Where to get vet work experience

Hi im a year12 student and want to do vet med in uni. I know work experience is important but i can’t find any. There are no farms or animal rescue such things near me that I can reached by bus or tram because my dad has to work everyday that cannot drive me. But well farms are always very rural. Even there are, they are full and do not need any volunteers. There is one vet practice I have already emailed asking for work experience but have not got reply yet.
I have asked my teachers at college but they just gave me some websites saying where to get work experience which is not really helpful. What can I do to gain work experience in this situation?

Reply 1

Zlongstaff777

9

Most universities understand that it can be difficult to gain work experience, and have lowered their requirements accordingly! I would say to phone the vet clinic as its harder to ignore you if you are calling them instead of emailing. Also do some of the MOOCs that are online, many unis accept these as work experience!

Reply 2

icebear05

11

Original post by neeEEOOOoow

Hi im a year12 student and want to do vet med in uni. I know work experience is important but i can’t find any. There are no farms or animal rescue such things near me that I can reached by bus or tram because my dad has to work everyday that cannot drive me. But well farms are always very rural. Even there are, they are full and do not need any volunteers. There is one vet practice I have already emailed asking for work experience but have not got reply yet.
I have asked my teachers at college but they just gave me some websites saying where to get work experience which is not really helpful. What can I do to gain work experience in this situation?

if you live in london i could give you some recommendations give me a DM :smile:

Reply 3

BelindaFlamazing

8

There are several city farms in London (charity, so will look great on your CV). If you can stay with some family or friends pr a hostel for a week, that might be doable!
Here are a few which offer work experience:
https://vauxhallcityfarm.org/volunteer-with-us/work-experience/
https://www.surreydocksfarm.org.uk/work-experience/
https://www.mudchute.org/work-experience
https://stepneycityfarm.org/get-involved/volunteering/
https://ktcityfarm.org.uk/education/
https://hackneycityfarm.co.uk/support-us/
I suggest emailing 5-10 places a week, offering a range of dates and then following up with a call a few days later.
Coordinate with your parents’ annual leave – check when they can take time off, so are able to drive you. Or other family members.

Nottingham approves this MOOC (it's free, but need to complete within 2 weeks)
https://www.futurelearn.com/courses/vet-school-application-support
But check with admissions whether they accept it (Nottingham and Liverpool did for 2025 entry, RVC didn't).
RVC also runs work experience, if you fit their requirements:
https://www.rvc.ac.uk/study/undergraduate/bachelor-of-veterinary-medicine#tab-work-experience-support-programme

Also, don't despair! I have applied to 30+ places to get 4 placements. You will get there!!

(edited 3 weeks ago)

Hi!
It can be hard to find the right places to gain work experience, although it is important to have the right amount of animal handing experience. So is the quality of your reflection of the work you have done, you can sometimes gain important experience in other types of work.
Some universities are a bit more flexible with what can be considered as work experience. You could consider working in a kennels or cattery to show examples of animal handling. While working as a receptionist, barista or sales adviser would show great experience of a customer facing role. You could even show examples of team work through event planning, Duke of Edinburgh or theatre performance.

Hope this helps!

Bets of luck with your application!

Rebecca

Reply 5

TopBun

20

my daughter had a similar frustration last year when she was in yr12, she was able to help out at a riding stables (Surrey Uni had some letter samples online for work experience which she used with the stables to evidence things)

She also looked at Lambing, there is a website (~~cant find it immediately~~ link - IBMS) where you can apply to do a week (in the school hols) to help out at farm for free food and board - the vet schools we went to liked it if you had done this because it shows some real determination to see this through

(edited 1 week ago)

Reply 6

katieiys

3

Original post by neeEEOOOoow

Hi im a year12 student and want to do vet med in uni. I know work experience is important but i can’t find any. There are no farms or animal rescue such things near me that I can reached by bus or tram because my dad has to work everyday that cannot drive me. But well farms are always very rural. Even there are, they are full and do not need any volunteers. There is one vet practice I have already emailed asking for work experience but have not got reply yet.
I have asked my teachers at college but they just gave me some websites saying where to get work experience which is not really helpful. What can I do to gain work experience in this situation?

Nottingham online work experience MOOC accessed by Future Learn, RVC summer school programme, abattoir experience is liked a lot by unis if you can find one/ put yourself through that, any face-to-face/ customer work experience is needed for most unis, any species conservation related experience especially if you live in a city there may be organisations HQ near you

Where to get vet work experience

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