Written Assessments

Online written assessments

Specific provisions relating to the online written assessments are set out in the document "Online written exams: Instructions and Information for Candidates and Employers" which should be studied when you are ready to sit your exams - this is on the AMTRA website and will be sent to you when you book your exams.

Most assessments are carried out online: for most people this means sitting the exams at home or work or some other quiet place.

However, from time to time we do offer assessments hosted at Harper Adams University (in Shropshire), with one of two formats: either online but where the computer equipment is provided and configured for you, so you only need to turn up at the booked time, or with traditional pen and paper.

If you don’t have access to a suitably equipped computer (including webcam and microphone), struggle with IT skills, don’t have a reliable Internet connection, or don’t have a suitable quiet place to sit the exam, we recommend you consider sitting the exam at Harper Adams University.

General guidance

The AMTRA written exams are "closed-book" exams.

If you are taking your exams in 2025 or after (except for the final "legacy" exam in April 2025), the Compendium will not be permitted, nor any other material.

Before sitting the written assessment, please study this document which includes things you should know.

Zero marks are given to an entire answer if any part of the answer contains advice or actions not compatible with the law, the SQP Code of Practice, or with data sheet recommendations, or which may endanger the animal. This might include supplying a wormer contraindicated in pregnancy to a female animal without checking if it could be pregnant or even checking its sex, supplying a sheep wormer for use in goats, failing to address horse passport requirements, failing to consider restrictions on the sale of eggs from domestic flocks, failing to address specific requirements for sheep dips, or incorrect dose rates, or failing to record information that is required to be recorded.

There is no negative marking in any of the written papers – it used to be the case that for some of the multiple-choice questions, an incorrect answer was awarded minus one mark: that is no longer the case.

What might be in the exam

All written assessments will have some "administration of product" questions. In addition your ability may be tested to use SPCs (via the AMTRA version of the Compendium that every candidate should have available for their written assessment until the end of 2024). This may be, for example, assessing dose rates, withholding periods, contraindications and warnings or asking you to find a suitable product to match a defined scenario. There may be a range of "right answers" depending on the product you choose as your example.

Other questions test your ability to fully manage the perfect transaction following the SQP Code of Practice. Thus we are looking for evidence that what you propose to do in a particular case fulfils relevant parts of the Code – but note that access to the text of the Code itself will not be available in the exam. Such questions will be focused on implementation and understanding the role of the SQP in context, and not on knowledge recall – it is not testing remembering the precise text.

A statement that you would do this (for instance, "I would advise on warnings and contraindications") is not enough. The required information relating to the specific chosen product must be given, to ensure you are able to use the SPC to give the correct advice.

In thinking about how you might tackle longer-answer questions, depending on the question you might include:

General advice specific to any question the “customer” may ask in the scenario. This may include information about specific parasites, human health risks, management methods to reduce risk e.g. hand washing and poop scooping etc.
The questions that should be asked in order to gain enough information to make an appropriate product decision. (If you choose to do this in a question and answer way, this is fine, but a short explanation on why the question is relevant would gain more marks).
An explanation of what the product you have chosen to recommend will, or will not do.
Any relevant contra-indications and warnings relevant to the specific product you have chosen.
Details of administration of the chosen product: dose, frequency and exactly HOW to administer the product.
How to store the chosen product
Disposal of remainder of product and packaging
Best practice on record-keeping
Information on epidemiology of specific parasites, management methods to reduce risk e.g. poo picking, use of quarantine dosing if applicable, use of FEC and the issues on wormer resistance, how to get animal weights
For the Equine module: how to manage the requirements of horse passport status of animals
For the Avian module: please note here the VMD restrictions on the use of small volume flubendazole products and their derivatives in birds that are for sale or producing products for sale
For the Avian module: please also note poultry of food-producing species can NEVER be given SAES products whatever their individual purpose without veterinary prescription under the cascade

In the Equine paper, the essay question is separated into two parts, with part A focusing on customer advice, product recommendations, and the conversational aspects, and part B asking students to discuss their professional obligations under the Code of Practice. The two elements are separated to improve question clarity and optimise opportunities to succeed. For an example as to how the essay will look, see the practice exam on the Harper Adams VLE (see below).

If you work in a business where electronic systems automatically record certain information, or automatically prompt you with certain questions which must be answered, then you are still expected to know and understand the legal requirements for information to be obtained from the customer and for record keeping, and to be able to describe these in the exam. The electronic systems might fail one day, or you may work somewhere else with different system in future. Many of the responsibilities in the Veterinary Medicines Regulations fall on you, not an employer, and you should be able to demonstrate understanding of them and ability to comply.

Sample questions and answers / practice exams

Some sample questions and answers on which you can test yourself are included in the Harper Adams "Virtual Learning Environment" (VLE) to which you will have access once you've successfully completed the Harper Adams student enrolment process. (If you've not received details from Harper Adams about your student enrolment process within 5 days of getting confirmation of successful registration with AMTRA, please contact Harper Adams.)

AMTRA strongly encourages all candidates to make use of the sample exams within the VLE.

Note that the sample exams (use of which is strongly encouraged) is different from the Systems Access Test (SAT) which, while presented as a mini-exam, is focussed on ensuring your computer equipment is correctly set up to take your full exam and that you know how the exam process works.

The SAT is compulsory and must be completed before each block of real exams. More details of that process are in the document "Online written exams: Instructions and Information for Candidates and Employers" and will be provided again after you’ve booked your exam.

Use of the AMTRA Compendium in written exams

If you are taking your exams in 2025 or after (except for the final "legacy" exam in April 2025), the Compendium will not be permitted, nor any other material.

Access will be provided to a small subset of data sheets / SPCs (or extracts of them) where relevant to specific questions. The data sheets will be embedded into the ‘Question Mark’ software which hosts the exams. Candidates should continue to be familiar with what data sheets / SPCs look like and interpreting and using them, either from the book if they have access to a copy, or in future via the NOAH or VMD websites. This mirrors daily life, where it is entirely normal and reasonable to look up details about a specific medicine, and it is not expected that anyone will remember all the key details about every product.

However, understanding and implementing the SQP Code of Practice is an integral part of the role of being a RAMA/SQP, and so questions based on the Code will be included in the Base and VN exams (as they historically were in the viva/oral exam), and candidates should be able to answer them without needing to access the Compendium or the Code. Such questions will be focused on implementation and understanding the role of the SQP in context, and not on knowledge recall – it is not testing remembering the precise text.

The level 4 exams (Base, Companion, Avian, and VN) will contain a scenario section, in which various products will be discussed. SPCs will be provided for all relevant products.

From January 2025, the essays and case scenarios in the Farm Animal and Equine exams will include a short statement in the style of the following:

New style of exam question:

It is July, and it is your first day in a new store, working as a qualified RAMA (E-SQP). A customer with a 16-year-old horse (in good condition) sharing grazing with two other horses, asks your advice. All three horses have recently had a faecal egg count carried out. The other two horses (different owner) had a zero result. Her horse had 400 eggs per gram.

The horses have been grazed together and given the same wormers for several years, but this is the first time they have had a faecal egg count. Your customer asks if you can explain the result and what she should do now and for the next 12 months regarding endoparasites.

Give appropriate advice.

If you recommend the use of any product, you must explain how and when to use or administer it, choose from the following and justify your choice.

The anthelmintic products in stock today include Equest Pramox, Strongid-P Paste, Nexmectin, Panacur Equine Guard 10%, and Noropraz. Give any other advice relevant to your SQP role.

The same style of adaptation will be applied to the Farm Animal exam.

Students will be presented with a range of realistic treatment options, just as they will be when working in industry. The products will vary in suitability. We recognise that there may be occasions when a student is presented with a product that they are not necessarily familiar with. As a registered professional, RAMAs can work in a range of settings, which in turn will offer differing ranges of products. Successful students will be able to interpret the information on offer and apply it to the scenario. This is an essential skill at academic level 5.