Mature Veterinary Nurse Students

Hi thereI can absolutely relate. I'm 23 atm and although I'm not a current veterinary nursing student, I am employed as an auxiliary veterinary nurse and have since completed a vocational vet care course. I really feel like any voluntary position or even part-time employment at an auxiliary level, kennel assistant etc. is a great foot through the door and a huge boost to your profile.

Re: the diploma route at level 3 I don't believe this method of training holds people back at all. I've got to know a lot of great nurses who trained via this route and have gone on to do the AVN (med/surg) diploma, head nurse, obtain certificates in emergency and critical care, specialise in exotic species and so on. I believe my further ed veterinary tutor took this route when she was first training :~)

That said, I do have a preference for the higher ed/BSc (Hons) route in my own training. The whole academic side is a huge appeal to me and I want to make sure I have the right entry requirements (at least a level 3 extended diploma?) under my belt ie. not just vocational/employment.

Hi there. I'm 31 and have applied for the level 3 diploma at caw in Leeds for april 2018.
I haven't got any previous experience in this field but I figure I have plenty of time to get as much in as I can.
I have a weeks experience booked in a small animals practice which also has the facilities to treat exotic animals and 3 days on a working farm which has horses goats pigs and sheep. I work full time so I am restricted to holidays to do my work experience. I am planning on doing another 2 weeks experience in different veterinary practices and have found the opportunity to volunteer at an exotic animal rescue sanctuary providing I can find some way of getting a regular night off to facilitate this.
My question is does anyone know how many veterinary nursing student places are there on each course and how are students selected? Obviously you can't go wrong getting as much experience in as possible in the veterinary nursing field but is there anything else which would make an individual stand out? I guess having spent the last 31 years not knowing what I want to do and finally coming to the realisation that this is what I want to do with the remainder of my life I want to do everything possible to ensure I get onto this course:-)
Any tips would be greatly appreciated and good luck to anyone else who is applying too :-)
Marny 🐕

I went to Myerscough college in Preston for their open day and the woman giving the talk for their veterinary nursing courses which included the level 3 diploma basically said the first thing you have to do before they will even consider taking you is to find a job in a training practice which isn't easy apparently. They also look at work experience and also state you have to have 5 GCSEs at grade C or above or relevant qualifications as recognised by city and guilds.

I have been at college for the last 2 years, I started off doing my animal care level 2 and have just completed the 90 credit diploma in animal management and will be going back in September to do the extended diploma.

I have volunteered at a rescue in the community for 6 months one day a week and at the college which has its own rescue and now need to get some veterinary work experience.

I think for me what is going to hinder my chances is my GCSEs as they are terrible, I'll be redoing my English gcse in September and doing functional skills level 2 maths as they feel that will suit me better for that subject. I doubt that is going to be enough though 😞 I just turned 31 this year.

Hey thanks for replying.
That's pretty rough they want a whole heap of stuff I guess that proves whether you want it badly enough or not. I've got the grades and I will have the experience by time it comes to it. It's just the placement side. That's pretty daunting if I'm honest. But I guess placements do exist out there. Then there's getting a pt job around college and placement. Arrgh head blag. Suppose it will all work out fine... 🤔
Good luck with your journey

Thank you good luck to you aswell, yes placements do exist as I've managed to secure one in a vets for September. Feel really lucky as it was the first one I interviewed with and I know it can be so hard to find vet placements.

So with me not due to start until April 2018 do you reckon it's best to hold off or do you think it's theoretically possible to secure a placement now for april start? I'm waiting for the college placement advisor to ring me (they said it would be this week) with any helpful advice... I don't like limbo land. And then it's confusing as to whether you need a placement before your interview or after it. And they said mine is not going to be until after December as they've got two different lots of students starting beforehand. But then it begs the question of whether there is a correct student to placement ratio. I over think things a bit 😂
Congrats on getting a placement secured!! You're well on your way to realising your career 😀

Hi there. I'm 31 and have applied for the level 3 diploma at caw in Leeds for april 2018.
I haven't got any previous experience in this field but I figure I have plenty of time to get as much in as I can.
I have a weeks experience booked in a small animals practice which also has the facilities to treat exotic animals and 3 days on a working farm which has horses goats pigs and sheep. I work full time so I am restricted to holidays to do my work experience. I am planning on doing another 2 weeks experience in different veterinary practices and have found the opportunity to volunteer at an exotic animal rescue sanctuary providing I can find some way of getting a regular night off to facilitate this.
My question is does anyone know how many veterinary nursing student places are there on each course and how are students selected? Obviously you can't go wrong getting as much experience in as possible in the veterinary nursing field but is there anything else which would make an individual stand out? I guess having spent the last 31 years not knowing what I want to do and finally coming to the realisation that this is what I want to do with the remainder of my life I want to do everything possible to ensure I get onto this course:-)
Any tips would be greatly appreciated and good luck to anyone else who is applying too :-)
Marny 🐕

Hello I'm currently working in health care but always dreamed of becoming a vet nurse. I was wondering if I can become one without the gcse requirement? My mum got very ill when I was about to take them but I needed to be there for her so didn't take any. I was planning on going down the diploma route. I feel it's the only thing stopping me from trying. Thanks

See what the advisor says but I wouldn't leave it to late to secure somewhere as places in vets are hard to find and it's a competitive industry.

My placement is only for work experience not for nurse training but even for that places are few and far between as alot of them won't take work experience on.

The vets I'm going to already had a few students from college so I was lucky they still said yes as I thought they may say they can't have anymore, just waiting for them to confirm day and time now for September.

I'm dreading when the time comes to apply for nurse training as I feel like I'll have to apply to alot more places to get anywhere.

Hi there. I'm 30 and will be applying to start on September 2018. I was having the same concern about how many students apply and how many of them get selected when I bumped into this web page which gave me a rough idea : https://university.which.co.uk/search/course?c[q]=veterinary%20nursing Not sure if it is reliable and doesn't take into account colleges, just universities.

It is great to see I am not the only one in their 30s applying to become a vet nurse. Looks like you are going to have a lot of varied work experience gathered for your support statement. I have managed to get 2 weeks at different vet practices in different cities, and recently I became a volunteer with the blue cross once a week. Im hoping that this experience all together with my degree in marine biology and a month of w.e. in a vet practice abroad will be enough to do a decent support statement and get myself an interview...

What scares me most is an interview and what I have read it is that some universities have a numeracy and literacy test. wonder if anyone else has the same fear.

This is exactly what I need to find out also, I am going to be doing gcse English and maths functional skills level 2 in September a long side my extended diploma in animal management to try and get improved grades/skills for these qualifications but still have no idea if that will be enough.

I would like to go down the diploma route and was in email contact with the college that I would eventually like to apply to for this but they have now stopped replying still leaving me none the wiser as to if what I will have is going to be enough/ what I still need.

I've found its a lot easier ringing them and speaking to them. They'll have an admissions team. I'd give them a call tomorrow and just see whether they can help point you in the right direction and colleges have open days coming up in autumn time.

Nobody has mentioned a numeracy and literacy skills test but I'm sure it would be manageable. They may not do that though if you have the prerequisites regarding GCSEs. I think the biggest deciding factor comes down to your personal statement, how you perform at interview and of course your work experience.
I think you've started on a good note personally with your work experience though. You could always ring and ask to see if there's anything better you can be doing to improve your chances. I get it though I am such a neurotic person naturally and I get so worked up about things when I really want something. But I think it's a matter of finding some way to convey that to the interviewer. They want people who have the experience and a genuine passion for the job because obviously you'll be caring for vulnerable animals and it's a hard and unglamorous job but emotionally fulfilling with that passion.
I'm personally going to stop stressing out. Just make sure I get all my necessary experience in before personal statement time.
I had voluntary work lined up but nobody got back in touch with me about it. But I totally forgot that a friends wife works with horses in a stables up here so I'm going to see whether it's possible to do something with her. As in this scenario more is better than less.
I wish you all the luck in the world, are you applying to caw or are you going to uni? Your degree is in an animal related subject so that looks good to me.😀