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The problem

Vets who did not graduate from an EAEVE accredited, AVMA approved, or specified Commonwealth university must sit and pass the RCVS Statutory Membership Examination (SME) before they can practise as a clinician in the UK. It is widely regarded as one of the most demanding professional exams in veterinary medicine, alongside the NAVLE in the US, and historically its pass rate has been reported as low as 10 to 45%, depending on the year.

Much of the difficulty is not the material itself, but finding the right material. Many existing question banks are built for the NAVLE, reflecting US caseloads, drug names and practice norms rather than UK ones, and the few resources written specifically for UK practice can be expensive, particularly for candidates who are self funding their preparation alongside full time clinical work.

Our solution

Working with UniVets Global, we gave RCVS SME candidates bespoke access to a VetTutor question bank built around the syllabus areas the written papers actually test. Candidates used the bank alongside UniVets' own tutored programme, giving them UK specific practice questions to sit alongside their clinical teaching, rather than defaulting to material written for a different exam in a different country.

About UniVets Global

Founded by Dr Andreia Dias, UniVets Global provides training and exam preparation for veterinary professionals, with a particular focus on supporting overseas qualified vets through the RCVS Statutory Membership Examination via a tutored curriculum, live clinical case sessions and OSCE preparation.

The problem

Veterinary medicine remains one of the most competitive courses to get into in the UK, with some schools receiving ten or more applications for every place, and admissions resting as much on work experience, personal statement and interview performance, usually multiple mini interviews (MMIs), as on grades.

For students still at school, that is a difficult set of requirements to meet alone. Genuine clinical work experience is notoriously hard for under 18s to arrange, and there is no standard curriculum for interview technique, ethical reasoning, or the kind of veterinary terminology that separates a strong personal statement from a generic one.

Our solution

Working with Rugby School Short Courses, we built a residential programme for a cohort of students aged 14 to 17, delivered by a qualified vet surgeon and a vet student mentor across two weeks.

Students rated the course 9.3 out of 10 for likelihood to recommend it to a friend, and every respondent to the end of course survey said it represented good value for money. Our on site Course Mentor was rated 4.9 out of 5, with one student describing her lectures as very informative and well organised, adding that she was very patient when students are disruptive. Feedback from the first course is already shaping the second, from timetable structure to catering.

About Rugby School Short Courses

Rugby School Short Courses runs residential summer programmes on Rugby School's campus in Warwickshire, offering subject specific and university preparation courses for students from the UK and overseas.

The problem

Nottingham's veterinary degree is structured differently to most. It is an integrated, body systems course rather than one split into separate pre clinical and clinical phases, and it runs across two staggered yearly intakes, in September and April, instead of a single cohort.

That combination matters at exam time: generic revision content is typically organised the way textbooks are organised, by subject, not the way Nottingham actually teaches or examines its own students. For VetSoc, the challenge was finding academic support that reflected the course its members were actually sitting, rather than a general veterinary curriculum that happened to overlap with it, and doing so consistently across two intakes a year rather than one.

Our solution

Working directly with VetSoc's academic team, we built support around three strands: discounted access, bespoke content, and showing up at the moments that matter in the student calendar.

The partnership is ongoing. As new cohorts arrive each September and April, VetSoc and VetTutor continue working on what Nottingham's students specifically need, rather than defaulting to one size fits all content.

About Nottingham University VetSoc

VetSoc is the student society representing veterinary students at the University of Nottingham's School of Veterinary Medicine and Science, the first new UK vet school to open in 50 years when it was established in 2006. Based at the Sutton Bonington campus, VetSoc supports its members through academic, social and welfare activities across both of the school's September and April intakes.