A-levels/GCSEs needed?

Hi, I am looking for some advice on what qualifications I need to go to university. I am hoping to become a wildlife vet. I understand that it would involve doing a standard veterinary degree before getting some standard experience (including as much exotic/wildlife as possible) then going back to university to specialise somehow (not 100% sure).

The problem is, I’ve been set back by a long way due to completely missing (or having minimal provisions) a large chunk including the end of primary through to the end of secondary and am trying desperately to get back on track.

I am currently doing five GCSEs (three sciences + English and maths) and hope to do well (higher) in Biology and maths at least, possibly also physics and English but really not sure about chemistry.

I have been looking at what I can do next year as I want to be prepared. I am thinking (if I get the right GCSE results) that I would possibly do A-level biology and environmental science but am struggling with the idea of chemistry.
Does anyone know if I can do something other than chemistry and still stand a chance of getting into vet university?
I plan on getting plenty of volunteering and work experience over the next few years in the hopes of this improving my chances.

You might want to look at "Admissions processes and entry requirements for UK veterinary schools", published by the Veterinary Schools Council.

Almost all mandate A level Chemistry. University of Liverpool will consider applicants who do not to have A level Chemistry, as long as they have it at AS level. Harper & Keele will consider applicants who do not to have A level Chemistry, and make no stipulation as to having it at AS level. That's it.

If you're "not sure about chemistry", then you're not really sure about Veterinary School, unfortunately.

Thank you. The thing is, when it’s something I’m interested in I find learning things really easy (or easy to put loads of work in so that I understand it), I simply struggle with things that seem to be totally detached from real life. This is why I find biology enjoyable (I can see how it is just real life) and physics I can see is just the way everything moves and just is, while chemistry is much more detached from everything. (I don’t know if this makes any sense)

I completely understand that. My point is that if Chemistry is not going to be something you'd do well in, then it would be wise to consider a course other than Veterinary Medicine / Science, and a career other than becoming "a wildlife vet". Alternatively, if you're determined to stick with that goal, then you may have to accept them Chemistry is a subject you will not enjoy, and may have to work extremely hard in, but is just a means to an end and is worth doing for that reason alone.

(When people say they're good at Biology and Physics, my mind immediately thinks "Biomedical Engineering", but I suspect your that might be a bit too "indoors" for you.)

Above has mentioned a couple vet school which may have leeway and I’d make tables on each of the vet schools (there isn’t too many, the VSC guide is a good starting point but doesn’t include the newer ones like UCLan which may actually have quite different requirements) and their individual requirements for GCSEs, A Levels and work experience as you will not be considered without meeting all of them unfortunately, there is 10 applicants to a spot and the vast majority will meet these minimums so they don’t need to make exceptions. I think you could also look into prelim at Nottingham but bear in mind there is only about 25 places. There are other ways to get into vet school beside A Levels which you could look into, e.g. access courses (@ALEreapp best person to talk to about this) and I think certain college courses are accepted by some schools but I do think these routes aren’t really easier as it does limit where you can apply (and it could always change before you come to your application…) and you have to be really careful to be on the right courses etc. I don’t advise doing a first degree first as you would have to pay tuition fee loans for the vet course out of pocket, the graduate courses are more competitive and for some you may still need to meet minimum GCSE/A Level criteria, obviously as well as being a much longer route with possibly doing a course you aren’t 100% in. I would probably try to stick with the “normal” route of A Levels where possible in the early stages of thinking about vet schools though.

Unfortunately to be brutally honest, no one likes chemistry. Have I consciously used knowledge from my GCSE or A Level chemistry so far while at vet school? No. Did I enjoy it? No, I was extremely close to dropping it and just forgetting vet med as a dream. But did I just have to endure it for the bigger picture? Yes, as did probably the vast majority of vet students you could ask on here. It was difficult, I hated it, I struggled. I totally get what you mean by you can’t “see it”, I always struggled with the idea that with biology you can like write a logical story like for example how enzymes work, how the heart contracts etc and it makes sense, but with chemistry it’s very “this is the formula for this, deal with it” I can’t understand things like this near as much. I was at a grade D for most of sixth form, I managed to get to an A in AS practice papers by end of year 12 but then went back to a D in year 13, managed to start scraping a C by the time my year got kicked out of school in March 2020 and honestly I doubt I’d have got an A if I sat the exam but with the whole U turn thing and my teachers liking me I ended up being given an A. But my point is that as harsh as it is I do agree with above, it is a means to an end, I would grit your teeth and simply work extremely hard to get those chemistry grades you need, you don’t need to enjoy it. It’s only for 3 more years and then you can forget about it - it is affecting your whole future as to whether you become a vet or not potentially, so sacrifices in terms of enjoying the subject or not may simply have to be made if you are serious about becoming a vet.

Have you considered switching schools to be more supported? Maybe not in year 11 as I understand you will have started certain exam boards etc, but for year 12 and 13? Have you reached out to your teachers, head of science, tutor, head of year, headteacher? I know it might seem extreme but if you don’t look for help you won’t get it. Bear in mind uni life is also quite independent, like you have the lecture slides/notes and the lecturer explains it and sure you can ask them questions after or email them, but it isn’t really a teacher student relationship like you’d have in school. You have to organise yourself entirely to come in, do assignments and assessments, make sure you understand content, revise etc and there isn’t as many resources unlike for school, e.g. no past papers and no books which are specific to the curriculum etc. So it might also be a good idea to start learning how to self teach to some extent now as it will be like this at uni (not saying to do it alone completely, do try to seek out good teachers), you won’t like all lecturers either and you’ll simply have to find further sources to understand the subject yourself. Asking peers to help you understand things is a good method too. I do hope you find what works for you

Thank you for this. I am so pleased to hear that there are others who have felt like this and perhaps not all hope is lost.
I am older than secondary school age and am at a college of further education doing my course so it is not as simple as moving unfortunately. I think the actual chemistry teacher is not there (possibly permanently) so the lessons are being done by other teachers which is what is probably causing the problems. Luckily, if I do A-levels I would be going to one of two colleges that are known for being amazing (both also are ofsted outstanding), hopefully they don’t have age restrictions or I’m within the age limit.

Self-teaching is something I have done reasonably at in the past (nowhere near university level of course!). With some things I find it much easier to do it at my own pace in my own room than trying to keep up with a lesson.

I have been told about access courses by a career guidance person. Are they more specific (so like would there be an access course to veterinary science) or would it be more of a general science access course?

I don't know too much about access courses as I just did A Levels and I don't want to give you any false info. I tagged the user in my last reply who has done an access course if you'd like to speak to them to get more info, they have just started first year at Bristol though so may be a little busy. I think you have to be 19 from the start date though and possibly some other stipulations? I think it is more coursework based and it doesn't allow you to apply everywhere but enough schools if the A Level route doesn't. Depending how much older you are you could also look into applying for Liverpool's foundation to veterinary course, but there are quite a few stipulations making you eligible or not which I find a bit confusing because I do know people who did the course and don't meet them, so if you were looking into that I'd email admissions to check.

I do understand it is difficult without a proper teacher in place, we had that quite a lot at our school especially at GCSE level. I don't know what you use but I found CGP books a lifesaver and I practically self-taught myself all the sciences with basically just using them (but also recommend past papers, YouTube videos, flash cards, drawing etc try loads of different ways!) and the Forest App I turn on every time I revise so I know how much time I spend on each subject, like I'd suggest ensuring chemistry is the one you spend most time on even if you enjoy it the least. You do need to aim for the 7s in ideally all the subjects you're taking (quite a few unis want five 7s at GCSE plus do state they want 7s in Bio+Chem specifically, you don't want to limit where you can apply early on) as the vet schools do really look at them. Also do make sure you have the work experience too, it is even more important than grades imo. I have a little guide for applicants on this page that I've made with common advice I give out on TSR so maybe could get some ideas from that. It is good you will hopefully have better conditions for A Levels, I would maybe give the schools you're looking into an email so you can organise what's going on later with no surprises etc, just to help you plan the whole journey better as it may take off some pressure.

I will have a look through that guide.

I have found an amazing website called cognito for teaching GCSE level stuff, I will have to do some searching to find something that works for me to learn whatever I am doing next year but I feel I have some time to prepare.
I have already contacted both potential colleges for next year and am just waiting for them to respond so fingers crossed they don’t have an age limit!

I thought I had read somewhere that if you get a 4 in some GCSE subjects then it’s not the end of the world as you can make up for it with good grades elsewhere as well as plenty of work experience and volunteering. I don’t know how true this is though. Also I think some places (I’m fairly sure Bristol does) have a scheme where they try to encourage people from backgrounds where they would not normally go to university. I would possibly come under that category so I don’t know if that means anything.

I am unlikely to get five 7s in my GCSEs unfortunately as I have just one academic year to do what most people learn over four years of secondary school. I am going to do the best I possibly can though and am aiming for higher. My predictions based on how things are going right now would be higher (7+) in biology. Higher in maths but probably lower in physics. Your comments on here about chemistry have made me feel like I can possibly do it with lots and lots of effort so I would hope to be able to get a 5 in chemistry, which is not great but is better than foundation.

For 5 year courses: You can get 4s like if you take 10 subjects you can get 4s in five of them, but quite a few still require five 7s and certain grades in specific subjects (usually 7s in bio and chem, 6s in English, maths and sometimes physics). But individual university requirements vary a lot so I'd make tables to ensure you are familiar with them, e.g. Bristol I think only ask for 4s in maths and English. Unfortunately I wouldn't say what you heard is true for vet med (maybe other subjects), most unis are very strict that you need to meet both GCSE and A Level requirements exactly - getting higher than the minimum doesn't give you any more points, it is just a check box whether you get onto the next stage of the admissions process or not. They simply have too many applicants and this is something they can easily reject early on to cut down on amount of forms to look through and interviews to conduct. While I do encourage lots of varied work experience to have lots to talk about in your forms and interviews, again the actual number of hours is not judged upon and simply a yes/no tickbox as to whether you can get onto next stage and therefore doesn't rank you and they won't forgive grades for this. The unis do use contextual data and do encourage 'widening participation', but I will say it is more applied to A Levels (i.e. they may give you AAB rather than AAA) than I've seen to GCSEs (although could always ask admissions, it's just what I've observed).

For 6 year courses: You can apply to gateway courses done at Nottingham, RVC and Bristol which have lower entry requirements for usually both GCSEs and A Levels, although for Nottingham the GCSEs still stand as 6s. This is probably a good option for you, but I will warn that the gateway does have less spaces than the 5 year and so it may actually be even more competitive to get in, not to say you shouldn't try as obviously someone has to get the offers and no reason it shouldn't be you. There are a few other 6 year 'foundation' courses floating about, I mentioned Liverpool which is a 'legit' one if you do meet the stipulations of applying as after passing the first year you will automatically get onto the 5 year vet course (as far as I know), but say the one at Harper Keele (think UCLan's is similar too) you have no guarantee to get into vet med after the first year as you have to be in the top maybe 5/10% of students in the year and then also still do the admissions process with interviews etc, which if you don't succeed in you are then stuck on a 3 year course you may not have wanted to do - to me that is too risky but you can make your own judgement. As they are already a 'contextual' course, I don't think they give more leeway in grades than the ones their pages stipulate as minimum either.

For both, do not apply to anywhere you don't meet the minimum for - unfortunately if you don't meet the minimum, I would expect an instant rejection - they simply can be as fussy as they want. UNLESS you email the uni admissions to ask explaining your own personal situation and they give you the go ahead in writing. Even then it is quite risky as they could always find a loophole to go back on it but at least then you can quote the email back to them as evidence. I've done it before with Nottingham and they did let me go through admissions process despite not meeting 1 grade (but it was post-A Level and basically forgiving half a GCSE grade). Emailing admissions with personal circumstances may work if you are comfortable doing so, and will at least tell you where you stand and your options. With how competitive it is I would aim for finding 4 vet med courses you can apply for. With grades, I do think it is a case of getting on with it unfortunately and trying to find support with your school, the vet schools aren't known for being overly lenient with admissions as they don't have to be, but it does vary case by case. It'll be hard work for sure but the results will be worth it.

I have been told about access courses by a career guidance person. Are they more specific (so like would there be an access course to veterinary science) or would it be more of a general science access course?

Thankyou @RambleAmple for the tag!
There’s honestly the option of both! Some people in my year did an access to veterinary medicine course, others an access to biomedical sciences and, myself, I just did an access to science course.

Vet schools aren’t too bothered what the course is called and more what it contains eg the number of credits for bio/Chem/physics/maths. They generally don’t want all of those but some combination of science as the majority of the course. Mine had a 12/12/12 split for sciences then 3 in statistics and 6 for a science research project (I did animal behaviour). RVC were a bit funny abt this split so I just avoided them lol hence the importance of checking with admissions before applying… Surrey refused to tell me if they would accept the split and said I had to ‘apply and find out’ which I was not willing to do and found their attitude quite frankly off putting!
I do know someone who did apply to Surrey with the same split as me and she did get an offer, so I suppose that answers the question. I got offers from Bristol, HK, notts foundation and an interview offer from UCLan but I withdrew before my interview x

This sounds like it could be a very good option for me and is definitely something I will consider. I am going have a look around at different colleges and universities websites to get an idea of what they offer, I am in quite a difficult position geographically as the nearest (reasonable) college is 40-50 minutes away, any others are well over an hour!

You would be surprised how far people travel as in person access courses are so few and far between. Over half the people in my class travelled in excess of an hour everyday… I couldn’t believe my luck when I found out the college up the road happened to do the course. But I would definitely recommend doing an in person one where possible- you are also more likely to get funding for it aswell x

It surprises me to hear there are that few. I do currently travel over an hour each way to and from college so it’s not too much of a problem, it does seem a little silly that people are having to travel so much when we’re supposed to be using less fossil fuels!
I read on the website of one of the colleges that offers an access course (it was a medical rather than veterinary one) that if you do badly in a levels it is not a good idea to then attempt an access course, do you know if this also applies when aiming for vet school?
I have found a really good looking environmental science A-level course, I was wondering if I could do that one and also attempt biology/chemistry at A-level but if I do badly I could fall back on an access course.

Access courses are designed to be an alternative method of study for people that haven’t got a traditional educational background or have struggled due to whatever reasons (me it was health). So your profile fits the criteria for access perfectly. I was never asked once in my interviews why I did an access course instead of retaking a levels however I did mention it in my own answers to link it to perseverance etc.
I wouldn’t do both personally in the hopes of ‘falling back’ on access, if you haven’t done a levels the government will fully fund your access course anyway so it won’t cost you a penny. Unis also can get funny about 2 ALs so you would need to do 3 realistically. Some unis also have a minimum requirement for a first sitting of a levels so you can’t just ‘attempt’ them, eg RVC require a B in biology for you to apply again even if you aren’t applying with a levels. It’s also worth nothing you HAVE to include all achieved qualifications in your ucas applications so if you get Ds in all your a levels and reapply with an access course, unis will see those Ds- although they told me they hold no bias who are we to really know…

I think it will benefit you to pick and commit to one of those qualifications not sway between the two x

Yes, this does sound like an access course might be a better option for me. I have had a brief look and it seems that most of the nearest colleges to me (still 1-2 hours away) do access courses! The issue I may now have is that I might not be old enough to do an access course next academic year, which is almost funny considering I would possibly be too old to do a levels!

Yes, this does sound like an access course might be a better option for me. I have had a brief look and it seems that most of the nearest colleges to me (still 1-2 hours away) do access courses! The issue I may now have is that I might not be old enough to do an access course next academic year, which is almost funny considering I would possibly be too old to do a levels!