The Student Room Group
Reply 1
I have done the ND in animal management as a mature student instead of A levels from school to get to uni. I found there was more hands on with animals in the first year. It was mostly coursework and open book exams which was not good preparation for the course I am on now. I got to handle farm animal and small furries but I dropped exotics as I was terrified of snakes! What college are you thinking of?

:smile:
Reply 2
One near me called Reaseheath. It's like a farm basically. I really need practical experience but..I perform well in exams, not in coursework.

I also can't get a job or anything because I don't have time. (NB I don't do anything out of school, I'm literally at home if I'm not at school, doing work)
Reply 3
someone i know is doing a nd in animal management and their timetablewas condensed down to 3 days of 9-5, so you must have some free time
Pawsies
One near me called Reaseheath. It's like a farm basically. I really need practical experience but..I perform well in exams, not in coursework.

I also can't get a job or anything because I don't have time. (NB I don't do anything out of school, I'm literally at home if I'm not at school, doing work)


Hmm are you sure that you want to do the btec? I mean it is all coursework based, no exams. As you say that you have problems with coursework maybe you'd be better off doing an exam based subject?

Also find it hard to believe that you have no spare time, you must find time to be with friends. You can't work all day at school and then expect to do the same you come home and at the weekends.
Reply 5
Hey there, I'm currently in the second year of this course. The workload in the first year was pretty heavy - I think we had about 22 assignments to do. This year I'm told there's not *quite* as much work to do...

I'd recommend the course if you have a strong interest in working with animals and you can motivate yourself to do the work in your own time! The assignments aren't too hard to complete as you learn all of the pass criteria in class. But to get merits and distinctions, you pretty much have to do your own research.

If it's practical experience that you're after then the course is ideal. You gain experience with the animals in the college and a requirement of the Diploma is to complete 400 hours of animal related work experience which you do during college term time.

Also, as a mature student who has completed A-levels, I find this course more suitable for me. I don't perform as well in exams and this course allows me to work at my own pace throughout the year. Although the workload is more intensive than A-levels, the advantage is you don't have to revise and sit a 3 hour exam at the end of it!

Sorry for the long post! Good luck if you do decide to do the course, it's a lot of fun and you get to meet like-minded people which is also a bonus!

Jen x
I finished last year and at my college the workload was high and it was 100% coursework based. We worked 9-5 with 1 full day off a week. If you're diciplined enough you can easily get a good grade but it does take a fair bit of effort.

Animal wise you will probably find it more interesting that I guess you would doing A levels. Check what modules your college does as mine didn't do the full range of modules available.

I would recommened it as I think it gave me great experience but it really does depend on what you want to do after. I'm now doing Zoology at uni and there is a lot of the more scientific that I don't know from not doing biology A level but I also generally know more about animals, how they live, their behaviour, the environment etc - so it works both ways.

Basically if you think that you will enjoy it, go for it, it's a good course and everyone that I know who has done it/is doing it has a great time.
I'm doing the course at the moment, in my opinion it is a really well balanced and enjoyable course. You will get out of it as much as you put in.

Be prepared to write lots of essays and reports to a high standard! You need to be disciplined to keep up the consistency throughout the course for a good grade.
Reply 8
I think it really depends where you study it. I'm in the second year at the moment. At my local college the workload is quite low but them I'm on the National Certificate (because that's the only one my college offered :frown:) and we only have one tutor to teach the National Award, National Certificate and First Diploma. We usually get given two assignments per term (and two units per term) but they are big assignments.

It is mostly coursework now. In the first year we were much more hands on but this year our time with the animals has been reduced. Usually you take some kind of work experiance too. I worked at the cats protection last year which was quite fun. Overall I've really enjoyed it. :biggrin:

Good luck and I hope you found at least some of this helpful :smile:
Reply 9
I'm going to be doing the BTEC next year, at Capel Manor.
I'm really looking forward to it, i think reports and essays will be easier becasue you can re-do them and get feedback from other pupils.
Also, you do more essays in working life then exams, so its good experiance i'm lead to believe.