Activities / Projects

So you want to be a vet

Widening participation website.

This is a VetNet funded project in association with the LIVE Centre

Here at the RVC we are committed to widening participation and have developed several routes into veterinary medicine for students from non-traditional backgrounds; including a one year "Gateway Programme" specifically designed to help students with lower A level grades/vocational qualifications from low income families cope with the academic challenges of the veterinary medicine degree and, in 2010, a new opportunity for students with a BTEC in Animal Management to enter the 5 year BVetMed programme. 

The pathways into vet medicine have no doubt increased, however, applying to study vet medicine can be a complex and daunting task, particularly for students whose parents have not been to vet school or whose teachers have no experience in helping students apply for professional degrees. These problems are not restriced to vet medicine, the final report of the Panel for Fair Access to the Professions (July, 2009) also emphasises the need to improve application and selection procedures in order to support students from non-traditional backgrounds. With this in mind, we have developed a website to provide information and guidance for students interested in studying vet medicine www.tobeavet.com.

Within the site there is information on what it is really like to be a vet and a vet student (straight from the horses mouth via mini-interviews), the skills required of a good vet and important information on RVC selection criteria. We also provide advice on filling in UCAS forms, getting the most from work experience and performing well in interviews. For those students looking for other career options, we have interviewed a whole host of people with interesting jobs that involve working with animals.  For more information please contact Rachel Davis (rcdavis@rvc.ac.uk).

Project team: Rachel Davis, Peter Nunn, Jane Tomlin, Belinda Yamagishi, Beckie Knight, Jon Parry, Margaret Kilyon, Nigel Goode, Charlotte Lawson.