For details on what you will study on the five-year Bachelor of Veterinary Medicine programme, please visit the BVetMed course page. You will typically study your intercalated year between the second and third year of the Bachelor of Veterinary Medicine course.

Research project
Throughout your intercalated year, emphasis is placed on a research project, which accounts for half of the intercalated degree programme. You will have a choice of different projects, from a broad range of specialisation including locomotion, reproduction, cell and molecular biology, physiology, epidemiology, infection and immunity.

Please note that these are indicative modules and may be subject to change.

The estimated breakdown of assessment for your final grade for the Bioveterinary Sciences intercalated year is:

• Written (coursework, tests, essays) - 15%
• Examination (practical, written) – 35%
• Projects - 45%
• Presentations - 5%

The estimated breakdown of assessment for your final grade for the Comparative Pathology intercalated year is:

• In-course assessment (coursework, essays) - 17%
• Examination – 33%
• Projects – 40%
• Presentations – 5%
• Supervisors mark (from academic supervising project) - 5%

The standard entry requirements for the BVetMed with Intercalated Year (D101) are the same as those for the BVetMed (D100). Click here for full details.

Intercalation is also an option for D100 students, but choosing the D101 route guarantees your selection (subject to satisfactory academic progress) and may ease organisational matters such as loans/funding or visas.

What will I be able to do with my qualification?

You will be entitled to practice 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) but the intercalated degree is also excellent preparation for postgraduate research or careers within various related industries or governmental agencies.

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

The RVC is one of the few veterinary schools in the world that hold accreditations from the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons (RCVS) in the UK, the European Association of Establishments for Veterinary Education (ESEVT of the European Association of Establishments for Veterinary Education) in the EU, and the Council on Education of the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) in the USA and Canada.

Furthermore, RCVS accreditation ensures RVC veterinary graduates are licensed to work in Ireland, Australia and New Zealand, as well as South Africa.  In the case of our nursing courses, we are accredited in the UK by the RCVS and in the EU by the Accreditation Committee for Veterinary Nursing Education (ACOVENE), and our biological science programme is accredited by the Royal Society of Biology.

APPLY NOW Applications open - Deadline 20th September 2024

The RVC is offering this programme to give people from underrepresented backgrounds, as identified in our Access and Participation Plan, who have not been able to fulfil our work experience requirements, the opportunity to gain the necessary experience to join our BVetMed degree.  

Those successful in joining the programme will be exempt from meeting our work experience requirements when applying to the RVC's BVetMed or Accelerated BVetMed , as the programme's completion will be considered fulfilling these requirements. The programme is only open to those who will be applying to the RVC via UCAS in October 2024. If you plan to apply in future years, please revisit this page closer to the time to find out if the scheme is running for that year. Successful applicants will also be guaranteed an interview for the BVetMed/Accelerated BVetMed.

What to expect

The programme has been crafted based on our years of experience working with applicants and students, drawing on the expertise of our veterinary and animal handling experts to provide you with a high-quality experience that will be advantageous for both your interviews and during your studies. Students who join the programme will spend their time in the RVC’s state-of-the-art clinical facilities and at our working farm, where you will gain experience in the handling and husbandry for a range of species, an opportunity to see practice and an insight into the veterinary profession. You will also receive online and in-person support sessions to help you reflect on your experience and prepare for your interviews and future studies. 

Initially, you must commit to joining us for one of the weeks detailed below. You will be offered further placement days if you later receive an offer to study on the RVC’s BVetMed course and you will need to commit to the number of additional days detailed as a condition of your offer.  

The dates for the 2024 programme are as follows: 

• Monday 21st October - Friday 25th October 2024
• Monday 28th October – Friday 1st November 2024
• Monday 17th February– Friday 21st February 2025  

Anyone applying to the scheme must be able to commit to at least one set of the above dates in full. Start and finish times will vary but you should expect this to be between 7:30am and 6pm each day. The nature of the programme means you cannot mix and match dates. Anyone who fails to attend the full programme will not be permitted to continue and their RVC application will be made unsuccessful.  

Please note the work experience is unpaid, and we will not be able to provide any funds to cover travel or accommodation costs to join this programme. Students will need to be able to cover any costs associated with travelling to the RVC in Hertfordshire and attending the programme. Lunch will be provided each day, as will transportation between RVC sites. The nearest train station is Potters Bar and a regular shuttle service runs to and from campus.

Note:

The programme will involve farm work and therefore you should expect to be outdoors, regardless of the weather conditions. The RVC will provide necessary protective clothing and equipment, but students are expected to come dressed in appropriate attire to ensure that they can move around easily and are warm and comfortable.

Eligibility

To apply to join the programme you must meet the criteria below:   

• 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 will be submitting a UCAS application to the RVC’s BVetMed or Accelerated BVetMed course by 15 October 2024 (the application does not need to be submitted when you apply but if you are successful, it will be subject to the application being received).     
• You have already completed 35 hours of work experience (clinical or non-clinical) but have not completed the required 140 hours to join the course.
• You must have already met, or be predicted to meet, the academic entry requirements to apply for the BVetMed or Accelerated BVetMed.  

You must also meet one of the following criteria:      

• You will be under 21 when you join the programme, attended a state-funded mainstream school, and received free school meals during your secondary education. 
• Your ethnicity is Asian or Asian British; Black, Black British, Caribbean or African; Mixed or multiple ethnic groups; or the Other ethnic group category on the gov.uk list of ethnic groups.  

If the programme is oversubscribed, we will give priority to those who meet all or most of the following criteria: ·      

IMD Quintile score: If your home address is in an area with an Index of Multiple Deprivation (IMD) quintile score of 1. 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”) ·      

TUNDRA MSOA score: 

• If your home address is in an area with a TUNDRA MSOA score of 1. You can check this via the Office for Students website. 
• Care Leaver: you have 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 you are currently taking Level 3 (A-level or equivalent) qualifications, or have taken them within the last 12 months and the school at which you took your GCSEs is a school with an RVC contextual flag. You can check this here.    
• Level 3 School: If you are currently taking Level 3 (A-level or equivalent) qualifications, or have taken them within the last 12 months, and your school is a school with an RVC contextual flag. You can check this here.   
  
  

FAQs  

When will I know if my application has been successful?  
We aim to let the successful applicants know by Monday 30 September. 

I cannot make the dates listed; can I apply anyway? 
Unfortunately, due to the nature of the programme we can only offer it for the dates listed and can only take people who can attend on all the days in the weeks listed and for the additional days offered subsequent to that. 

Can I specify which animals I work with? 
We are unable to accommodate specific requests to work with specific animals or what type of practice you see. 

I live too far away to attend; will you be offering anything closer to where I live?
We do not have any plans to at the moment, although we may look to widen the scheme in future years, if it is successful. 

What does a guaranteed interview mean? 
You will automatically be invited to interview for the Accelerated/BVetMed if you are chosen to participate in this programme. 

Will I get a guaranteed offer of a place? 
No. Your interview performance will be considered alongside all other applicants, and this will be used to determine who receives an offer. 

I haven’t submitted my UCAS application yet, can I still apply? 
You can apply for the programme before you have submitted your UCAS application, but you must submit your UCAS application by the 15 October 2024 and apply to the BVetMed or Accelerated BVetMed programme at the RVC for you to be eligible to join the course.  

I have over 140 hours of work experience but would like to do work experience at the RVC, can I do this programme?
No. This programme is aimed at supporting those who be unable to gain the necessary experience to join the RVC and therefore we are not able to accept those who meet our requirements in full. 

I have more than 35 hours experience but not the full 140, can I do this programme? 
We would encourage you to apply and will consider applications from those in this situation. Applications will be scored on a number of factors, including the amount of experience you already have and therefore having more will not necessarily prevent you from being considered. 

I don’t meet the eligibility criteria, but I have mitigating circumstances for why I haven’t been able to gain the required work experience hours, can I apply? 
We are unable to consider applications from people who do not meet the eligibility criteria. If you have mitigating circumstances you may wish to read our mitigating circumstances policy 

I want to apply to the Gateway course at the RVC, can I apply to this programme? 
The Gateway course does not require work experience and therefore you are not eligible for this programme.

Tuition Fees

The tuition fees for students commencing the course in 2025/26 are as follows:

 * for the intercalated year, international students will be charged the international BSc fee rate.

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 European Union (EU) 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 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.