Original post by kookaburaIt's obviously up to you what route of entry you take. But like schizopear said, becareful how you explain this to other people. There are plenty of people who head down the grad route through being badly/uninformed and it doesn't help if people make it seem like an easy way in.
Yes, doing a degree can help out when/if you have bad a level grades. However there are a lots of BUT'S with regards to grad entry:
1. You will have to pay full fees at all bar Nottm, RVC and Camb. Full fees are circa £18-22k per year. If you can afford this, great, but most people can't and don't realise they will have that kind of money to find.
2. RVC and Nottm charge normal undergrad fees, Camb charge normal undergrad fees plus college fees (so works out fairly expensive in the end). This means that they are all (esp RVC and Nottm) insanely competitive for Vetmed places. I mean a lot more so that normal entry. To the point where many people have to go back and re-do a levels (particularly if they had low grades first time round), to try and be competitive. If you end up redoing a levels post-degree, many people wish they had just done that first time round.
3. As a grad you will get virtually no monetary support. Maintainance loan is all you can get, which doesn't even cover my accommodation cost. Many banks have withdrawn career development loans as well recently, making it even harder to fund your way through vet school.
4. You mention exemptions from modules - some uni's work like that and allow you to miss modules, some do a 2in1 year, making it a four year course. But, this may make it slightly cheaper, but still expensive. (The amount you save on module exemptions is actually very little). But the 2in1 year is stressful beyond belief. I have nearly finished my exams, and I would say out of 53 of us, virtually everyone has been pretty close to a nervous breakdown at one point or another. It is easy to see the difference comparing us to the 1st and 2nd year students - they were stressed, but coping. Most of my coursemates have been struggling to cope, it definatly is not an easy option!
That is just stuff I can think of off the top of my head. Obviously you are already heading down the degree route, as many people have done, and now don't have much option. But please, please, don't suggest it to people as being an easy/good route to go. Yes, it works, but it is long, expensive, hard, and no guarantee you will even get there.