Veterinary Nursing - Small Animal or Equine - Level 3 - Part-Time

Our new veterinary nursing diploma is for those who are working in a veterinary practice and are looking to self-fund their training. Those who are being offered an apprenticeship with their employer should apply for our apprenticeship programme here.

Veterinary nurses are registered professionals and work within the scope and standards of practice as defined by the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons. Nurses carry out technical work and their skills include undertaking a wide range of diagnostic tests, medical treatments and minor surgical procedures, under veterinary direction.

This new course will be offered with LANTRA as the Awarding Organisation. The course is currently going through the validation and accreditation process and module/units of study will be released once this process has been completed.

The course will be delivered over two years and there will be a total of five modules/units of study. Three of these will be generic, and students undertaking both the small animal and equine pathways will study together. Two will have content that will be specific to the small animal or equine pathway and students will undertake those that are relevant for their chosen qualification. All students will have to complete the OSCEs that are required as the endpoint assessment for the qualification.

You will need:

• Five GCSEs (or equivalent) at grade 4 or above including English language, science and maths.

You must be employed in a veterinary practice throughout the course.

This course is 1 day per week (TBC), from 9am - 5pm

* Certain courses may have additional costs to cover trips or DBS checks, and for some courses you will be expected to purchase additional items such as uniform or equipment.

Fee information

Though this course is free for those aged 16-18, there may be additional fees related to the programme, such as additional equipment or uniform, trips, DBS checks and work placement costs. Further information will be sent to all applicants before enrolment.

Find all the information you need about course fees and financial help below.

Information on Fees and Financial Help

Learners with an active Education, Health & Care Plan

If you are aged 19 - 24 at the start of your course and have an active Education, Health & Care Plan (EHCP), any course up to and including level 3 will be fully-funded by the government. This means you will not have a course fee to pay and any equipment considered essential to complete your course will be provided by the college.

What qualification will I achieve?

LANTRA Level 3 Diploma in Veterinary Nursing (subject to validation)

How is my course assessed?

Each of our five modules have an end of unit exam. These are a mixture of multiple choice and short answer questions.

All students must completed a National Progress Log (NPL) whilst in practice.

A final endpoint assessment (OSCE exam) must be completed once all the written exams and NPL have been passed.

All assessments are externally written and externally marked and moderated.