A unique situation - Nottingham: Veterinary Medicine Preliminary (D104) 2027

Hi there, just a quick warning - I will be going on a bit of a rant but I will try my best to sum up my situation.

As of recently I've moved to a new country and Im finishing off my IB diploma in Nov2026 at a international school - meaning I will be applying to go to uni in 2027. It is only recently that I've figured out what I want to do with my life after school (vetmed), but unfortunately the subjects I chose don't match what is required for direct entry in the UK:

Higher Levels: Biology, Lang & Lit, Geography
Standard Levels: Chemistry, German ab initio, Maths AI

But after some digging, I discovered a possible pathway with Nottingham's Veterinary Medicine including a Preliminary Year (D104). This sparked something in me which makes me feel like I have a chance! The issue is, being in a new country and not being native in the language/not speaking it at all builds a massive barrier when looking for work experience and until now I've actually got no clue what kind of work experience/animal handling is required of me (like what does this include). :bricks:

I would also like to add that I'm struggling in school at the moment so my grades don't represent what I think im capable of. The minimum grade required is a 32 overall - but I reckon most people say to aim for a higher grade to be competitive, so what should I aim for exactly as someone who is not exactly a top achieving student?

I know its a bit of reading so I'll summarize what Im trying to ask:
What should work experience look like for Nottingham (preferably someone who applied and got in) ?
What should I aim for as my overall score being an average student?
Are there any other universities that would still consider me with my subject choices?

I would really appreciate any and all responses in any way, shape or form!
Thank you for taking the time out of your day to read this! :lovedup2:

Reply 1

louisvbird

Universities Forum Helper

All the information you need is located on the website.

Your main question is difficult to answer. You're basically saying you know the entry requirements, but how much better than the requirements should you aim to be. Well the answer to that is, the best you can! The entry requirements just confirm you are at the minimum standard for the vet school to even consider you, but vet school is very competitive so you need to exceed the requirements as best you can.
In other words, you need to get more than the minimum grades, and more than the minimum work experience. The more you do, the more competitive of an applicant you will be, within reason. Some people have several months of experience and the top grades, but do not get in anyway. Equally, some people only meet the minimum requirements, but they get an offer straight away. This is because you need to combine your good grades with your experiences, and during the admissions process display all of this and what you have learnt from it all. The vet schools are looking for people who are best suited to the course, and it's more about your attitude and personality, but you need to back this up with experience and good grades. Does that make sense?

Entry requirements: "IB score 32 points overall or 6,6,5 in three HL certificates"
So 32 is the minimum you need, but if I were you I would aim to get as high grades as possible.

Work experience requirements: Work experience

"You'll need a minimum of 5 weeks work experience. Work experience can be done over varying hours and days and should include:

•

A minimum of 3 weeks of animal handling

•

Up to 2 weeks of either customer facing and/or teamwork experience

•

Up to 1 week for the completion of the Virtual Work Experience and Exploring the Veterinary Profession free online course."

Again, you need to meet this minimum requirement to even be considered. The more experience you can get beyond the minimum, the better. I was a Nottingham Prelim student, and when I applied I had 3 weeks of clinical work experience, 10 weeks of animal handling work experience, six months of customer-facing role, and then 8 months of customer-facing veterinary care assistant role. I took a gap year so most people don't do as much as I did, but still, if you REALLY want to be a vet, you need to try to do more than the minimum work experience.
Again, I can't really answer the question you ask, because we don't know the 'optimal' amount of work experience that is needed to get into vet school; we all just need to do as much as we can, and hope that it is enough.

I've created this guide: https://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/hive-articles/how-do-i-choose-a-vet-school containing a list of all UK vet schools. I recommend you go through them yourself to see if you can apply anywhere else with your subject choices. Doing your own research will serve you better than anything we can tell you, as we don't know your full situation!

You should also check out this guide as it will give you an idea as to what you are supposed to be doing whilst on work experience and what you should be gaining from doing it (see the work experience section): https://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/showthread.php?t=7489650

Best of luck!

(edited 1 month ago)

Reply 2

Rella13

Hey! Have a look at foundation years such as Lancashire, Harper Adam’s, Nottingham, etc. Animal experience just means anything involving animals. Things that show you know what being in vet med is really like. This means dog walking, visiting vets, or any other way of interacting with animals. Hope this helps!

Reply 3

aknst

Original post

by Lilazan

Hi there, just a quick warning - I will be going on a bit of a rant but I will try my best to sum up my situation.
As of recently I've moved to a new country and Im finishing off my IB diploma in Nov2026 at a international school - meaning I will be applying to go to uni in 2027. It is only recently that I've figured out what I want to do with my life after school (vetmed), but unfortunately the subjects I chose don't match what is required for direct entry in the UK:
Higher Levels: Biology, Lang & Lit, Geography
Standard Levels: Chemistry, German ab initio, Maths AI
But after some digging, I discovered a possible pathway with Nottingham's Veterinary Medicine including a Preliminary Year (D104). This sparked something in me which makes me feel like I have a chance! The issue is, being in a new country and not being native in the language/not speaking it at all builds a massive barrier when looking for work experience and until now I've actually got no clue what kind of work experience/animal handling is required of me (like what does this include). :bricks:

I would also like to add that I'm struggling in school at the moment so my grades don't represent what I think im capable of. The minimum grade required is a 32 overall - but I reckon most people say to aim for a higher grade to be competitive, so what should I aim for exactly as someone who is not exactly a top achieving student?
I know its a bit of reading so I'll summarize what Im trying to ask:
What should work experience look like for Nottingham (preferably someone who applied and got in) ?
What should I aim for as my overall score being an average student?
Are there any other universities that would still consider me with my subject choices?
I would really appreciate any and all responses in any way, shape or form!
Thank you for taking the time out of your day to read this! :lovedup2:

Hi! I think I replied to your message on another thread too but I just came across this one when browsing and the responses here are already super helpful so I wouldnt say I have much more to add besides some encouragement.
I applied in october for the prelim year but I was in a similar situation as you were in the sense that I only settled on what I wanted to do AFTER I chose my subjects so they didn't end up aligning with vetmed entry requirements. You have the advantage of taking chem as I did not choose it in the ib which limited my options, but I think there may be some universities that might accept SL chem with HL bio for regular entry instead of prelim - you should look into that and keep track of where youre eligable to apply so when the time comes youre not overwhelmed!

As for your grades, I talked about predictions in the other thread too. I totally get what you mean by not considering yourself a high achieving student but you should still try to reach as high as you can above the minimum!!!!! I think you can do that and even more if you really want this! Not only for the purpose of an application, but for your skills to develop. In our school, they basically average our term grades for a prediction. If that is the case for you too, then try talking to your teachers about doing some extra work on the side to show that you can raise your grades for a good prediction to be put into UCAS. Find out how they make your predictions and let the school know your goals so they can help you get there!

I talked about work experience again in the other thread but I didnt know the detail about not speaking the language of the country you moved to. I am also at an international school so many kids find themselves in this position too but our career guidance counsellors set up some summer internships through their connections for the international students in our year. Definitely talk to your career/university counsellor and tell them what kind of work experience you need so that they can help find you something 🙂

Anyway, I kind of repeated what the other responses said (and so sorry for this super long response) but I hope to have added an extra touch of support! Remember, theres not a strict path to enter this field. Many people even do bachelors in subjects such as biology, animal sciences, zoology, and then find their way into vetmed. A gap year seems to also be common, and you would have more flexibility to gain as many experiences as you can during that time to reapply when you feel ready. I know that right now vet school may seem long enough, but the profession in itself is a life-long and continuous learning journey so every bit of knowledge and experience will come in handy! Best of luck and I'm sure it'll all work out for you :thumbsup: