Recommendation 1

Workforce pressures in the veterinary profession are no longer driven primarily by an overall shortage of qualified individuals, but by challenges in retention, distribution and alignment with specific roles. At our evidence session at Harper Adams University, all four senior veterinary representatives on the panel emphasised that veterinary training produces a highly transferable skillset, supporting careers across industry, research, regulation and policy. While presented as a strength, this sits in clear tension with evidence of ongoing recruitment and retention difficulties in clinical practice, raising questions about how far workforce planning is aligned with the profession’s own account of career mobility. (Conclusion, Paragraph 12)