Animal degrees

Hi, i'm in year 12 and just thinking about what courses i'd like to apply to next year. I was so sure I'd apply for veterinary medicine but am now realising there are other courses like marine biology/zoology which sound just as interesting to me. I was just wondering if anyone knows what kind of careers you can have with marine biology and zoology?
I'm not sure what to do because I know vet med is super competitive.

Hi, I would recommend looking at Springpod Subject Spotlights as they give a short intro to what sort of things are studied in a university course and potential careers. They have quite a few marine biology, vet and biological sciences ones there. These subject spotlights you can complete in your own time and they are free.

Hi, i'm in year 12 and just thinking about what courses i'd like to apply to next year. I was so sure I'd apply for veterinary medicine but am now realising there are other courses like marine biology/zoology which sound just as interesting to me. I was just wondering if anyone knows what kind of careers you can have with marine biology and zoology?
I'm not sure what to do because I know vet med is super competitive.

Hi, i'm in year 12 and just thinking about what courses i'd like to apply to next year. I was so sure I'd apply for veterinary medicine but am now realising there are other courses like marine biology/zoology which sound just as interesting to me. I was just wondering if anyone knows what kind of careers you can have with marine biology and zoology?
I'm not sure what to do because I know vet med is super competitive.

Thanks for the tag @Geo Lover 7
There’s load of animal oriented courses you can do, depending on your interests.
Vet med is obviously focused toward medical care for animals (be that domestic, livestock, zoo captive or wild).
Zoology and marine biology could lead to working in settings with animals but also opportunities in research, consultancy or education. Zoology is the biology of animals basically- so studies everything biology-related but misses out modules on plants broadly. Marine Biology studies the whole biology of the marine environment so would study seaweed as well as squids if that helps.
Animal science studies domesticated animals so is more likely to lead to careers with those species- stuff in shelters, rehabilitation, training and animal care.
Animal behaviour studies the behaviour of all animals and could lead to careers in a range of settings helping those caring for animals to understand the animal’s behaviour and help them using this. For example behaviour specialists can be useful in animal re-homing centres, vet clinics, zoos, for private hire by pet owners etc.
Hope that gives you an idea. I recommend looking at Prospects.ac.uk because they’ve got clear info on what careers you can pursue with specific degrees 🙂

Hey there! 😊
I'm a current Zoology BSc student here at Plymouth and love the course! It's super practical and interesting, and can lead to so many careers across research, conservation, zoo/aquarium work, animal behaviour, rehabilitation, academics, teaching, policy, charities, animal care, lab work, and more, whilst it can take you so many places across the UK but further abroad too (in my 2.5 years on the course I've already been to Kenya, Scotland, and soon South Africa and Norway for research/placements).
I study Zoology but have an interest in more marine-focussed modules and am often out on the boats/in the aquarium/at sea, so feel free to reach out if you have any more questions about the course and if you'd like to know a bit more as I'd be happy to help and couldn't recommend it enough 😁
-Alfie, University of Plymouth Undergraduate Student Rep

Hi, i'm in year 12 and just thinking about what courses i'd like to apply to next year. I was so sure I'd apply for veterinary medicine but am now realising there are other courses like marine biology/zoology which sound just as interesting to me. I was just wondering if anyone knows what kind of careers you can have with marine biology and zoology?
I'm not sure what to do because I know vet med is super competitive.

that sounds really cool, thank you for replying

Hi, i'm in year 12 and just thinking about what courses i'd like to apply to next year. I was so sure I'd apply for veterinary medicine but am now realising there are other courses like marine biology/zoology which sound just as interesting to me. I was just wondering if anyone knows what kind of careers you can have with marine biology and zoology?
I'm not sure what to do because I know vet med is super competitive.

Hi, i'm in year 12 and just thinking about what courses i'd like to apply to next year. I was so sure I'd apply for veterinary medicine but am now realising there are other courses like marine biology/zoology which sound just as interesting to me. I was just wondering if anyone knows what kind of careers you can have with marine biology and zoology?
I'm not sure what to do because I know vet med is super competitive.

A bit late to the post but I’ve applied for marine bio for university September 2025 . Even if you do a subject such as marine biology or zoology as-long as you put yourself out there and talk to people in connection with the field you could even do stuff similar to veterinary work in the field of marine bio or zoology. Equally again if you make connections with people in the field , which is easy to do in uni if you know lecturers who work in a certain field, you have a good job variety of after uni.

have you considered vet nursing? you basically just end up as an animal nurse instead of an animal doctor, but it's a lot less competitive, and an easier course, and it leads straight to a career. not as well payed as a vet but there is a lot of demand for vet nurses currently.

hi thanks for ur reply! what kind of stuff could you do in the veterinary field as a zoologist/marine biologist?