Magnetic anisotropy and magnetization reversal of Al/Co/V/MgO(0 0 1) thin films have been investigated. The films were fabricated by magnetron sputtering. The roles of both Co and V layers thicknesses have been studied. Magnetic characterization has been carried out by transverse susceptibility (TS) measurements and hysteresis loops. Cobalt is grown in the hcp structure on V with the c axis parallel to the film plane. Two types of hcp Co crystal are grown with the c axes perpendicular to each other. This structure gives rise to a fourfold magnetic anisotropy. When the V layer thickness is below 40 Å a superimposed uniaxial anisotropy develops, the effect of which is a depression in the TS, in agreement with theoretical calculations. This uniaxial anisotropy is induced by the substrate and due to a discontinuous growth of the V layer. For hcp Co grown on V, the magnetic anisotropy rapidly increases with Co layer thickness. In this case, unexpected shifted hysteresis loops along the hard axes were observed when the films were not saturated. This has been explained by taking into account the magnetization reversal along the hard axis: it proceeds via magnetization rotation of some portions of the film at high fields, and by domain wall motion of the rest of the film at lower field values.