Vet Med Access or Foundation

@ALEreapp may be able to advise better on access. For foundation courses (as opposed to gateways/Nottingham's prelim) I would just make sure to read fine print - e.g. HK's and some others that offer a 'foundation' while you have the chance theoretically to go onto the vet med course after the first year, you have to be top 10% or something in exams and then still do an interview so nothing is guaranteed at all, and then you risk being stuck on a course you didn't want to do for 3 years. BUT to my (very limited so please do your own research and take this with a pinch of salt as I really don't know 100%) knowledge from speaking to people who did the course, I don't think Liverpool's foundation is like that, and do think you get onto vet med just by passing the exams and aren't then stuck on another course even if you don't, so if you are sure you want Liverpool it's not a bad option - but again just stressing to look into it a lot, maybe email admissions for any clarification etc if you haven't already.

Liverpool are the strictest in terms of foundation and access so make sure you have everything they’ve said in writing. Do not risk phone calls if all needs to be in email.
This goes for the other unis aswell tbh, I emailed all my unis before applying (Bristol, UCLan, HK and notts) to confirm they would accept my exact access course incase I needed to hold it against them at a later date.

Personally I think access courses are better than foundation years because 1. They are much cheaper and 2. Generally opens more doors.
I’ve faced no issues with doing an access course and applying because I covered myself through emails, I received all my offers (except UCLan as I withdrew before completing my interview) so there’s no stigma through those schools. Access is a great bridge to get back into studying as compared to A levels it is so so much easier and cheaper than studying a levels privately.
I’ve just finished my course and provisionally (it’s going through moderation) have 100% distinction so happy to help if you have any questions re access xx

So my access tutor when it came to predicted grades essentially gave everyone what they needed based on the university requirements at a minimum.
That was so he gave us all the best shot at gaining a place, so for me the highest requirement was 45 distinctions (HK interestingly but my offer was 39 as contextual) although my firm and top choice was Bristol and that only needed 30 but he ‘predicted’ me all distinctions to be safe.
Same with my reference, he sat me down and asked me anything specific I wanted in it or the unis wanted in references so he could tailor my application to give me the best chance.
I’m not sure if you are doing a specific vet med access course but mine was a general science one in a big college and so I was the only early applicant (and the college I attended wasn’t exactly used to people applying for those courses) meaning I really had to chase them up. The admissions team at my college held my application for 3 weeks then 3 days before the deadline I asked why it hadn’t been sent on ucas and my tutor informed me they hadn’t checked the course I was applying for and had emailed him confused why my application was submitted so early 🥴
But yeah with access having the aim of getting you into higher education and only really meeting the tutors a few weeks before we need to apply it seems generally they will ‘predict’ what you need so it’s just then down to you to achieve that 😌