The Veterinary Gateway course is a one-year programme with the aim of preparing you for the five-year Bachelor of Veterinary Medicine undergraduate degree on completion.

For an outline of what you will study on the five-year course, please see our BVetMed course page.

You will need to fulfil our WP pre-conditions, WP criteria and academic requirements to be considered for interview:

In addition to your UCAS application (deadline 31 January 2024), you will also need to submit your Supplementary Gateway Form in order to be considered for interview. The form will be available in our application portal and applicants will be given access to this, and notified of the need to complete the form, via email on receipt of their application. Interviews are normally held between January and March (sometimes including December) depending on the year.  

Widening Participation pre-conditions (to be met by all)

The Veterinary Gateway programme is available to Home students only that satisfy all of the following specific non-academic requirements:

• You are a UK/Irish national resident in the UK or have settled status (including permanent residence or indefinite leave to remain) in the UK.*
• You are EITHER currently predicted to achieve no more than two grades below the standard Gateway entry offer for that qualification (NB: all successful applicants will receive the standard offer for the course, irrespective of their predicted grades) OR you have gained a qualification that meets the standard offer for the Gateway course in the 12 months prior to your application.
• You have studied only one period of Level 3, unless you are resitting that same qualification the following year.
• You have never attended university or a higher education institution. 

*non-UK nationals unsure of their status should contact Admissions - terms may change depending on Brexit developments. 

Widening Participation criteria (route-dependent)

To be eligible for the course, you must meet all of our Route A or Route B requirements. You must indicate how you meet these on the Supplementary Gateway Form. 

ROUTE A:

• You have completed all education since the age of 11 at a UK state school that does not select based on academic performance or charge tuition fees to any of its students, and is not classified by the UK government as an independent school.

You will also need to score a minimum of 15 points by fulfilling one or more of the following criteria:

• POLAR4 Score: If you live in an area with a POLAR4 score of 1, 25 points are awarded. If you live in an area with a POLAR4 score of 2, 10 points are awarded. You can check this via the Office for Students website.
• IMD Quintile score **: If you live in an area with an Index of Multiple Deprivation (IMD) quintile score of 1, 25 points are awarded. If you live in an area with an IMD quintile score of 2, 10 points are awarded. You can check this using one of the following links, depending on which country you live in:
  England: http://imd-by-postcode.opendatacommunities.org/imd/2019  (an IMD “Decile” score of 1 or 2 given here is equivalent to “quintile 1” above, and Decile 3 or 4 is equivalent to “quintile 2”). 
  Wales: https://statswales.gov.wales/Catalogue/Community-Safety-and-Social-Inclusion/Welsh-Index-of-Multiple-Deprivation 
  Scotland: https://simd.scot/ 
  Northern Ireland: https://deprivation.nisra.gov.uk/ (a Deprivation Rank in the top 20% most deprived is equivalent to “quintile 1” above, and top 40% is equivalent to “quintile 2”).
• Care Leaver: 30 points are awarded to any applicant who has been looked after by a local authority for at least 13 weeks since the age of 14 (requires letter from relevant authority). This includes foster care, residential care, kinship care as a formal agreement with the local authority or living at home under the supervision of the local authority.
• Level 2 School: If the school at which you took your GCSEs is a school with an RVC contextual flag, 10 points will be awarded. You can check this here.
• Level 3 School: If the school at which you are taking your Level 3 qualifications (A Levels or equivalent) is a school with an RVC contextual flag, 10 points will be awarded. You can check this here. 
• Low Household Income: If you have a low household income and you/your parent(s) are in receipt of an eligible means-tested benefit, you will be awarded 20 points. This could be child tax credits, free school meals, 16-19 bursary, or a government-assessed income award that demonstrates low household income.***
• Refugee: If you are a refugee, 15 points will be awarded (requires Home Office letter)
• Parental Education: If your biological parents and/or step-parents and/or guardians have no higher education qualifications, such as a degree, diploma or certificate of higher education (attendance as a mature student is exempt), 5 points will be awarded. This must also be indicated on your UCAS application.

*** Please note: You should be in a position to provide proof of household income if you are going to use this criterion in support of your application. Eligible benefits can be found here. 

ROUTE B:

• You have completed all education since the age of 11 at a UK state school that does not charge tuition fees to any of its students or that is classified by the UK government as an independent school.

and

• You attended the RVC Sutton Trust summer school within the 18 months prior to application. 

Widening Participation eligibility will be determined based on the information provided in the Supplementary Gateway Form. 

Where the number of applicants scoring at least 15 points or more exceeds the number of students the College is able to interview, applicants will then be selected based on their total score.

Academic qualifications

The minimum academic requirements for entry onto the Veterinary Gateway programme are outlined below. Please note that only one period of study of Level 3 qualifications will be accepted unless applicants are resitting those qualifications the following year.

Work experience (optional extra)

Although we don't require applicants to have any work experience, it is desirable. If you can gain work experience, try to get it both in veterinary practice and in other animal environments in order to develop animal handling skills and obtain an insight into the work of veterinary surgeons.

We encourage you to think creatively about these environments and are interested to hear about any experiences that have helped to give you a sense of the veterinary role in the wider world. Examples of suitable other animal environments might include, but are not limited to: kennels, cattery, animal shelter, rural or city farm, stables, pet shop, lambing, intensive livestock, abattoir, animal research laboratory, wildlife park, zoo, etc. You do not have to have gained experience in all these areas.

If you wish to inform us of work experience you have completed, there is a section to do this in the Supplementary Gateway Form. The form will be available in our application portal and applicants will be given access to this, and notified of the need to complete the form, via email on receipt of their application.

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

Interviews

All applicants to this course must attend an interview if invited and cannot receive an offer without attending an interview. All UK interviews for this course will be held between January and March. Our interviews are held in person. 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

FAQs

I started doing a Level 3 qualification but then switched colleges/qualifications. Does this count as two periods of Level 3?

Where you have only studied for one year (e.g. completed AS Levels) and then gone on to a new college or qualification, you should still be eligible under this pre-condition. However, if you have attended more than one college, both will need to be contextually-flagged for you to meet this WP criterion. Otherwise, it is at the discretion of the RVC as per our Admissions Policy. 

If I score less than 15 points. Do I still have a chance of getting an interview?

Unfortunately not, to be considered eligible for the Veterinary Gateway programme, you must score at least 15 points. 

What will I be able to do with my qualification?

Upon successful completion of this six-year course, you will graduate with a degree in veterinary medicine. 

Our graduates go on to enjoy a wide range of careers in veterinary medicine, including positions in:

• Small animal practices
• Mixed practices
• Equine practices
• Farm/livestock environments
• Wild animal environments
• Wildlife conservation
• Military support
• Industry
• Research
• Government
• Academia

Global careers

You will be entitled to practise as a veterinarian as soon as you have earned your BVetMed degree and registered as a Member of the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons (RCVS). The RVC's accreditation status with the European Association of Establishments for Veterinary Education (EAEVE) and the reciprocal arrangement between the RCVS and the Australasian Veterinary Boards Council Inc (AVBC) allows BVetMed graduates to register to practise in Europe, Australia and New Zealand without requiring any further qualifications.

In addition, the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) will recognise your degree as equivalent to those awarded by veterinary colleges in the United States. Some of the USA’s major veterinary employers recruit actively among our final year students. Please note, however, that you will be required to sit the North American Veterinary Licensing Examination (NAVLE) if you intend to work in North America after qualifying, just as those studying at US universities do. 

RVC Gateway students testimonials

Rhian Jefferies and and Abbie Ward both came to the RVC on the Gateway programme and are now studying BVet Med. Listen them talk about how they came take the Gateway path into study and how they feel it has benefitted them as they progress through their studies.

Tuition Fees

The tuition fees for students commencing the course in 2024/25 are as follows:

Tuition fee amounts are subject to increase each academic year, please be aware of this when making your calculations and planning how much money you will require.

• Students from countries outside the UK who wish to undertake full-time study at the RVC are required to pay the international fee for their programme of study (please see Fee status section).
• Information on Fees & Funding for existing students can be found here

The following course-related costs are included in the fees:

• Student membership of the British Veterinary Association for course duration
• Access to books and journals essential to your course (print and digital)
• Open access and bookable IT equipment such as PCs and laptops
• Largely paperless curriculum plus £10 p.a. printing allowance

• Annual membership of College gym (both campuses)

The following course-related costs are not included in the fees:

• Specialist clothing and equipment £600 for the whole course. This amount includes some likely additional spend on replacement items.
• Travel to AHEMS and EMS placements
• Some AHEMS and EMS placements will also require students to pay for board and lodging
• Travel to various intramural rotations (IMR). While majority of the core IMR take place in the College’s clinical centres, various weeks of core and tracking IMR require you to travel to various parts of London or further afield. Financial support is provided to help offset the likely travel costs entailed and for certain rotations accommodation is also provided    

Accommodation and living costs are not included in the fees. Our Housing Advice pages provide further information on College and private housing.