Before You Choose Anyone
How to choose a veterinary physiotherapist
In the UK, anybody can call themselves an animal physiotherapist. There is no law stopping them, and no qualification they are required to hold. This page explains what the differences actually are, so you can judge for yourself, whoever you end up choosing.
The Position Today
“Veterinary physiotherapist” is not a protected title
“Physiotherapist” is a protected title when treating people: use it without Health and Care Professions Council registration and you are breaking the law. That protection does not extend to animal work. Nobody has to hold a qualification, join a register, or carry insurance before advertising themselves as an animal or veterinary physiotherapist.
This is not a controversial claim. It is the reason the profession’s own regulator is pushing for change. Describing the current gap, the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons puts it plainly:
“You could go and do a couple of weekends’ course in spinal manipulation and then call yourself an animal chiropractor.”
Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons, on the case for legislative reform
Most practitioners are conscientious people who have trained properly. The problem is that the title itself tells you nothing, so the burden of checking falls on you.
Qualification Levels
What the training actually involves
UK qualifications sit on a numbered framework, which makes comparison straightforward once you know what the numbers mean. Two courses can both be called “animal therapy training” and be four levels apart.
-
No formal level
Short unaccredited courses
A weekend or two-week course with no external awarding body behind it. It may teach useful handling skills, but it is not assessed against any national standard and carries no qualification level.
-
Level 3
Roughly A-level standard
Introductory animal therapy and massage awards sit here. Useful grounding, but well short of what is needed to assess and treat a musculoskeletal problem independently.
-
Level 4 to 5
Certificate or diploma of higher education
The range IRVAP accepts for its Manual Therapist category. A recognised standard, but a different scope of practice from a veterinary physiotherapist.
-
Level 6
Bachelor’s degree standard
The minimum IRVAP accepts for registration as a Veterinary Physiotherapist, and it must be externally accredited by a UK awarding body.
-
Level 7
Master’s degree standard
An MSc in Veterinary Physiotherapy. This is Megan’s qualification, one level above the register’s own minimum.
Registration
What being “registered” should mean
Registration is voluntary, so it is worth knowing what a register actually checks before treating it as reassurance. To join IRVAP as a Veterinary Physiotherapist, an applicant must provide:
See IRVAP’s published requirements- An accredited qualification at Level 6 or above, externally endorsed by a UK awarding body
- Qualification certificates and full course transcripts, checked at application
- A continuing professional development record, maintained and submitted
- Professional indemnity insurance
- A current first aid qualification at Level 3 or above
- Agreement to a published code of practice, with a route for complaints
The Law As It Stands
Veterinary consent is not optional
Whatever their qualifications, nobody may treat your animal without veterinary consent. Under the Veterinary Surgeons Act 1966 and the Veterinary Surgery (Exemptions) Order 2015, physiotherapy on an animal is permitted only under veterinary direction, after a vet has examined the animal and delegated that treatment.
This applies to everyone equally, regardless of training or register. It is also the single easiest thing for an owner to check. If a practitioner does not ask who your vet is, they are either unaware of the requirement or ignoring it, and neither is a good sign.
What Is Changing
Regulation has been proposed, but is not yet law
The Veterinary Surgeons Act 1966 is sixty years old and predates the profession as it exists today. Reform has been under discussion for years, and it has now moved considerably closer.
The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs consulted on reform between 28 January and 25 March 2026. On 9 July 2026 the government published a White Paper, Our vision for a thriving veterinary sector, setting out proposals for the most significant change to veterinary regulation in a generation. Those proposals include bringing allied veterinary professionals, explicitly including physiotherapists, into statutory regulation through a licence to practise, with protected titles and mandatory registration.
To be clear about the status: these are proposals. They are not law, primary legislation is still required, and no implementation date has been announced. Until that changes, the title remains unprotected and checking qualifications remains the owner’s job.
Position reviewed September 2026.
Practical Checks
Five questions worth asking anyone
These work on us as well as on anyone else. A practitioner worth hiring will be glad to be asked.
What level is your qualification, and who accredited it?
A straight answer should come back immediately: the level, the awarding body, and the length of study. Vagueness here tells you most of what you need to know.
Which register are you on?
IRVAP, RAMP and ACPAT all publish searchable registers. You can check an individual is genuinely listed rather than taking a logo on a website at face value.
Will you contact my vet before treating?
The only acceptable answer is yes. Veterinary consent is a legal requirement, not a courtesy, and a practitioner who waves it away is not working within the law.
Are you insured, and for treating animals specifically?
Professional indemnity cover for animal treatment is not the same as general public liability. It is a fair question and any professional will expect it.
What would make you refer my animal back to the vet?
Anyone confident in their scope of practice can answer this quickly. Physiotherapy has clear limits, and knowing them is a sign of competence rather than a weakness.
Our Answers
Where I stand
It would be a poor page that set out these questions and then dodged them, so here are my own answers. If any of it matters to you, check it rather than taking my word for it.
What level is your qualification, and who accredited it?
An MSc in Veterinary Physiotherapy, a Level 7 qualification, awarded by Writtle University College in 2022. That is one level above the minimum IRVAP accepts for registration as a veterinary physiotherapist. It took three years for the BSc that preceded it and a further three years for the MSc itself, rather than a weekend.
Which register are you on?
I am registered with IRVAP.
Will you contact my vet before treating?
Always, and I do it for you rather than leaving you to chase it. Written consent is requested from your practice before any hands-on work begins. If your vet wants further investigation first, or declines, that is the end of it until they are satisfied. This is a legal requirement, not a formality I am willing to work around.
Are you insured, and for treating animals specifically?
Yes. I hold professional indemnity cover for veterinary physiotherapy, renewed annually.
What would make you refer my animal back to the vet?
Physiotherapy has clear limits, and knowing them matters more than being able to treat everything. I stop and refer straight back to your vet when I see acute or worsening severe pain; non-weight-bearing or rapidly worsening lameness; suspected fracture, dislocation or ligament rupture; neurological signs such as ataxia, knuckling or loss of deep pain sensation; heat, swelling or discharge suggesting infection; unexplained collapse; or any deterioration during a course of treatment rather than the expected improvement.
I will also tell you plainly when I do not think physiotherapy is the right answer at all, rather than booking you in anyway. Turning work down occasionally is part of doing this properly.
Megan Creighton
MSc Veterinary Physiotherapy · IRVAP registered