The Student Room Group

Which vet uni should I go to?

I've been extremely lucky as to receive 3/4 vet school offers this year (as a year 13 student) from Liverpool (AAA), Cambridge (Selwyn college, I was pooled and offered A* - chemistry A*A in English and biology with no specification for which I need an A* in) and Surrey (AAA). I was rejected by Bristol, but I'm not bothered as it wasn't top of my list. Cambridge and Liverpool have always been my favourites, but now having offers from both, I'm not sure what to do. And obviously Cambridge has had its issues with the accreditation status.

With Liverpool, I'm mostly worried about the accommodation. Since vet is such a taxing course, I'm worried that my flatmates will likely be going out far more than me and I am someone who needs a lot of sleep to function lol. I almost feel as though Liverpool is too much of a going-out uni and Cambridge isn't enough? Not sure what to do - I want to have a good time at uni but also want to make sure I'm well looked after.

And Cambridge is quite a bit closer to home (I'm from London).

Anyone in a similar position?

Reply 1

Pick Cambridge why is this even a tough choice. u get to be closer to home, huge prestige, and cambridge will have people going out here and then too. It's more about having internal balls etc rather than going out and getting blacked out.

Reply 2

Original post
by Dev2095
Pick Cambridge why is this even a tough choice. u get to be closer to home, huge prestige, and cambridge will have people going out here and then too. It's more about having internal balls etc rather than going out and getting blacked out.

Moreso with Vet the employability is equal across all universities, so that's why I'm considering them on an equal playing field. I'm also state educated and know there is a theme of impostor syndrome from people from state schools going to Cambridge.

Reply 3

Original post
by ghawes10
Moreso with Vet the employability is equal across all universities, so that's why I'm considering them on an equal playing field. I'm also state educated and know there is a theme of impostor syndrome from people from state schools going to Cambridge.
If you are interested in keeping options open for working abroad Cambridge and Surrey do not have AVMA accreditation (cheaper and easier route to practice in North America). Liverpool has a strong variety including AVMA and EAVE. I read that Cambridge is on pending accreditation for Europe EAVE :smile:
https://www.liverpool.ac.uk/veterinary-science/about-us/accreditation/

This might not matter much to you, but it is definitely worth considering! For me this is a large part of my consideration between my three offers. Hope it somewhat helps towards decisionmaking and all UK vet schools are good!
Original post
by Dev2095
Pick Cambridge why is this even a tough choice. u get to be closer to home, huge prestige, and cambridge will have people going out here and then too. It's more about having internal balls etc rather than going out and getting blacked out.


Cambridge is somewhat unprestigious within the realm of vet med (debatably, unfairly so). Also recently there was significant upheaval and uncertainty as the course was effectively placed in special measures by the veterinary accreditation bodies and the university actually recommended shutting down the vet school altogether just last year - they only a few weeks ago actually reviewed this and decided to keep it open. So arguably Cambridge is actually possibly the last choice for a lot of vets, both historically and these days I think...?

There were also some issues a few years ago with some of the farms providing placemenst with racism against/in front of students and staff (although I think those partners have been dropped now, I don't know what if any review of the processes leading to approval of placement locations has occurred).

Original post
by ghawes10
I've been extremely lucky as to receive 3/4 vet school offers this year (as a year 13 student) from Liverpool (AAA), Cambridge (Selwyn college, I was pooled and offered A* - chemistry A*A in English and biology with no specification for which I need an A* in) and Surrey (AAA). I was rejected by Bristol, but I'm not bothered as it wasn't top of my list. Cambridge and Liverpool have always been my favourites, but now having offers from both, I'm not sure what to do. And obviously Cambridge has had its issues with the accreditation status.

With Liverpool, I'm mostly worried about the accommodation. Since vet is such a taxing course, I'm worried that my flatmates will likely be going out far more than me and I am someone who needs a lot of sleep to function lol. I almost feel as though Liverpool is too much of a going-out uni and Cambridge isn't enough? Not sure what to do - I want to have a good time at uni but also want to make sure I'm well looked after.

And Cambridge is quite a bit closer to home (I'm from London).

Anyone in a similar position?

Regarding the accreditation and status of the vet school, interim accreditation has been granted again as I understand and the uni has approved the continuation of the course/department, so that should be less of a worry - I would expect if accreditation was withdrawn they would probably look at arranging for students to transfer to other vet schools or complete the clinical years at another vet school or similar...?

That said it does sound like there are likely to be restructures to the clinical services and staff, and it's hard to say how this will impact on students in the department in future. So that could be a consideration too.

In terms of a uni for "going out", students most certainly do go out at Cambridge, just as much and as hard as at other unis. I don't think there's going to be a significant difference there between Cambridge and Liverpool - students will be students wherever they may be...

Maybe see if you can go to an offer holder day and spend a bit more time at/around the unis without the pressure of impending interviews or uncertainty of applications (especially if you had online interviews or something for either/both), to get a better feel for them and if one is a better "fit" for you :smile:

Reply 5

Original post
by Bear26
If you are interested in keeping options open for working abroad Cambridge and Surrey do not have AVMA accreditation (cheaper and easier route to practice in North America). Liverpool has a strong variety including AVMA and EAVE. I read that Cambridge is on pending accreditation for Europe EAVE :smile:
https://www.liverpool.ac.uk/veterinary-science/about-us/accreditation/
This might not matter much to you, but it is definitely worth considering! For me this is a large part of my consideration between my three offers. Hope it somewhat helps towards decisionmaking and all UK vet schools are good!

Thank you! For me, I'd like to work abroad in Europe, particularly Sweden, but have definitely considered North America and Australia as In my opinion vets in the UK are vastly underpaid. Only thing I'm sort of deliberating about is whether the prestige of Cambridge bar their issues might help me get a job in Sweden, as the European accreditation seems to be fine. So many things to consider!

Reply 6

Original post
by artful_lounger
Cambridge is somewhat unprestigious within the realm of vet med (debatably, unfairly so). Also recently there was significant upheaval and uncertainty as the course was effectively placed in special measures by the veterinary accreditation bodies and the university actually recommended shutting down the vet school altogether just last year - they only a few weeks ago actually reviewed this and decided to keep it open. So arguably Cambridge is actually possibly the last choice for a lot of vets, both historically and these days I think...?
There were also some issues a few years ago with some of the farms providing placemenst with racism against/in front of students and staff (although I think those partners have been dropped now, I don't know what if any review of the processes leading to approval of placement locations has occurred).
Regarding the accreditation and status of the vet school, interim accreditation has been granted again as I understand and the uni has approved the continuation of the course/department, so that should be less of a worry - I would expect if accreditation was withdrawn they would probably look at arranging for students to transfer to other vet schools or complete the clinical years at another vet school or similar...?
That said it does sound like there are likely to be restructures to the clinical services and staff, and it's hard to say how this will impact on students in the department in future. So that could be a consideration too.
In terms of a uni for "going out", students most certainly do go out at Cambridge, just as much and as hard as at other unis. I don't think there's going to be a significant difference there between Cambridge and Liverpool - students will be students wherever they may be...
Maybe see if you can go to an offer holder day and spend a bit more time at/around the unis without the pressure of impending interviews or uncertainty of applications (especially if you had online interviews or something for either/both), to get a better feel for them and if one is a better "fit" for you :smile:

Thanks so much for the feedback! Obviously there's so much to consider it's just a difficult one. Haven't been given an offer holder day for Cambridge yet but have already been to Liverpool and loved it - so I recon the visit will decide

Reply 7

Original post
by ghawes10
I've been extremely lucky as to receive 3/4 vet school offers this year (as a year 13 student) from Liverpool (AAA), Cambridge (Selwyn college, I was pooled and offered A* - chemistry A*A in English and biology with no specification for which I need an A* in) and Surrey (AAA). I was rejected by Bristol, but I'm not bothered as it wasn't top of my list. Cambridge and Liverpool have always been my favourites, but now having offers from both, I'm not sure what to do. And obviously Cambridge has had its issues with the accreditation status.
With Liverpool, I'm mostly worried about the accommodation. Since vet is such a taxing course, I'm worried that my flatmates will likely be going out far more than me and I am someone who needs a lot of sleep to function lol. I almost feel as though Liverpool is too much of a going-out uni and Cambridge isn't enough? Not sure what to do - I want to have a good time at uni but also want to make sure I'm well looked after.
And Cambridge is quite a bit closer to home (I'm from London).
Anyone in a similar position?

Cambridge - firm
Liverpool - insurance

Reply 8

Original post
by ghawes10
Thank you! For me, I'd like to work abroad in Europe, particularly Sweden, but have definitely considered North America and Australia as In my opinion vets in the UK are vastly underpaid. Only thing I'm sort of deliberating about is whether the prestige of Cambridge bar their issues might help me get a job in Sweden, as the European accreditation seems to be fine. So many things to consider!

No worries at all! 🙂 I don’t think you’ll have too much to worry about in getting a job as you’ll have plenty of job adverts for a vet! 😊 That being said you might be right in prestige abroad carrying some weight due to it being Cambridge, but I am sure you’d be a strong applicant no matter which you go to (even if it isn’t accredited there are usually other routes!). They say the EAVE one is pending (scroll to the bottom of this page). I’d maybe ask for more clarification on offer holder day to see first why that is, but I imagine it’s nothing too much to worry about.

https://www.vet.cam.ac.uk/about/accreditation
(edited 1 month ago)

Reply 9

Original post
by ghawes10
I've been extremely lucky as to receive 3/4 vet school offers this year (as a year 13 student) from Liverpool (AAA), Cambridge (Selwyn college, I was pooled and offered A* - chemistry A*A in English and biology with no specification for which I need an A* in) and Surrey (AAA). I was rejected by Bristol, but I'm not bothered as it wasn't top of my list. Cambridge and Liverpool have always been my favourites, but now having offers from both, I'm not sure what to do. And obviously Cambridge has had its issues with the accreditation status.
With Liverpool, I'm mostly worried about the accommodation. Since vet is such a taxing course, I'm worried that my flatmates will likely be going out far more than me and I am someone who needs a lot of sleep to function lol. I almost feel as though Liverpool is too much of a going-out uni and Cambridge isn't enough? Not sure what to do - I want to have a good time at uni but also want to make sure I'm well looked after.
And Cambridge is quite a bit closer to home (I'm from London).
Anyone in a similar position?

im in same position between liverpool and nottingham for exact same reason! just gotta remind ourselves wherever we end up is the right place

Reply 10

I"m a vet student at Liverpool so I can't speak for Cambridge but if you have any questions re the course/city etc I'm happy to try my best and help. But since your main concern about Liverpool is accommodation, I just thought I'd try shed some light on that.

Regarding flatmates going out more than you, if this is a huge worry and it's feasible financially, you could consider a studio? Other than that it is just luck of the draw with flatmates. But you might be surprised how much some vet students go out, even with the course load! It can feel very much like work hard, play hard. But however first year goes with halls, most people tend to leave halls and go into a student house with friends for year 2/3, and then for years 4/5 you leave Liverpool and most people find a house on the Wirral, so you can have much more control over who you live with after first year and find people on your wavelength.

If going out isn't your thing then there's so much to do in Liverpool that isn't just clubbing, and there's vet events throughout the year as well. You get your vet freshers week which ends with a party at the Leahurst campus, then there's also vet halloween, the winter formal, the Leahurst Christmas party, and the summer ball, as well as any others that your year reps might organise throughout the year.

Hopefully this helped with your worries about accommodation, lmk if you have any other questions.

Reply 11

I think another thing to think about as well is that Cambridge is a 6 year programme whereas both Surrey and Liverpool are only 5 years. With Cambridge as well they do very little practical/ animal handling in the first couple of years so once again another thing to think about.

Reply 12

Working in North America/Australia is a big consideration. Vets are well remunerated out there and there is plenty of professional opportunity too.

Reply 13

6th year Cambridge vet here and happy to answer any questions :smile:

Re- accreditation: we’re still in the conditional status with a view to regain full by October this year. This does not mean we don’t have accreditation, it means that there were issues that the vet school is working with the RCVS to resolve and the amount of progress that was made in a short space of time was highly commended. As for our EAEVE accreditation, we’ve just had the revisitation and they are satisfied that the one deficiency from last time has been resolved and that we can expect their full accreditation very soon. If you have an MRCVS status then you are qualified to work in Australia.

As for our animal handling- we got regular handling sessions in our first year and some “live anatomy” sessions in second year to practice clinical examinations. I would argue that we’re not lacking in animal handling and that it’s a bit of a misconception (and speaking to Liverpool students, it sounds like we had a similar level in our first 2 years but then again, I’m not a student there so I can only speak for Cambridge) and by the time you’re in clinical school you are handling live animals every week.

Let me know if you want anything clarified!

Reply 14

Original post
by FFM23
I think another thing to think about as well is that Cambridge is a 6 year programme whereas both Surrey and Liverpool are only 5 years. With Cambridge as well they do very little practical/ animal handling in the first couple of years so once again another thing to think about.

The myth about less animal handling at Cambridge is simply untrue. They even managed a decent amount during Covid

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