BSc Veterinary Nursing

Veterinary nurses play a vital role within the veterinary industry in caring for sick, injured and hospitalised animals, and contributing to the ongoing care of animals.

This includes undertaking minor surgeries and procedures, and delivering medical treatments and tests.Veterinary nurses also take on the responsibilities of customer care within a surgery, clinic or hospital setting, and therefore must develop client-facing skills alongside knowledge of animal care.

The BSc Veterinary Nursing course is designed to produce veterinary nurses who have the knowledge and skills to make a significant contribution to animal health and welfare. You will be exposed to practical training within the first three foundation years of the programme, where you have the opportunity to develop your knowledge and skills within a real-life environment. At the end of this period (providing you have met the assessment requirements), you will achieve your professional veterinary nursing qualification via the award of a FdSc Veterinary Nursing. The FdSc Veterinary Nursing is accredited by the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons (RCVS) and successful completion of this interim award permits registration with the RCVS as a veterinary nurse.

During your final year, you will undertake a research project on an area of clinical interest and choose from a range of innovative modules taught by RVC nurse educators and world-renowned clinicians from the Queen Mother Hospital for Animals. This is a challenging degree course that delivers a broad programme of learning, and offers a fascinating introduction to veterinary nursing.

Veterinary Nursing courses are delivered primarily at our Hawkshead Campus as well as utilising a variety of placement practices to gain the practical skills required for a Registered Veterinary Nurse. 

Our BSc in Veterinary Nursing has a very high employment rate post qualification.

You will be entitled to practise as a veterinary nurse as soon as you have passed the requirements of the first three years of your BSc and have been awarded the FdSc Veterinary Nursing. It is the FdSc Veterinary Nursing that is accredited by the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons and permits registration with the RCVS as a veterinary nurse.

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

• Registered Veterinary Nurse
• Locum Veterinary Nurse
• Head Nurse
• MSc Wild Animal Biology

They also go on to work for a variety of different employers and institutions, for example:

• Battersea Dogs and Cats Home
• Davies Veterinary Specialists
• Companion Care Vets
• Queen Mary Hospital for Animals
• Royal Veterinary College
• Vets4Pets
• College of Animal Welfare
• Village Vet

If you would like to apply for undergraduate studies, you must complete an application through the general undergraduate application process using the University and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS), unless you are applying as a North American College applicant to our Veterinary Medicine course, in which case you must apply through VMCAS (see here for further details).

Please consult undergraduate course information for individual course entry requirements. Qualifications and procedures vary depending on the course you apply for.

The RVC no longer requires any applicants to sit the Biomedical Admissions Test (BMAT) when applying to the Veterinary Medicine programme, or any other RVC course.

For any further questions regarding undergraduate courses, please contact our Admissions Office: [email protected].