Vet medicine: work experience requirements

Undergraduate students examining cows at the Vet School farm, Sutton Bonington campus

Vet medicine: work experience requirements

Everything you need to know before you apply.

If you are��applying for one of our undergraduate courses, you need to have completed a minimum of five weeks’ work experience.��

We don’t ask for any specific skills or knowledge, what’s most important is that you understand the role of a veterinary professional.

Which courses require work experience?

What counts as work experience? ��

Work experience includes: ��

A minimum of three weeks of animal handling - for example in a
veterinary practice, a cattery, kennels, livery, zoo, wildlife park or
research lab.

Plus any combination of the below -

��

Up to two weeks of customer facing experience��- this could be working as a waiter, receptionist, cashier, call centre agent, barista, or retail assistant, for example.
Up to two weeks of teamwork experience��- this could be doing a Duke of Edinburgh Award (minimum 1 week), Ten Tors (maximum 1 week), playing in a sports team, or taking part in a drama club or theatre performance, for example.
Up to two weeks for completing the  free online course*.
Another two weeks of animal handling.

Work can be paid or unpaid and carried out over varying hours and days. Five days of work��experience is equal to one week.

*To access the free course, you need to register and sign-up��for the demo version. We do not require certificates of completion (which incur a charge).

��What can’t be included?

Work experience at a family member's farm or veterinary practice, or with pets.
We do not accept submission of references, journals and portfolios associated with work experience.

Important application information��

Work experience must have been completed within the three��years prior to application.

All animal handling work experience must be undertaken in a��commercial establishment and comprise of a minimum of 15 animals.

All work experience should be completed by the October��application deadline. Any experience booked after this date will not be taken��into consideration.

Work experience is collected as part of a questionnaire, after��we receive your UCAS application.

School of Veterinary Medicine and Science

Katie's student experience

Katie is a final-year Veterinary Medicine and Surgery BVMBVS with BVMedSci student. She explains why she chose Nottingham, her love of the Sutton Bonington campus, and her future career plans.

School of Veterinary Medicine and Science

Harry's student experience

Harry is a final-year Veterinary Medicine and Surgery BVMBVS with BVMedSci student. He discusses starting in April, taking part in extracurricular activities, and his plans for the future.