Second Degree Vet med

Hiya!

I would urge you to consider resitting GCSEs in order to go directly onto a veterinary medicine course without doing a first degree. It's much, much cheaper and very much quicker as well. It seems that it would solve a lot of your problems regarding your questions above. Additionally, if you really want to be a vet, you'll get there quicker and not have to study something your passion is not in. It's worth also noting that the graduate courses are generally considered much more competitive and there's no guarantee you would get onto one after committing to a first degree with the aim of getting onto vet.

If you do still want to take the grad route, ultimately it doesn't matter which degree you take as long as it meets entry requirements so check these well. Pick which you are most interested in and you will perform best at - at the end of the day you still have to study it! I would not let clinical experience sway you towards becoming a nurse as there are many ways applicants get experience, however as you mentioned working as a nurse would allow you to work. So really it's up to you which you pick.

Finally, no, there is very little help for people doing a second degree. You will get a maintenance loan for living costs still (I believe) but your tuition fees will have to be funded by you. I don't know too much about if any scholarships or bursaries are offered, but even still it would be unlikely you're able to rely on getting them and best to have another plan in place.

I hope this helps.

Thank you so so much for the reply!

I’ve been looking into retaking my GCSES, however, it stills comes to be quite pricey since I’d have to retake 5-7 subjects :\ I know it’s still much cheaper than the degree route like you said, but I’m not really in the position to pay for the retakes.

I will definitely look into gcse retake option more though, you have been super helpful

Thank you so so much for the reply!

I’ve been looking into retaking my GCSES, however, it stills comes to be quite pricey since I’d have to retake 5-7 subjects :\ I know it’s still much cheaper than the degree route like you said, but I’m not really in the position to pay for the retakes.

I will definitely look into gcse retake option more though, you have been super helpful

Also, perhaps you could look into Bristol's vet course? They have relatively low gcse requirements. Just popped into my head.

Hi, I am currently in college studying the btec level 3 extended diploma in animals management and am going on to do vet nursing next year. I have been doing work experience through the summer and have enjoyed it but have found that i am more interested in the vet med side than the nursing side. Because of my btec however i am not able to go straight into vet med so i will haveHi to progress through veterinary nursing. This could be an option for you! I am aware that it would cost more to do two degrees but i feel that it is better to experience veterinary nursing before veterinary medicine because it will give you options and you will be qualified in both areas. I defenitely think that it would be better to do vet nursing because you would know the ins and outs of each job. Even though you will have to pay for the second degree there are multiple other grants and loans that could be awarded to you to help pay for your education.
I wish you the best of luck in whatever you choose!

Hello everyone!

I am applying to university in September and ultimately want to be a vet by the end. I didn’t get the grades in GCSEs for normal vet medicine entry so I was thinking of doing one undergrad and then applying to graduate vet medicine.

My plan is to do my first degree, work for a year and then start my vet medicine degree. I’m stuck between choosing vet nursing or vet bioscience for the first degree though.

If I was to do vet nursing, I would gain clinical experience and would be able to practice as a vet nurse I order to save for the second degree.

If I was to do vet bioscience, I am unsure what job I could get in order to help with the payment of the vet medicine undergrad degree. I feel as though this degree would help me more with vet medicine though, but I’m struggling to think of how I would get the money for the second course with this degree.

Also, is there any way I can get funding for a graduate vet medicine degree? I’ve heard that you can not get a student loan for a second undergrad degree, so this relates back to my issue above.

Is anyone able to help?