Original research · refreshed weekly
The Board's Year: 2025 in Review
In 2025, the newest complete calendar year in the published record, the Board of Veterans' Appeals issued 108,643 decisions covering 286,268 issues. Of the issues decided on the merits, 41.8% were granted, down 3.5 points from 2024's 45.3%.
How this research is built: every Board of Veterans' Appeals decision published by VA is public. RateMyVSO downloads and analyzes the complete record weekly, and this page always reports the newest complete calendar year, the current year stays partial in the record until well after it ends, so it only becomes the report year once its volume shows the year is done. Modern-era (AMA) appeals only.
Grant and remand rates by condition, 2025
The 20 most-decided conditions that year. Grant rate is granted of decided issues (granted plus denied); the remand column is remands as a share of all issues for that condition:
What moved vs 2024
The biggest year-over-year grant-rate shifts among conditions with at least 100 decided issues in both years:
| Condition | 2024 | 2025 | Change | Decided (new / prior) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Open-angle glaucoma DC 6013 | 21.6% | 43.5% | +21.9 pts | 131 / 111 |
| Cataract DC 6027 | 22.6% | 37.7% | +15 pts | 162 / 137 |
| Gout DC 5017 | 28.2% | 41.1% | +12.9 pts | 202 / 110 |
| Paralysis of all radicular groups DC 8513 | 28.3% | 40.1% | +11.8 pts | 304 / 226 |
| Paralysis of ulnar nerve DC 8516 | 34.7% | 44.9% | +10.1 pts | 156 / 118 |
| Varicose veins DC 7120 | 45.5% | 29.2% | -16.4 pts | 161 / 101 |
| Fibromyalgia DC 5025 | 45.6% | 30.8% | -14.7 pts | 321 / 215 |
| Malignant neoplasms of the digestive system, exclusive of skin growths DC 7343 | 69.4% | 54.8% | -14.6 pts | 314 / 219 |
| Neoplasms, malignant, any specified part of respiratory system exclusive of skin growths DC 6819 | 63.2% | 50.7% | -12.5 pts | 205 / 174 |
| Septum, nasal, deviation of DC 6502 | 42.7% | 30.7% | -12.1 pts | 163 / 110 |
Highest-volume judges, 2025
The Veterans Law Judges who signed the most issue decisions that year, with grant rate of decided issues and remand count. Factual reporting on public officials' published opinions; see per-judge analytics for career-long numbers:
| Judge | Issues | Grant rate | Remanded |
|---|---|---|---|
| B. D. WATSON | 3,122 | 34.3% | 1,136 |
| JIMMY L. BARDIN | 2,986 | 56.7% | 1,186 |
| Jonathan Hager | 2,920 | 76.1% | 406 |
| JOHN Z. JONES | 2,821 | 40.1% | 749 |
| Michael J. Skaltsounis | 2,755 | 64.8% | 1,044 |
| Thomas L. English | 2,718 | 57.8% | 1,345 |
| Timothy Cothrel | 2,709 | 56.7% | 520 |
| RAY BARTO SLABBEKORN, JR. | 2,701 | 47.6% | 399 |
| Paulette Vance Burton | 2,675 | 33.7% | 969 |
| SHAUN S. SPERANZA | 2,675 | 59.5% | 988 |
The record, year by year
Total decision volume for the most recent years in the record, so it's clear why 2025 rather than a more recent calendar year is this report's subject:
Methodology
Issue-level aggregates over published Board of Veterans' Appeals decisions decided in calendar year 2025, modern-era (AMA) appeals only. Grant rate is granted divided by granted-plus-denied; remands and dismissals are excluded from the rate. The condition table requires at least 100 decided issues per condition; the movers table requires 100 in both years compared. Figures refresh every Monday; the report year advances automatically once a newer year's record is complete. See Recent Board Activity for the monthly view.
Cite this research
RateMyVSO. (October 19, 2026). The Board's Year: Outcomes of 286,268 Board of Veterans' Appeals Issues Decided in 2025. https://ratemyvso.net/dc/boards-year-report
Free to cite and link with attribution. Figures derived from published Board of Veterans' Appeals decisions.
Educational and encyclopedic only, not legal advice, and not a prediction of any individual claim. For help with a claim, find a VA-accredited representative.