Vet med work experience

So i'm in year 11 and wanting to apply for vet med after a-levels. I know that university want you to have quite a bit of work experiences as it is a competitive course so thought this summer was a good time to get some as i will be busy with study next year. But not quite sure where to start? I have done a week in a kennels for year 10 work experiences and volunteer at my local riding stable every Saturday. But not sure how much work experience i need to make a competitive application? I tried emailing my local vet practices but most didn't respond so i am think of call? Not sure what type of experience the university value the most. I have also done some volunteering to help out at my school but don't know if i should focus on other volunteering instead focusing on work experience. But could anyone tell me if i am on the right track and what my next steps should be

Hiii! I’m a year 13 and have applied to vet med (and received all 5 offers 🥳)
I’m happy to send you details of where I did work experience and how much of it if you’d like
It seems you’ve already done some work experience which is awesome and a great start. Just to let you know universities such as the RVC expect you to have done the work experience 18 months before applying (so if you did work experience e.g. 2 years before applying it doesn’t count). Work experience now is great regardless as it can help a lot with giving you something to talk about in your personal statement and assuming this is your passion like it is for me then it will be super fun!
In terms of what they value, It always comes down to range rather than hours (although make sure to check uni websites because some expect a certain amount of hours e.g. the RVC expect 70 hours clinical and 70 hours non clinical work experience). The more varied your work experience the better!!
Here’s what I did:
- online work experience with vet mentor
- online work experience on coursera (Uni of Edinburgh course)
- 1 week on the Tropical Birds Team with ZSL (London Zoo)
- 1 week at Mark Nelson Vets
- 1 week at Paxton Veterinary Clinics
- 6 months at Deen City Farm (every Saturday)
Extras/Supercurriculars:
- Read two vet related books (Never work with animals and the Life of a Yorkshire Vet)
- EPQ on canine aggression
- Co-ran dissection club at school
- c3L6 Cambridge competition and UKBC Biology Olympiad
(There may be more I just forgot to add!)
I hope this helps you!!! I’m super keen on helping students actualise their passion of becoming vets and I’d be more than happy to help you on that journey e.g. helping you with any work experience, exams, personal statement and answering any questions you might have
If you would like something like that or have any further questions feel free to respond here for send me a pm
GOODLUCK!!!! 💖

If you don't mind me asking, how did you manage to get a week at ZSL, I've looked and there seems to be no work experience options on the website? Just curious!

Hiii! I’m a year 13 and have applied to vet med (and received all 5 offers 🥳)
I’m happy to send you details of where I did work experience and how much of it if you’d like
It seems you’ve already done some work experience which is awesome and a great start. Just to let you know universities such as the RVC expect you to have done the work experience 18 months before applying (so if you did work experience e.g. 2 years before applying it doesn’t count). Work experience now is great regardless as it can help a lot with giving you something to talk about in your personal statement and assuming this is your passion like it is for me then it will be super fun!
In terms of what they value, It always comes down to range rather than hours (although make sure to check uni websites because some expect a certain amount of hours e.g. the RVC expect 70 hours clinical and 70 hours non clinical work experience). The more varied your work experience the better!!
Here’s what I did:
- online work experience with vet mentor
- online work experience on coursera (Uni of Edinburgh course)
- 1 week on the Tropical Birds Team with ZSL (London Zoo)
- 1 week at Mark Nelson Vets
- 1 week at Paxton Veterinary Clinics
- 6 months at Deen City Farm (every Saturday)
Extras/Supercurriculars:
- Read two vet related books (Never work with animals and the Life of a Yorkshire Vet)
- EPQ on canine aggression
- Co-ran dissection club at school
- c3L6 Cambridge competition and UKBC Biology Olympiad
(There may be more I just forgot to add!)
I hope this helps you!!! I’m super keen on helping students actualise their passion of becoming vets and I’d be more than happy to help you on that journey e.g. helping you with any work experience, exams, personal statement and answering any questions you might have
If you would like something like that or have any further questions feel free to respond here for send me a pm
GOODLUCK!!!! 💖

haii sorry to bother you but you seem rlly knowledgeable on the aplication process and i was wondering if you had any advice for me? i have good predicted grades but i kinda only just decided i want to do vet med, do you think i have enough time to get work experience and strengthen my application? i dont have any work experience yet but im organising it!

Hiii!!! You’re not bothering me at all dw!!! I’d be more than happy to help you ☺️
I definitely believe it’s never too late to decide to do vet med and I’m glad you did! It’s really tough of course but so rewarding and I’m sure you’ll love it! I’d be more than happy to recommend things to strengthen your application and guide you through the process
Some Advice:
- definitely read some vet related books (I can definitely recommend you some)
- online work experience if you can find it because it really help with having some theoretical knowledge and gaining insight into the profession and basic vetty terms
- definitely organise work experience like some of what I’ve mentioned because it will help you to see if this is definitely for you and give you so so much to talk about in interviews
- YouTube videos could be helpful too!!
- considering your in Year 12 and will be applying to universities then I can deffo help with telling you about some to decide based on what they look for and how their interview process works
- I’d also be more than happy to guide your personal statement writing once we get to that point
If you have any other questions, I’d be more than happy to answer them for you 😊💖

Hi!! Thank you so much for the response I was wondering if you could maybe list all the work experience you did/ for how long if that's okay - I don't think I have enough at the moment

Hi! I’ve actually done that in the very first reply of this forum 😭

Omg so sorry didn't see! 😭

Hiii! I’m a year 13 and have applied to vet med (and received all 5 offers 🥳)
I’m happy to send you details of where I did work experience and how much of it if you’d like
It seems you’ve already done some work experience which is awesome and a great start. Just to let you know universities such as the RVC expect you to have done the work experience 18 months before applying (so if you did work experience e.g. 2 years before applying it doesn’t count). Work experience now is great regardless as it can help a lot with giving you something to talk about in your personal statement and assuming this is your passion like it is for me then it will be super fun!
In terms of what they value, It always comes down to range rather than hours (although make sure to check uni websites because some expect a certain amount of hours e.g. the RVC expect 70 hours clinical and 70 hours non clinical work experience). The more varied your work experience the better!!
Here’s what I did:
- online work experience with vet mentor
- online work experience on coursera (Uni of Edinburgh course)
- 1 week on the Tropical Birds Team with ZSL (London Zoo)
- 1 week at Mark Nelson Vets
- 1 week at Paxton Veterinary Clinics
- 6 months at Deen City Farm (every Saturday)
Extras/Supercurriculars:
- Read two vet related books (Never work with animals and the Life of a Yorkshire Vet)
- EPQ on canine aggression
- Co-ran dissection club at school
- c3L6 Cambridge competition and UKBC Biology Olympiad
(There may be more I just forgot to add!)
I hope this helps you!!! I’m super keen on helping students actualise their passion of becoming vets and I’d be more than happy to help you on that journey e.g. helping you with any work experience, exams, personal statement and answering any questions you might have
If you would like something like that or have any further questions feel free to respond here for send me a pm
GOODLUCK!!!! 💖

Thanks for your reply. Congrats on you offers Really useful to know what other people have done to get an idea on what steps to take with my own path to vet med! I was wondering how you got your work experience and if you have any advice on how i might get some? Especially with the farm and vet experience?

Hiii! I’m a year 13 and have applied to vet med (and received all 5 offers 🥳)
I’m happy to send you details of where I did work experience and how much of it if you’d like
It seems you’ve already done some work experience which is awesome and a great start. Just to let you know universities such as the RVC expect you to have done the work experience 18 months before applying (so if you did work experience e.g. 2 years before applying it doesn’t count). Work experience now is great regardless as it can help a lot with giving you something to talk about in your personal statement and assuming this is your passion like it is for me then it will be super fun!
In terms of what they value, It always comes down to range rather than hours (although make sure to check uni websites because some expect a certain amount of hours e.g. the RVC expect 70 hours clinical and 70 hours non clinical work experience). The more varied your work experience the better!!
Here’s what I did:
- online work experience with vet mentor
- online work experience on coursera (Uni of Edinburgh course)
- 1 week on the Tropical Birds Team with ZSL (London Zoo)
- 1 week at Mark Nelson Vets
- 1 week at Paxton Veterinary Clinics
- 6 months at Deen City Farm (every Saturday)
Extras/Supercurriculars:
- Read two vet related books (Never work with animals and the Life of a Yorkshire Vet)
- EPQ on canine aggression
- Co-ran dissection club at school
- c3L6 Cambridge competition and UKBC Biology Olympiad
(There may be more I just forgot to add!)
I hope this helps you!!! I’m super keen on helping students actualise their passion of becoming vets and I’d be more than happy to help you on that journey e.g. helping you with any work experience, exams, personal statement and answering any questions you might have
If you would like something like that or have any further questions feel free to respond here for send me a pm
GOODLUCK!!!! 💖

Hi, Thanks for your excellent information. My daughter is in Year 10 now and would like to study Vet. We would like to know how to find a vet mentor and when should the work experience and volunteer work to start. Thanks you very much.

Hi again! From what I’ve seen it seems that Medic Mentor have removed the Vet mentor work experience they had for some reason which is such a shame as it was brilliant basic knowledge on various parts of the vet med profession.
In terms of when to start work experience, It’s best to start as early as possible as considering its her passion it will be super fun! It also gives you a lot of time to make up a competitive application as having a range of work experience will not only look good but will also help with her personal statement and her knowledge for interviews.
I started my work experience around year 10-11 and honestly wish I started even earlier as I really enjoyed my work experience ☺️
If you or your daughter have any other questions or would like me to expand on anything just let me know! I’m also setting up a website to help vet applicants and I’ve got social media under the name VetsInTheMaking to help vet applicants succeed however this is still being developed but feel free to follow

Hiii I am also an aspiring vet med applicant and congrats on all of your offers and hope your a levels have gone well
Would you please be able to give me some other book recommedations for me to read over the summer that would be very helpful thank you xx