If you’ve received your GCSE results and are interested in working with animals, see below for some options on what you could do next, and how The College of Animal Welfare could help you achieve your career goals…
Train as a veterinary nurse
If you love animals and are concerned with animal welfare; then becoming a veterinary nurse could be the ideal route for you! Veterinary nurses assist veterinary surgeons in practice, undertaking a range of duties such as taking blood and urine samples, taking x-rays, preparing animals for treatment, assisting during operations, administrative and cleaning tasks and carrying out minor procedures. The main route into veterinary nursing at CAW for those with 5 GCSEs at grade C or above including English Language, Mathematics and a Science subject, is our Level 3 Diploma in Veterinary Nursing, which allows students to train as part of an apprenticeship. Completion of the course qualifies students to apply for professional registration as a Registered Veterinary Nurse (RVN). For more information on eligibility criteria please visit our website.
Train as a veterinary care assistant
For those that would like to focus on animal welfare duties outside of surgery within a veterinary practice – such as exercising, grooming and feeding hospitalised animals, monitoring and providing supportive care to inpatients and cleaning and preparing accommodation for animals – training as a Veterinary Care Assistant would be an ideal career path! Veterinary Care Assistants work alongside veterinary surgeons and nurses in order to provide vital nursing care and ensure the wellbeing of small animal patients. Our Level 2 Diploma for Veterinary Care Assistants is an excellent course covering the underlying knowledge needed to thrive in a fast-paced veterinary care environment. Completion of this course, provided relevant qualifications in Maths and English are also achieved, allows students to train as veterinary nurse on the Level 3 Diploma programme if they wish to do so.
Train in animal care
Animal care training is suitable for those looking to find employment in animal care environments outside of veterinary practice; such as a zoo, stables, rescue centre, cattery or kennels. Depending on the role that you choose to undertake, your duties could range from cleaning, feeding and medicating animals, to educating the public on animal welfare and preparing animals for rehoming. Our animal care qualifications allow students to gain on-the-job training whilst earning a wage, and will cover a variety of animal care practices depending on your level of experience within the industry. For more information on careers within animal care you can visit our online career profiles.
Remember that there are many people, organisations and services out there to help you if you’re unsure about what you want to do next. You can speak with a member of our Customer Advice Team (CAT) on 01480 422060 if you’re interested in working with animals and would like an informal chat about post 16 career options.
The College of Animal Welfare is hosting its popular Careers with Animals Day at its centre in Leeds on Saturday 14 October 2016! Whether you’re a school leaver working out your next career move or an adult looking for a career change – don’t miss out on the opportunity to find out more about the training and employment opportunities within the veterinary care and animal care sectors. Entry is completely free of charge! Find out more at www.careerswithanimals.co.uk