Advice (Vet Med)

I always wanted to do vet med, but was ill during my a levels and didn’t do very well. I wad told that instead of resitting my exams the following year, I should do another science degree and go into the graduate entry vet course. This was my plan until I found out the loans for that course do not over tuition fees and there is no other way of getting funding for the £37,000 over four years. I’ve looked at loans, jobs etc and there is absolutely no way I can afford that.
I can’t imagine my future if I am not able to do the job I love. What can I do?

Reply 1

MindMax2000

Universities Forum Helper

22

Original post by 16hdennis

I always wanted to do vet med, but was ill during my a levels and didn’t do very well. I wad told that instead of resitting my exams the following year, I should do another science degree and go into the graduate entry vet course. This was my plan until I found out the loans for that course do not over tuition fees and there is no other way of getting funding for the £37,000 over four years. I’ve looked at loans, jobs etc and there is absolutely no way I can afford that.
I can’t imagine my future if I am not able to do the job I love. What can I do?

Graduate entry for vet med is very competitive from what I have heard (more competitive than undergrad entry). Why are they recommending you to do another science degree instead? If this was from a teacher or career advisor, provide the following to them and politely "educate" them on the matter.

Assuming that you passed your practicals in your sciences, you can typically sit the A Level exams for £250-350 each, which is still significantly less than the £37000 over 4 years.

I am not entirely sure how well unis would regard your applications for resits though, so you might need to check.
e.g. https://www.ed.ac.uk/studying/undergraduate/degrees/index.php?action=view&code=D100 does not accept resits
If it does not specify on the course page, you would need to contact undergrad admissions for the specific department to check.

Whilst it's not impossible to come up with £37000, it's going to take time and it's likely going to require something other than a job i.e. businesses and investments, and that's something I wouldn't advise you doing.

From the last time that I have checked, there are some unis that offer foundation years for vet med, but it would depend on your circumstances and how much competition you have during the application cycle.
For example:
https://www.uclan.ac.uk/undergraduate/courses/veterinary-medicine-surgery-foundation-entry-bvms
https://www.nottingham.ac.uk/studywithus/ugstudy/courses/UG/Veterinary-Medicine-and-Surgery-including-a-Gateway-Year-BVM-BVS-with-BVMedSci-BVMBVS-U6UVTMGY.html
https://www.harper-adams.ac.uk/courses/undergraduate/201205/veterinary-bioscience-with-access-to-veterinary-medicine
https://www.bristol.ac.uk/study/undergraduate/2024/vet-science/bvsc-gateway-to-veterinary-science/
https://www.liverpool.ac.uk/courses/2024/foundation-to-human-and-animal-health-professions-veterinary-science-year-0#entry-requirements
https://www.rvc.ac.uk/study/undergraduate/veterinary-gateway#panel-a-levels

Alternative to the above would be to do a Science based Access course that has at least 15 credits in Biology and Chemistry each. As with alternative Level 3 qualifications, they tend to have extra requirements that follow this, so you would need to check for the requirements in each degree e.g.
https://www.rvc.ac.uk/study/undergraduate/bachelor-of-veterinary-medicine#panel-diplomas-and-further-certificates-including-access-and-l3-extended-diploma
https://www.bristol.ac.uk/study/undergraduate/2024/vet-science/bvsc-veterinary-science/
https://www.surrey.ac.uk/undergraduate/veterinary-medicine-and-science#entry
https://www.harperkeelevetschool.ac.uk/study/432/veterinary-medicine-and-surgery/
The thing that you would have to bear in mind with Access courses is that it's not free since you have already done A Levels (it would be free if you didn't). If you do it at an offline adult college, you can apply for and Advanced Learner's Loan (or might be able to get away with it by getting into uni immediately after the course - you would need to check with the college). If you do an online course, you would need to pay at least £1000 for it (won't break the bank, but still a sizeable amount), as many people on TSR have done. If you have to pay for the offline course, it's about £3500 (again won't break the bank, but still a complete pain to pay for).

Reply 2

oliviaparisx

9

I was undiagnosed with learning difficulties at school, so did not get access to the correct qualifications and/or was not entered for the higher papers. I never thought I would get on to a vet med degree, so decided to go down the vet nurse route, but the diploma route so that I did not waste my first degree on doing it, and so I could keep my options open. Although getting on a course has been difficult and I had to sit GCSE biology and resit the higher maths paper, I am so so glad I did not do a degree to get on to vet med. I simply could not afford it. A lot of my friends / colleagues had to go that route by doing vet bioscience or vet nursing, and they really struggled financially. I’m on the foundation year via HKVS, and although 6 years is longer than 5. It’s saved me doing a 3 year degree and a **** load of money. Definitely worth exploring the foundation route option!

Reply 3

Daphne1991

7

Original post by 16hdennis

I always wanted to do vet med, but was ill during my a levels and didn’t do very well. I wad told that instead of resitting my exams the following year, I should do another science degree and go into the graduate entry vet course. This was my plan until I found out the loans for that course do not over tuition fees and there is no other way of getting funding for the £37,000 over four years. I’ve looked at loans, jobs etc and there is absolutely no way I can afford that.
I can’t imagine my future if I am not able to do the job I love. What can I do?

Hi, have you started another degree already so in first year? If so and it’s your dream and you are 100% you want to be a vet you might be better off dropping out of Uni, and retaking your A levels you require then apply this October.

I’m not sure if you would get full funding for the 5 years as you have used some tuition funding already however I am sure someone in student finance would advise. It would be your cheapest route rather than paying 4 years of tuition fees and more student debt.

As said above, if you have the practical endorsement then you can do online or any other type of learning ( my daughter used UpLearn for her Chemistry resit tuition/revision). You can then just pay to sit the exams at an exam centre.

Not every uni accepts resits for vet med but lots do ( Surrey, Nottingham and H&K do for example), check on their websites

(edited 7 months ago)

Reply 4

Belle7

9

Original post by 16hdennis

I always wanted to do vet med, but was ill during my a levels and didn’t do very well. I wad told that instead of resitting my exams the following year, I should do another science degree and go into the graduate entry vet course. This was my plan until I found out the loans for that course do not over tuition fees and there is no other way of getting funding for the £37,000 over four years. I’ve looked at loans, jobs etc and there is absolutely no way I can afford that.
I can’t imagine my future if I am not able to do the job I love. What can I do?

Depending on which unis you’re looking at, Access is a very good option! Only 1 year of studying and you can get a loan for the course which doesn’t have to be paid back until you’re earning a certain amount

Advice (Vet Med)

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