vet med at Cambridge

4th year Cambridge vet here!
Cambridge’s reputation for vet med has in the past been negative because of a perception that we don’t touch animals and there’s no practical just theory. I can vouch that this is very much a rumour and completely untrue- we did several animal handling sessions in first year and had some “live anatomy” sessions in second year too. Having spoken to other students at vet schools like Bristol, Liverpool, RVC etc it honestly sounds like we get the same, if not more time handling animals in our preclinical course and once in 4th year (3rd year equivalent to other unis) we have clinical practicals very regularly in very small groups. I’ve noticed that there is a lot of live animal work in the clinical course too- we do a morning of consults at the local RSPCA clinic every term, we have a lambing rotation in 4th year where we get a lot of practical opportunities eg choosing what drugs to give to sick lambs and scrubbing in to caesareans and during our equine practical week we take care of the vet school horses and do clinical exams on them every day- is very much argue that our course is not lacking in practical!
I will note that clinical skills eg taking bloods and bandaging aren’t officially taught until 4th year. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing- you won’t put those skills into practice until you do your first clinical EMS placement and there are opportunities to learn these skills earlier with extra non-compulsory practicals run by the university vet society. I’ve not felt that this has put me at a disadvantage- I’ve had very good feedback on my practical skills on my preclinical and clinical EMS which I think came from having a very hardworking attitude and cooperating with the placement providers.
There are some valid criticisms of our course that you may have read on here- it is true that the first two years are quite intense and we do a lot more theory than other vet schools. This can be a pro or a con for some people- I personally enjoyed learning a bit more in depth and have found that it’s made me understand clinical concepts better, but this approach definitely isn’t for everyone and I know some people got very burnt out. I liked that intercalation was compulsory too- I was interested in intercalating but did think I’d be put off by having to break away from my yeargroup at another vet school. Having now finished my intercalated year, I’m so glad that I chose to do it- it was so nice to have a chilled year off and study another subject. I did zoology and learned loads about exotic animal anatomy and conservation and felt a lot more relaxed when I started clinical school again. Once again- some people don’t like the idea of intercalating and want to complete their vet degree after 5 years rather than 6 which is very fair.
I’d not bother looking at rankings- they’re often based on research and academics so there really is no universal best vet school- I hold the opinion that the best vet school is the one you get an offer from!
All in all- if you have researched the course and feel that you would genuinely enjoy being here then do apply but don’t pick it “just because it’s Cambridge”. Some people on my course don’t enjoy being here but some people do so student satisfaction will really depend on who you speak to. I can honestly say that I am really happy here and have no regrets choosing Cambridge and am loving the course!
(Sorry this ended up being a whole essay haha- very happy to answer any other questions/ debunk more rumours!)

This is so useful, you’re basically doing everything I want to be doing in the future.
Cambridge requires an A* in chemistry A level, is that because you do a lot of lab/ clinical studies or do you think that they just expect more out of their students than other universities, if so why? Do you think that vet med at Cambridge is potentially more demanding than other universities?
Also for the intercalation year, I haven’t researched much but I know that you can do a major and a minor subject; would you recommend doing that or do you think that picking just 1 subject to study is easier and less stressful?
Also you said that there was a lot of theory in the first 2 years, would you say that this is difficult to understand or is it just that it’s a lot of content to know and memorise which is why people burnout?

I think the reason why they ask for an A* is because the course is demanding so they need evidence that you can work hard and will be able to keep up with it. I’m not sure if the grade requirements have changed recently- some colleges may ask for an A* in chemistry but when I applied most just asked for A*AA with the A* being in any subject (that was my offer from Newnham).
I do suspect that the course is a bit more demanding in the first two years and that can contribute to burnout, along with a big pressure to get high marks due to being surrounded by people in other subjects who want to get firsts. I got around this by remembering that I didn’t have to get 100% in every paper to be a vet, I just had to pass. I think the point of the first two years being quite intense is to get the theory part out of the way and to then focus on clinical cases and practical skills. Now I’m in 4th year, I do find that my timetable is less flexible but the content is much more manageable and I’ve definitely found a new love for vet med.
The major and minor subject is an option if you choose to do a biology based topic for 3rd year. Most people do a single subject that consists of 4 papers in an area like pathology or zoology and then do a lab based project. The major and minor option allows you to do 4 papers in one subject, another paper in a different subject and then a dissertation. I did this option and did 4 zoology papers, one psychology paper and a dissertation on beaver reintroduction. I mainly did this as I really didn’t fancy doing lab work a few times a week and a dissertation was much more flexible and I was able to do it on pretty much any topic I fancied. I think my end of year exams were a bit more intense because I was doing an extra paper, but it did mean that throughout the year it was much easier to keep on top of it so I reckon it paid off for me.
The theory in the first two years is quite a lot and I think some people do get burnt out as it can at times feel like a stem degree rather than a vet degree. Some of the content was fairly easy to understand but others I found harder (I have always struggled with neuro, so much so that I resat one of my exams!). Personally I have found that it was worth gritting my teeth through a greater level of pathology, pharmacology, neuroscience etc as it has now meant that when I’m introduced to a new concept or a new drug, I’m able to think back to the basics more and understand things that way. It’s definitely not the best approach for everyone and I’m certainly not going to insist that every vet student should have to learn it, but I have found that this approach worked for me. We were also very supported in these years with our supervisions in small groups which made things a lot easier and had a lot of dissection classes (I reckon we had 2 every week?) which usually consisted of 4 people to a cadaver. This definitely made the content more manageable and helped me to keep up with everything.
I will add too that it was still possible to have a life outside of my vet studies in the first two years- I do a lot of technical theatre work and have made a lot of friends through this. I would restrict myself to a certain number of shows every term and would still prioritise my degree, but I did have a good social life nonetheless (and during 3rd year I probably spent more time at the student theatre than I did in the zoology department!).

Ok perfect thank you for your answer. I worry that because Cambridge in an academic city with a lot of history, night life is below average. Could you explain your view?

I’ll be honest- I’m definitely not the person to ask about nightlife! There are a few clubs in Cambridge that are quite popular with students, how it compares to other unis I’m not entirely sure as I’ve only been clubbing a couple of times and found that it’s not for me! I think there is a lot more in terms of society and college socials- most colleges have their own bar and they tend to be quite cheap and hold BOPs (big organised parties) in them fairly regularly. We also have our May Week (held in June) where we have balls that last the whole night with unlimited food and live entertainment and I’ve enjoyed that way of partying.

Hello, your answer really helped me!
I have some questions as I am desperate to go to the UK to study vet med:
If I do Chemistry, Biology, Maths and Spanish for my Alevels, is it possible to get accepted if I get an A for Spanish and A* for every other subjects or do I have to do more in terms of grades?
I am also planning to do EPQ next year but I do not think it is helpful enough compared to the effort I am going to put into that so.. have you seen any others doing EPQ to do vet med?
How much work experience have you done?
Also could you please tell me tips or anything that you have done to get accepted for cambridge vet med because Ive been feeling so anxious and scared-

An A is Spanish is a very good grade and honestly vet schools will be much more interested in your science grades!
An EPQ is certainly helpful and can give you the chance to research a topic on veterinary medicine and develop some research and essay based skills. I’d definitely recommend doing it- I did one and it was much less work than another A level. I did mine about women in medicine so it wasn’t vet based but I know of some people who did theirs on things like brachycephalic dogs, equine digestion, costs of pet care etc and they all seemed to really enjoy it.
I did 3 weeks of small animal first opinion vets, 2 days with a small animal cardiology specialist, 3 days at an equine hospital, a day in a veterinary pathology lab, a week at a dairy farm, DofE volunteering at a donkey sanctuary, a week of mornings at a cattery, a week at an alpaca farm and a day at a reptile shop, which totalled to about 7.5 weeks. I do think I would have benefited from some more farm animal husbandry (not necessarily in order to boost my application but more as I’ve actually found such a love for farm animal medicine at Cambridge and wish that I hadn’t been so dismissive of it before!).
For interviews, I found the best way to prepare was to make sure my biology and chemistry knowledge was really, really sharp. They gave me a form about what I’d covered in my A level classes a few weeks before my interview so they knew what I should know about and the majority of my interview was about that. I was also grilled a lot about things I’d mentioned on my personal statement so I’d say make sure you have thoroughly researched topics you discussed on there. Sometimes they may ask a very tricky question or one that they don’t expect you to know the answer to- for this, they’re not looking for the correct answer but more a demonstration of you being able to apply what you know (eg I don’t know why A leads to B but I do know C leads to D so maybe there could be a similar mechanism).
Finally, I know that the thought of applying to vet school can feel overwhelming but I can honestly say that the interviews weren’t as scary as I thought they’d be. Interviewers want you to do well and they want to give you an offer. They want to see that you think veterinary medicine is the best subject in the world and that you want to study it more than anything, and also see that you’re a nice person (quite vital given the caring nature of the profession!). You only need one offer and wherever you end up you’ll love and be a great vet. I got offers from Cambridge and Liverpool but was rejected from Bristol and Nottingham and I can honestly say that I don’t know a single person on my course who got all 4 of their offers but it really doesn’t bother them and has certainly not affected their abilities. Just keep up a resilient, hardworking and polite attitude and you’ll thrive at vet school!

omg I've just seen this now!
Thank you so much!! That is so helpful )
I have an another query (you might not know the answer if you're from the uk)
I am an international student and I did IGCSEs and am doing IALs. The unis ask for a 6 for the IGCSE English grade, but I do not know if they also accept english literature as I got a 6 in that and a 5 in eng lang. do you think it is possible to apply with those grades? I also don't know if you have to give them all the grade once you have done the exams or you could choose to not give some of the grades. (I am also considering to take a resit in some of my igcses.)