The Student Room Group

Final Year Funding?

I heard from someone currently at vet school that you get a substantially lower maintenance loan for 5th/final year of a BVSc/BVetMed degree due to it being rotations and less actual lecture hours.

Is this true?

If so, is it possible to get a job at the same time to help funding? And/or outside of on-campus clinical rotations, are you able to get paid placements?
Original post by Scitty
I heard from someone currently at vet school that you get a substantially lower maintenance loan for 5th/final year of a BVSc/BVetMed degree due to it being rotations and less actual lecture hours.

Is this true?

If so, is it possible to get a job at the same time to help funding? And/or outside of on-campus clinical rotations, are you able to get paid placements?


As far as I know, across all degrees it's standard to get a lower maintenance loan in your final year. This is because the loan is only expected to cover the September to June period, rather than September to September as in the earlier years, as once June rolls around you are expected to graduate and get a job! I haven't heard anything about the loan being lower in final year vet med due to rotations specifically. I'm applying for my loan for 5th year at the moment, so I'll let you know how much it drops when I get my entitlement through!

As for getting a job in final year - I just don't see how it would be possible. I've just been given my rotation timetable, and I'm going to be working an average of 8-6 5 days a week, plus on call, and then bouncing around the place for EMS placements as well in between those rotations. You could perhaps do some casual work. I remember seeing you're going to Bristol - a lot of people, including final years work on open days and such, and then Wyndhurst farm often employs a few students for relief milking. I think you'd really struggle to hold down a paid job though. I've never heard of any paid EMS placements either. Some of the bigger places (eg Dog's Trust I believe) will cover travel or accommodation costs, but that's about it.
Reply 2
Original post by bristolvet94
As far as I know, across all degrees it's standard to get a lower maintenance loan in your final year. This is because the loan is only expected to cover the September to June period, rather than September to September as in the earlier years, as once June rolls around you are expected to graduate and get a job! I haven't heard anything about the loan being lower in final year vet med due to rotations specifically. I'm applying for my loan for 5th year at the moment, so I'll let you know how much it drops when I get my entitlement through!

As for getting a job in final year - I just don't see how it would be possible. I've just been given my rotation timetable, and I'm going to be working an average of 8-6 5 days a week, plus on call, and then bouncing around the place for EMS placements as well in between those rotations. You could perhaps do some casual work. I remember seeing you're going to Bristol - a lot of people, including final years work on open days and such, and then Wyndhurst farm often employs a few students for relief milking. I think you'd really struggle to hold down a paid job though. I've never heard of any paid EMS placements either. Some of the bigger places (eg Dog's Trust I believe) will cover travel or accommodation costs, but that's about it.


Okay, at least it's a universal thing! :tongue:

Thanks for answering! I was just picturing in my head that you'd be up sh*t creek without a paddle in fifth year, as in, barely anything at all.
Please let me know when you hear anything. :smile:
As above, the lower maintenance grant is consistent in all degrees due to the fact that they're not funding your summer; it has nothing to do with EMS. In fact, classification of the VetMed degree with student finance has changed in the last year so that they include EMS (including preclinical placements) as part of the compulsory teaching hours of your course, leading to VetMed being counted as a 'long course' for which you get more money. I believe that this is the first academic year for which this applies so I missed out a bit, but you should get the extra money for all but the final year of your course.

With regards to jobs, I agree that it would be practically impossible to hold down a full time job. There just isn't the time, and you won't be in one place reliably for long enough. I know people that don't even bother having a house in final year because they're away so much, but that is extreme. :tongue: As for paid EMS placements, I've never heard of that. With greatest respect, you are a liability to the practice that takes you on. You already cost them money (for staff time as well as insurance and in physical things e.g. increased anaesthetic time during surgery) and you are there to learn; you don't have enough 'value' to the practice for them to pay you until you qualify, it's not like farm placements. Add to the mix the fact that many EMS providers are already oversubscribed and have to turn people down; they don't have to incentivise people to come :tongue:

Personally, I am aiming to fund fifth year by being frugal every other year and saving up :tongue: It also helps that I have a job that is extremely flexible and understaffed at Christmas, which also happens to be when I would get paid double. Those two weeks at Christmas will probably be the only paid work I do all year aside from odd jobs for my uni like open days and such. I'm also planning on getting a job straight out of university if possible (many people take a few months out for holidays etc but I highly doubt I will be able to afford that luxury).
Reply 4
Original post by Little Tail Chaser
As above, the lower maintenance grant is consistent in all degrees due to the fact that they're not funding your summer; it has nothing to do with EMS. In fact, classification of the VetMed degree with student finance has changed in the last year so that they include EMS (including preclinical placements) as part of the compulsory teaching hours of your course, leading to VetMed being counted as a 'long course' for which you get more money. I believe that this is the first academic year for which this applies so I missed out a bit, but you should get the extra money for all but the final year of your course.


Yea, I noticed that when I got a high maintenance loan in the post. :P
When does 5th year end? As doesn't it start as soon as 4th finishes, rather than having a summer "break" (term used lightly for Vet Med lol) before the next year begins?

Just trying to wrap my head around how it all works!
Original post by Scitty
Yea, I noticed that when I got a high maintenance loan in the post. :P
When does 5th year end? As doesn't it start as soon as 4th finishes, rather than having a summer "break" (term used lightly for Vet Med lol) before the next year begins?

Just trying to wrap my head around how it all works!


At Bristol, yes you're right, 5th year starts the week after 4th year ends. I'm in the middle of my 4th year exams at the moment, then after the Easter break we have a three week program called Classroom to Clinics which gets us ready for rotations and is still 4th year, and rotations (and therefore 5th year) start the Monday after that finishes! 5th year then runs all the way through to final exams, which are at the end of May the year after (so my finals will be in May 2019). After exams you get a period of roughly a couple months until graduation - I think I remember it being towards the end of July last year.
Original post by Scitty
Yea, I noticed that when I got a high maintenance loan in the post. :P
When does 5th year end? As doesn't it start as soon as 4th finishes, rather than having a summer "break" (term used lightly for Vet Med lol) before the next year begins?

Just trying to wrap my head around how it all works!


Can't speak for Bristol, but at RVC fourth year exams are in November. Fourth years then have pre-rotation lectures and mock OSCEs before going on rotations in February, which they will remain on until final year exams.

If you want to count 'final year' as being when you do rotations then it's therefore from Feb of your penultimate year. That isn't how student finance view it however. They'll see the academic year as starting in September of your actual fifth year.
Original post by Little Tail Chaser
Can't speak for Bristol, but at RVC fourth year exams are in November. Fourth years then have pre-rotation lectures and mock OSCEs before going on rotations in February, which they will remain on until final year exams.

If you want to count 'final year' as being when you do rotations then it's therefore from Feb of your penultimate year. That isn't how student finance view it however. They'll see the academic year as starting in September of your actual fifth year.


4th year exams in November seems very early! When does 4th year start? If it's in September as normal then does examinable 4th year teaching only last 2 months?
Original post by bristolvet94
4th year exams in November seems very early! When does 4th year start? If it's in September as normal then does examinable 4th year teaching only last 2 months?


4th year starts in September yeah, but third year exams are in May, after which we have more lectures before going on placement for summer. So examinable 'fourth year' content is in fact May-July of third year as well as Sept-Nov of fourth year. :tongue:
Original post by Little Tail Chaser
4th year starts in September yeah, but third year exams are in May, after which we have more lectures before going on placement for summer. So examinable 'fourth year' content is in fact May-July of third year as well as Sept-Nov of fourth year. :tongue:


That makes sense! Here at Bristol we have third year exams in late May to early June, but then we finish for the summer straight after them with no more lectures. Then we go back at the end of September and have our 4th year lectures from then until the end of February. Same amount of teaching, just split differently :tongue:
Original post by bristolvet94
That makes sense! Here at Bristol we have third year exams in late May to early June, but then we finish for the summer straight after them with no more lectures. Then we go back at the end of September and have our 4th year lectures from then until the end of February. Same amount of teaching, just split differently :tongue:


Fair play :tongue: To be honest I'm not sure how I feel about having lectures after exams, I think it's going to be harder to be bothered with it :lol: But at the same time I do see the merit in cramming in more teaching before we have placements over summer, so it's swings and roundabouts I suppose :tongue:
Original post by Little Tail Chaser
4th year starts in September yeah, but third year exams are in May, after which we have more lectures before going on placement for summer. So examinable 'fourth year' content is in fact May-July of third year as well as Sept-Nov of fourth year. :tongue:


Yeah right. Fourth year examinable content is all the 3rd and 4th year content. They're gits like that.
FWIW I don't remember the loan being that much less in the final term of final year, certainly wasn't strapped for money or anything.

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