Work Experience:
To apply for the BSc in Veterinary Nursing you will need to have prior work experience in order to have obtained an insight into the work of veterinary nurses. You will need to have completed the minimum requirements to enter onto the course:
- A total of 70 hours (e.g. 10 full days) of work experience (paid or voluntary) in one or more small animal or mixed veterinary practices.?
In addition, we would strongly recommend applicants gain practical experience of handling animals through hands-on animal-related work experience and gaining some experience in this field prior to interview would be advantageous. We are aware that opportunities may differ between candidates and therefore we have no specific hour requirements in this area and there are no specific environments that we require you to gain experience in. If you are looking for experience in this areas, examples of environments you could visit include kennels and catteries (both charities and commercial options), farms, stables, lambing, pet shops, wildlife parks, zoos?etc.
All applicants will be sent a Work Experience Form to complete in order for us to gain more information about their work experience placements and applications will not be assessed until this form is returned. Applicants successful in getting to interview will be required to provide references (see example) to support the information given on this form.
NB: We strongly advise obtaining references as you go as they can be difficult to obtain later on. Failure to produce a satisfactory reference will result in the placement becoming void for the purpose of meeting the entry requirements.?
Preference is given to those who have completed all required work experience by the application deadline. Applications are still encouraged from those whose work experience is ongoing, but to be considered for interview, you must have completed at least 35 hours in a small animal or mixed veterinary practice.
The RVC uses email as the primary method for contacting applicants about their application. Emails may be sent from either [email protected] or [email protected] and applicants are strongly encouraged to take the necessary steps to ensure emails from these addresses do not end up in spam or junk inboxes, as the RVC cannot accept responsibility for any applications that are unsuccessful as a result of missed information or deadlines.
Interviews:
All applicants to this course must attend an interview if invited and cannot receive an offer without attending an interview. Our interviews are held in person during February and March. If invited, it is often not possible to rearrange an interview for a different date, so applicants must ensure they are available for interview before applying and inform us by email of any specific days within this time period when they are unavailable.??
All applicants invited to interview will need to provide their passport (in some cases another valid form of ID will be acceptable), original A-level and GCSE certificates (if already completed) or equivalent qualifications and reference letters (see example) to cover the minimum work experience requirements as stated above.
Please note that if you apply to more than one of our Veterinary Nursing courses and your application progresses to the interview stage, you will be invited to attend one interview only which will be used in our assessment of each of your applications.
Interviews will take place on the following dates via this link.
Mitigating Circumstances:
If you wish to make us aware of any mitigating circumstances related to your application please see our guidance on mitigating circumstances here: www.rvc.ac.uk/mitigatingcircumstances