to work towards regaining full accreditation by the RCVS and eliminating overspends in relation to the veterinary hospital, these matters “will no longer be the responsibility of the School of the Biological Sciences”. It continues: “As the Department recognises, implementation will require new leadership, and the Faculty Board of Veterinary Medicine will manage and oversee these changes”. This work will be monitored by the General Board, which will assess the Faculty’s progress.

The notice concludes: “The General Board fully recognises the strength of feeling which this issue has produced, especially in recent months, and the impacts on many in the Cambridge community. Following its decision, the General Board now encourages colleagues to work together in a positive and supportive way, and to help deliver the goals the Board has set out for the benefit of staff and students.”

In the town hall meeting held on 24 February after the General Board’s decision to continue the course, vet students expressed concern about the damage that the deliberation had done to the Vet School’s relationship with the SBS. In response to this Professor Bhaskar Vira, the pro-vice chancellor for education, said: “we have to learn to disagree well”.