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CONTENTS

1. Routes to becoming a vet

2. Skills required

3. Finding work experience

4. How to get a job as a vet

5. What it’s like to be a vet

Routes to becoming a vet

Vets are medical professionals who treat disease, injury, and other health-related issues in animals. There are both undergraduate and postgraduate routes to becoming a vet.

Undergraduate degrees

To become a veterinarian and work in the UK, you’ll need to successfully complete a degree approved by the (RCVS). Degrees last five or six years if studied full time. They’re taught at the following universities:

• Royal Veterinary College, University of London
• University of Bristol
• University of Cambridge
• University of Edinburgh
• University of Glasgow
• University of Liverpool
• University of Nottingham
• University of Surrey

To get onto an undergraduate degree course in Veterinary Medicine, you’ll need work experience in an animal-related setting (see more about work experience below). You’ll also need to apply by the 15 October deadline – earlier than the standard UCAS deadline. 

Read our Veterinary Medicine subject guide for further information about courses and entry requirements. 

Postgraduate degrees

Postgraduate Veterinary Medicine conversion courses are available if you already have a relevant undergraduate degree. This includes four-year graduate Veterinary Medicine degree courses where you’ll need at least a 2:1 honours degree in a related subject.

Choose to take your studies further, and you could study an RCVS-approved postgraduate programme. This allows you to specialise in specific animals or medical areas like cardiology. 

Skills required

Skills that you need to be successful as a vet include:

• Scientific and technical aptitude
• Empathy and compassion
• Organisation and time management
• Communication and interpersonal skills
• Analytical and problem-solving skills
• Emotional resilience

Finding work experience

You’ll need animal-related work experience to support your application for a Veterinary Medicine course, or something to show you have a strong interest in the area. You’ll need plenty of practical experience (a lot of which you get during a degree course) to be suitable for a professional role.

Places where you could volunteer or find paid work include:

• Veterinary surgeries
• Animal welfare centres
• Animal charities like the PDSA or RSPCA
• Kennels or catteries
• Farms
• Zoos

University admissions staff and employers will want to see you have a broad set of abilities. Therefore, try and gain a range of experiences in various environments with different sizes of animals.

How to get a job as a vet

You can register as a veterinary practitioner with the RCVS after you’ve completed your degree.

You then work as a veterinary assistant to put what you’ve learned at university into practice, but with supervision. This gives you time to think about where exactly you want to work. You can then become a fully qualified vet.

Job opportunities are posted online on job boards like the or veterinary surgery websites.

Other career options include working in environmental conservation, research or the military.

What’s it like to be a vet?

Vets mostly work in veterinary clinics, labs, classrooms, zoos and farms or other rural environments. You’ll work as part of a multi-disciplinary team alongside other veterinary staff like assistants and technicians, grief counsellors and staff in farms, zoos and kennels.

Everyday tasks will vary but usually include:

• Diagnosing and treating unwell or injured animals
• Carrying out operations, health checks, tests, scans and vaccinations
• Advising farms on how to prevent the spread of disease
• Keeping extensive and up-to-date records
• Supporting and advising pet owners
• Neutering animals to stop breeding
• Putting severely ill or injured animals to sleep

When registered with the RCVS, you participate in career professional development (CPD) to keep your skills and knowledge up to date. The required CPD is 35 hours per year for veterinary surgeons and 15 for veterinary nurses.

An average working week for vets is 43 hours. You may have to work evenings and weekends and be on call. The average salary for vets in the UK is around £34,000.

Is a role as a vet right for you?

Being a vet can be emotionally and physically demanding. For example, you may have to work with extremely sick animals and decide if the kindest thing is to let them live or not. You may also be working outdoors in all kinds of weather conditions.

However, many vets love what they do. They get to save countless animals’ lives and help pets and their owners be healthy and happy.