Vet Med 2027

[VetMedMum]

Any parents out there whose kids are looking at Vet Med for 2027 entry?

No vets or medics in our family so it’s all new to me. She is progressing with her work experience, but it’s all starting to get a bit real now…

School have them draft their PS in June so they are ready to submit early in Autumn 2026.

Booked 5 open days so far 😬

Not me, my DD wants to do medicine but I have shared with the mum of her friend who is applying. I think it is tougher than med as there are less places but at least they don’t have to do UCAT this summer like the med/den lot!

Good luck to your DD.

Not this year but DD has a place for Sept 2026 (conditional on results of course). I would advise her to look at what type of interviews the unis she is interested in do (MMI, panel, Liverpool do SAMMI etc.) and practice those. Also be strategic and apply to the ones with interview formats she is most confident in. Bristol are the only one that don't do interviews but have some kind of questionnaire (DD didn't apply to Bristol so I don't know the details). Good luck. It's a tough ride.

Thanks. It’s a word away from applying for a humanities degree in the 90s - which is all I have experience of!

She has discounted Cambridge as she doesn’t want to do an extra test particularly one that involves maths.

Im following along as my dd is hoping for 2028! Doing work experience this summer and already planning her open days for the autumn! So Id be interested to follow along and get any tips..

Where did she apply to and how many offers did she get?

This seems like a very high stakes game!

She got only one vet med offer but it was Glasgow which was her joint first choice (other one being Edinburgh). She has an unconditional for bio sciences at Edinburgh as back up. We’re in Scotland and she wanted to be close by. I think she interviews better with panel interviews than MMI. She got interviews for all but she doesn’t interview very well because she’s shy. That reminds me, one thing I wish I had pushed her on was to get a customer facing job. I’ve heard that really helps in interview situations in terms of talking to people you don’t know about things you might not know a lot about and thinking on your feet.

Ooh thanks. We are in the far South of England and so have discounted the Scottish Unis on practicality grounds.

DD has a customer facing summer job lined up, so that’s good.

What sort of work experience did she have?

Of course even if she gets an offer she then has to pull at least 3 As out of the bag 😬 (currently predicted Astar/A/B)

Just a word of warning if considering Bristol, the vet school is in a village a few miles outside the city, but they do have classes in Clifton too, I know a couple of current students and they both have cars (live between the two locations use the bus to go to the city, later years though)

First 3 years are in the city vet school (Southwell street) with a bus out to Langford one day a week.
clinical years 4 and 5 at Langford when most students move out and realistically need a car.
(Or that’s certainly how it used to be at Bristol)

As others have said, it’s really important to apply strategically for vet med. Make sure you have fully researched the specific requirements of each vet school as they all differ slightly, particularly regarding amount of work experience and exam results. Some vet schools do look at GCSE’s and require a certain number of top grades and Edinburgh ask for Physics GCSE (this might have recently changed). There is such a huge number of applications for each place that they can, and do, automatically reject your application if you don't meet their requirements which is such a waste of an application ! Be prepared for it to be a 2 year process, the overall success rate for a place is very low. If lucky enough to get a place, a large number of students don’t get the grade and lose their place so don’t lose sight of the need to keep the academics on track which is tricky as there is a lot of hoop-jumping for the application process. Probably not worth applying to Edinburgh if a RUK applicant as offer rate very low ( approx 11%). Cambridge also difficult due to recent uncertainties with the course. As well as lots of vet related work experience, its very useful to have some sort of customer facing experience and this is very well regarded by vet schools. I’m not trying to be negative but really important to be really well prepared and go in with eyes wide open, its a really tough process and often regarded as more competitive than human medicine. Good luck !

South of England has a lot of good choices! My DD volunteered at a city farm for years, did one week lambing, two weeks at a vet practice and one week at a wildlife park. All unis say it’s not the amount of WEX (as long as you reach the minimum) but what you get out of it and how you can talk about it. My DD took notes after every day so she could reflect back on it for interview prep.

Would be interested to hear how anyone’s DC prepared for interviews? I think WEX and grades should be ok for DD but interview prep is going to be key.

It’s worth asking your daughter’s school if they offer any interview technique sessions or practice. It’s a skill that many 17 year olds don’t have and it’s a stumbling block for many applicants I think. Alternatively, ask a family friend, work colleague or neighbour if they would set up a practice interview. Even just practicing answering common interview questions with family and friends is useful. Most common interview questions won’t necessarily come up but it’s the practice of answering quickly and succinctly which is useful. It’s worth noting that the interviewers for vet med won’t necessarily expect you to know the answer but instead are looking for how you process the information given to you and your reasoning behind your answer, even if it’s wrong. Be prepared for some examiners who will deliberately try and unsettle you, look unimpressed at your answers and ask really difficult questions. This is deliberate to see how the applicant reacts under pressure. Be prepared for some very obtuse and left of field questions ! Be wary of the usual answers, eg, I’m a team player but can work effectively alone etc as this is over used. You need to stand out. Very useful to make notes while on work experience of cases that particularly interested you that you can then talk about in interview as this usually comes up in some form.

My daughter is just coming to the end of 5 years Vet Med in Dublin and yesterday passed her NAVLE ( licensing for America ) . Just to wish you your children luck . My daughter has loved every second of it and will continue to study for years more . It’s a total vocation but seems to be hugely rewarding !

oh wow thats amazing. My dd announced last week that when she finishes vetmed she is going to do her navle and go straight to the US (tried to look happy for her and not distraught!!) so she has already decided on the four english universities that have some kind of accreditation with the American vet thingy! She was under the impression that she would have to work in the uk first, so well done to your dd for getting it done straight away. All super exciting!

She sounds very focused !! The NAVLE is so tough . Great pay in America and Canada though so worth it to even get some savings together. Beat of luck to your daughter ❤️!

I’m the mum of a 3rd year vet student at Liverpool. Happy to help as we navigated all this a few years ago!
My biggest advice is to apply strategically and not be focussed on which Uni they prefer. My daughter only got one offer, although I will say that she loves it at Liverpool.
it’s a tough course, I would say that she studies about 60 hours a week (including lectures etc). The first 2 years they have to do EMS in the holidays but it’s not too much so if your students need to eat money, they should try and work those years. Now she is in 3rd year she is doing 14 weeks of clinical EMS and it’s all unpaid. Although I believe that new students have to do less EMS now.
She absolutely loves her course and has zero regrets. Good luck to your kids x

DS is going to attempt this but without any support from his old sixth form. He's got the work experience, has booked open days and checked which unis will accept him with his grades/subjects. It really is a case of not knowing what we don't know though!

@follygirl it’s good to hear your daughter is enjoying Liverpool. My daughter liked the feel of the campus when we visited.
Would you be able to share what you mean about applying strategically?
My daughter has identified which 4 she wants to list, but that’s very much based on how she found the open days!

I mean that there are less places for non Scottish students at Glasgow and Edinburgh. Liverpool interview everyone who meets requirements, my daughter applied to Surrey and Nottingham and didn’t make it that far. They use SJT which she apparently wasn’t very good at. Bristol don’t interview so if your student might be weak at interview, it’s a good choice. Cambridge is also a 6 year course so worth knowing.

Hi My son is planning on on vet med
for 2027 entry. As with OP no vets
or medics in the family and neither DH or I went
to university so all very new to us. We are in London but he is looking at Glasgow/Edinburgh (interesting ref. Lower numbers of non Scottish students), Liverpool, Nottingham and RVC.

DS has started his work experience and has a couple of days on a cattle farm and a week at a rural large animal vet during lambing/calving completed so far. That was bloody and full of highs and lows with regards survival rates but has only cemented his decision to go for it. To say he was hands on is an understatement, holding a cows uterus for the vet to stitch up was his highlight.

I want to be able to support him so interested in the interviews carried out and what we can do to help there. He has worked in Greggs since last year so hopefully that will help somewhat in speaking to others and thinking on his feet!

Thanks @follygirl.
It’s hard to know whether she will be good at interview or not. According to her, the sixth form only offer interview practice for the students applying for medicine. I’m not sure how accurate that is, but it would be a bit off if it is the case!

SJTs are another unknown quantity. We through a medical student to see if it would give her an idea of what they are. I found I disagreed with quite a few of the answers (from a patient safety point of view), but it was a useful exercise.

The Scottish unis have quotas because of the different way they are funded. I think for Glasgow Vet school it was something like 45 Scottish students, 35 RUK and 65-70 international. Edinburgh is similar.

Regarding the interviews, the applicants have to agree not to discuss the questions.
All I would say as I sat on the landing and listened in, is that they are more interested in how the applicants problem solve, you need to explain why you’ve made that decision. Even if it’s the wrong one it doesn’t matter if your reasoning is sound.
My daughter applied to Liverpool, Surrey, Nottingham and Bristol. We live near London so she didn’t fancy the RVC. She got out on hold but then rejected by Bristol (after a long wait), rejections from Notts and Surrey after the SJTs and offered Liverpool after interview.
She did do a wide variety of work experience before applying from the usual lambing, dairy, horses and kennels to overwintering hedgehogs. All valuable experience, particularly lambing and dairy which is physical.

I would ask your DS to think very carefully about applying to Scottish vet schools as an English applicant, as I mentioned before, the odds of getting a place are very low. In my opinion, to apply to 2 Scottish ones would be very unwise. My daughter wanted to love Edinburgh, she got an interview and was given a place ( she was told 11% chance for her cohort ) but the offer holder’s day was very disappointing. It seems to be a great vet school but they can be a bit ‘off’ with non Scottish applicants and others we know who have applied over the last few years have said the same. They were very reluctant to show the students around the facilities and generally not very welcoming. Completely different vibe than the other offer days she went to. The vet school is also quite a way out of the city, meaning you really need to be there all day and can’t pop back if you forget something or for lunch etc. Might not bother some students, but worth knowing. Edinburgh was also the toughest of the interviews.
It is definitely worth practicing human medicine SJT type questions as you can spot a pattern of answers they might be looking for. The Bristol questionnaire is very specific and appears to be a bit hit and miss regarding whether you get an offer. You need to read the pre information given by Bristol very carefully.