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 😬

@Onthesofawithmydog am I right thinking your daughter is for 2028 entry? Depending on how far you live from Harper Adams, they also take part in open farm Sunday (think that’s at the beginning of June). That was a really useful visit to see the milking parlour, pigs etc. We saw more of the farm that weekend than we did on the open day when most of it was out of bounds. Keele and H A’s open days are on different weekends in October so you could do both

Ah that’s helpful thank you! Yes she is 2028. We are in Devon so might still be a bit of a push to get there twice seeing as lots of other open days she wants to do. But will have a look! I learnt from my eldest daughter that we need to start early this time as found that there was just not the time to see all the unis if you leave it late as my eldest did.

@Onthesofawithmydog as you only have 4 choices on UCAS if can be useful to short list as open days can be a bit of a muchness. Full Uni or just vets campus ? On site placements or all external ? Big city vs smaller ? London or not ? Grades required (it's nice to have an AAB offer as back up). Good luck

We found each open day to be very different and was an extremely useful exercise with helping my daughter to narrow down her choices.
It was also good to see what the local areas were like, as 5 years is a long time to spend in a place you don’t like.
My daughter was concerned that she wouldn’t like Keele (really likes the HA site), if she had an offer for that course and was placed at Keele, but the visit there has helped her see that it wouldn’t be a deal breaker.
Nottingham’s open day was hands down the best we went to. Before visiting there and the other Unis, she was umming and Ahing about the potential for being offered April and had almost decided that Notts was out of the running if she was (in my opinion) fortunate enough to be offered an April start. The open day has completely changed her opinion and has made it her favourite.
She’s been following the threads on the student room, and we’ve had discussions about how low the chances are of getting an offer 1st time round, let alone to her 1st choice, but it’s helped her focus.
If your children are in year 11 you will have a three more opportunities to visit the universities- this autumn, next summer and then in September. We did most of the visits last September and were amazed to see how many year 12 students were there asking about work experience requirements- a month before the application deadline!

I agree with @mumsneedwine It’s useful to narrow down. For example, we looked at all the Scottish one (we’re in Scotland). Then we also looked at Liverpool as it’s a city / campus one and geographically the closest non-Scottish one to us. We raced down to Nottingham because we heard they hold back clearing spaces and it made sense to see the campus even if she didn’t apply in case she got no offers and went through the clearing route. All the open days were really useful and none of them were a waste of time. It did highlight how rubbish public transport around the UK is though. Liverpool is closest but we had to change trains twice from Edinburgh. I can’t even remember how long it took us to get to the Nottingham campus (it was lovely though!). It’s something to think about, especially if you have a homebody child like mine. We started in looking around two years before application.

If you have time (& the money) to visit lots of Unis then go for it. But it's not possible for everyone.

Notts do a fantastic open days and it's a great city. But you are 20 mins out of town and the Uni is making a lot of redundancies and staff are on strike. They are not the only ones though. I'm not anti Notts (my eldest went there), but just things to bear in mind. And April does bring issues such as holidays with non vet friends, but does make getting EMS easier. Swings and all that.

thank you @mumsneedwine and everyone. Its so useful to hear this info now before we really have to knuckle down and start booking them. So far dd wants Bristol as top choice as its closest to us and we have already been to the Langford campus for a family open day which sold it to her, although I have said its super competitive and she needs to be open minded.. other than that she has RVC, Liverpool and Notts on her list as she has this dream to move to the USA and work in New York (we went last year and now she just wants to live there!) so she wants one that is accredited with the American vet thingy.. (not sure, but she has done the research!).. I think we should still visit Surrey (as have family in Guildford, and its lovely!), and at least one of the newer ones like Harper Keele as seems like they may make lower offers.. although who knows... Lancashire seems sooooo far away and likewise the scottish unis so I think those are out. On Monday she starts a week of work experience in a local vet so I do hope that she comes out the other side more certain of her choice, either way. I keep reassuring her that if she changes her mind after work experience thats totally ok, as that is what its for!

@Onthesofawithmydog I was totally hoping vet work experience would change my DD’s mind and she’d go down an easier route but alas not 😂

oh my gosh, I know what you mean. A few years ago, she was about 13/14 and we asked our own vet to have a chat with her about the job - she came out into the waiting room and sat with her and basically tried for 10 mins to put her off - she went over how awful the job was, how vets have high suicide rates and bad pay, and how she should choose something else. Since then my husband has been trying to get her to reconsider, but she just won't. Her conclusion was that our vet had chosen the wrong job for her, but she insisted she still wanted to do it!

My DD loves being a vet (& loved being a vet student !). It's v hard work, emotionally draining (I'm the recipient of the end of day tears) and intellectually tiring. But she never regrets it and is looking at internships to work in referrals. A supportive practice and good GDP advisor are soo vital. Some of her friends have not been as lucky and moved in first year.

Wondered how all you 2027 applicants are getting on and if anyone else has dc who are going down this route for 2028? My dd has done two weeks of work experience this summer and has absolutely loved it, despite one placement being much better than the other one. one vets had her pretty much standing in the corner for hours on end and making her feel like a nuisance, while the other one had her assisting in surgeries, dealing with dogs who had induced vomiting, taking samples from cancers and trimming cats claws! She has finished the holiday with a fresh love for it and has booked Surrey open day in October. Any update from those wanting to start this year or next?

@Onthesofawithmydog my daughter has been busy with work experience too.
She managed to get another 4 weeks over the school holidays in the end, so I think she’s going back to school for a rest!
It’s great how hands on she was allowed to be. At the practices my daughter visited she was very much in an observer (and cleaning) role. She’s been very hands on at the farm and comes home stinking!
We’re off to Surrey and Edinburgh in September, so we’ll have managed to visit quite a few of them (except Cambs, Glasgow, RVC, SRUC and Aberystwyth). She’s currently flipping between which unis to list for 3 and 4.
In a way I’m hoping she doesn’t like Edinburgh (too far), but I know she loves the city.
It’s personal statement writing next. I think she’ll find it hard to keep to the word limit!

@Nella68 that sounds great, I’m sure she will have tons of experience to write and talk about. Yes my dd was so lucky to be so hands on. There was a third year vet student in at rhe same time and they were both doing the same things really, at one point trying to prize a rabbits mouth open with a spoon during surgery so the vet could get in quickly and easily. The vet student is at rvc and kind of put her off applying there for a few different reasons although I think we will still go to the open day next year. They seem to only do one in June, do you know if that’s right? From what the vet student said, she thinks she will like Notts and Surrey. Wow good luck for the next few months, I bet it all feels very real now!

Update on us. All the stress is worth it, ferrying to work experience, trudging around open days. DD starts Glasgow in September! It's all starting to feel really real. I remember her personal statement took a few drafts. Though they say a lot of places don't read them, it did come up in interviews. I'm a bit nervous now because it's all on her from now on (through she still doesn't have a driving license yet, I might be driving her to EMS?) We're Scottish so close by and that makes me feel happy. Good luck everyone, it really is worth it if it's what they really want to do!

It really is worth it - although DD would like to be paid more (no extra for weekends or out of hours at lots of places - corporates - and she's in all weekend).
Her advice is get as much and as varied stuff as you can as really helps at interview stage as they can ask anything ! And you don't need lambing or dairy. Variety and customer facing work are most useful.
She loves having vet students (& potential ones) and lets them get as hands on as she can. She remembers the thrill of helping in operations.
Good luck !

Can't believe I missed this thread. DD2 is applying this October. We're Scottish but live in the north of England. There are 35 places at Edinburgh and 35 places at Glasgow for RUK students. DH is from Edinburgh so DD2 is very keen to go there because she knows and loves the city. Also applying to Liverpool, Nottingham and Lancashire. She really enjoyed the open day at Lancashire although DH was shocked by the 'don't be a vet' talk they got at the beginning of the day. DD2 wasn't because she's had me (I grew up on a farm) telling her that for years. She's got 3 weeks experience in vets practices - two different ones which she thought was really useful because they were quite different plus a week lambing (my attempt to put her off by sending her to the north of Scotland in April to be out in the cold in the dark, apparently it was the best time she has ever had in her entire life 🙄) and customer facing experience in a charity shop (she loves this, came home with allotment veg last week after talking food with a regular!). Oh, and she's done the Nottingham online course plus a Liverpool organised conference the medics/dentists/vets specialist at school found. Want her to get some paid work that involves animals if possible.

@mumsneedwine , you said some universities look at GCSEs. How does it compare to medicine (DD1 just had her first week at Sunderland and is loving it, thanks for your sterling work on the medics discussions) is there variation between universities in how they rank GCSEs and do you have a vet school table like your medicine one? DD2 has 998888776 in her GCSEs, will that impact where she should apply to?

We also live on the south coast. Our child is starting at harper keele vet school next week. She got offers at Liverpool and Harper Keele. She preferred the look of the Harper Keele course and the extra bonus was she could choose the keele home campus as she can get there on a direct train to Stoke on Trent followed by a 15 min bus to campus. I believe the Plymouth to Manchester train stops at major stations along the south Devon coast as well as Tiverton and Taunton so there should be an accessible station wherever you are in Devon. I would suggest looking at this course as well as the Bristol course if the ability to get home easily is important to your child. Yes, the journey time is quite long but they can chill and watch netflix all the way!

@FruAashild it's nothing like medicine (thankfully). Those GCSEs are great and each Uni will look at them along with predicted grades, and their own extra forms that each requires. All different and can take some time so don't plan a holiday for half term ! Her wex is brilliant and will be enough for everywhere. There are no caps on Scottish places anymore (unless they've reintroduced them ? I've not looked this year as no vets at school).
But no UCAT, no scoring and work experience is required (although many now count a part time job for some if this). You do not need lambing !

@FruAashild welcome to the thread!

Have you seen this document? It details all the GCSE requirements - some places want 5 at grade 7 or above, but once that’s reached then anything more than that isn’t considered https://www.vetschoolscouncil.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/VSC-course-guide-2027.pdf. Your daughter has a great set of results.

We’re off to the Edinburgh open day in a couple of weeks. My daughter knows about the limited places but her philosophy is that someone has to get the places and if you don’t try you’ll never know! I’m hoping she’ll think it’s too far from home. I’m mainly looking forward to having a weekend away!

Edinburgh have this info about the admission statistics which gives an idea of the offers/ places for RUK students. https://vet.ed.ac.uk/sites/default/files/2025-10/Veterinary%20Medicine%20Admissions%203%20yearly%20admissions%20statistics%202023-2025.pdf

@FunkyYak congratulations on your daughter’s place.

My daughter liked Harper Keele but specifically the Harper Adams site. As I understand the student can put a preference for the home base, but only after the offer? When did your daughter find she had the Keele site- before or after accepting? It would be interesting to know if the student preference was accommodated.

The Harper Adams site is a pain to get to by public transport but it’s only a 50 minute drive from where we live. My daughter would need to be able to drive to make life easier for her if she was to get a place there.

She was asked to specify a preference after the offer was made and then it was confirmed just after A level results day.