Veterinary Nurse (Level 3) Apprenticeship - Companion Animal

The course covers a comprehensive range of topics relevant to companion animal nursing (cats, dogs, rabbits, and guinea pigs) across nine units:

• Professional Veterinary Nursing Responsibilities – Professional responsibilities of the student and registered veterinary nurse, including the RCVS Code of Conduct, health and safety in the veterinary practice and legal/ethical duties
• Diagnostic Principles – Key principles of imaging and laboratory techniques to support the veterinary surgeon in diagnosis; including microscopy, endoscopy, ultrasound and radiography
• Principles of Veterinary Nursing Care 1 – Underpinning knowledge relating to the care of patients in a veterinary environment including anatomy, physiology and emergency first aid
• Pharmacology and Dispensary Management – Basic veterinary pharmacology and its application, including the prescription, storage, supply and dispensing of medicines to standards required of a Suitably Qualified Person (SQP)
• Practical Veterinary Nursing Skills – Developing practical skills in RCVS approved Training Practices through the compilation of a portfolio of evidence
• Anaesthesia and Theatre Nursing Skills – The principles of anaesthesia and theatre practice including surgical instruments, assisting in theatre and the preparation and monitoring of patients during anaesthesia and sedation
• Life Stage and Medical Nursing Care and Support – How the patient’s life stage influences their individual needs. The patient’s response to disease and trauma, reproduction, nursing care of medical conditions, palliative care and euthanasia
• Principles of Veterinary Nursing Care 2 – Nursing requirements of patients including fluid therapy, pain assessment, preventative care and physical therapy techniques
• Surgical Nursing and Patient Care – Specialised knowledge in surgical nursing, including pre, peri and post-operative nursing from admission to discharge

Suitably Qualified Persons qualification
Embedded within this diploma is the training required to become a Suitably Qualified Person (SQP) for companion animals allowing you to, on successful completion, join the VetSkill SQP Register and prescribe and/or supply certain veterinary medicinal products.

How you study

Theory lessons - you will attend theory lessons for one day a week. These lessons can either be undertaken in-person in one of our college centres (subject to availability) or via our Live Online classroom. Our Live Online classrooms offer real-time interactive lessons that allow you to engage with your tutors and peers. During online lectures you will be expected to participate in a diverse range of learning and assessment activities including live chat, group chat, breakout room activities, independent activities e.g. research, polls and Q&A sessions.

Online course materials - our Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) provides a wide range of learning resources including interactive online lessons, revision and study support materials, recordings of classroom lessons for you to rewatch, an extensive eLibrary, access to journal articles and career resources.

Practical skills training - you will attend one of our college centres for practical skills training days, there are approximately 10 of these across the programme.

Tutor support – you will be allocated a personal tutor to provide 1:1 support and guidance and be a point of contact throughout your programme.

Virtual reality (VR) – You will be loaned a free virtual reality headset for the duration of your programme that will allow you to use our two exclusive software programmes. The OSCE preparation software will help you to prepare for your OSCEs (practical exams) by creating muscle memory and alleviating exam anxiety. You can practise the OSCE tasks that you may come across in your real exam, such as taking x rays, packaging samples and identifying parasites. Our anatomy software allows you to explore and learn body systems in details. We are the first veterinary nurse college to use virtual reality and we are very excited about the potential application of it.

Off-The-Job Training Hours
You will undertake a minimum of six hours a week of off-the-job training hours, this is learning that takes place during your normal working hours. These could comprise of college lessons, working through online course materials, time spent revising for exams etc.

You will undertake a variety of assessments including online examinations, assignments and case studies and a formative practical assessment. You will also complete an online Nursing Progress Log (NPL) over the course of your training, as evidence of practical competence.

Final practical examinations (OSCEs) are undertaken on successful completion of all other assessments at the end of your programme.

Once you have completed these assessments, and undertaken the required amount of training hours, you will be able to undertake the End Point Assessment (EPA). This consists of

1. A Professional Discussion
   The Professional discussion is a structured 45-minute interview between the apprentice and an independent assessor covering a range of knowledge, skills and behaviours through scenario competence-based questions.
2. A Practical Assessment in the form of an Objective Structured Clinical Examination (OSCE)

You can start this programme at any time and undertake pre-course activities ahead of your lessons beginning in either September, January or May, as below:

September 2026

• All centres – Live Online learning – Wednesdays
• Huntingdon, Leeds, North London – Classroom delivery – Wednesdays

January 2027

• All centres  (except Guernsey) - Live Online learning – Mondays

May 2027

• All centres (except Guernsey) – Live Online learning – Thursdays
• Huntingdon, Leeds, North London – Classroom delivery – Thursdays

Find your nearest centre
We deliver this programme from centres located throughout the UK, including: Bodmin, Chorleywood, Edinburgh, Guernsey, Horsham, Huntingdon, Leeds, North London, Solihull, Wigan and Stoke-on-Trent. Find your nearest centre

Learners wishing to undertake this programme must be able to evidence capability in numeracy, literacy, science, and written English and mathematics; this typically includes GCSEs at grades 9 to 4 (or A* to C) including English, mathematics and a science subject, or equivalent qualifications. Examples of equivalent qualifications that may be acceptable are:

• Maths and English – Level 2 Functional Skills
• Science – City & Guilds Level 2 Diploma for Veterinary Care Assistants or VetSkill Level 2 Certificate in Veterinary Care Support

Students with Scottish qualifications would typically have National 5 or Higher/Advance Higher at level A, B or C in Maths, English and Science.

Before applying, please ensure you read the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons (RCVS) Fitness to Practise: A Guide for UK Providers of Veterinary Nursing Education and Student Veterinary Nurses, which can be downloaded here.

Employment requirements
You need to be living and working in England* in a veterinary practice that is approved by the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons (RCVS) as a Training Practice (TP or aTP) earning at least the National Minimum Wage for Apprentices. To complete this apprenticeship within the 30-36 month time frame you will need to be working for a minimum of 30 hours per week, if you are working less than 30 hours a week the length of your apprenticeship will be extended depending on your working hours.

If you are not employed in a veterinary practice, you may wish to consider applying for the VetSkill Level 3 Diploma in Veterinary Nursing programme.

*Please note apprentices attending our Edinburgh centre must be resident in England and spend at least 50% of their employment in England.

International students
Students with foreign qualifications are required to have their certificates translated using a UK ENIC Statement to confirm if they have previously achieved Level 2 English and Level 2 maths for their apprenticeship. If a student has not previously achieved this, they will need to complete Functional Skills English and/or maths as part of their apprenticeship. More information about how to apply, how it works and prices can be found on the UK ENIC’s website here.

You should have proof of competence in the English Language by holding either the ESOL qualification at levels C1 or C2 or IELTS at a minimum score of 6.0 (with a minimum of 5.5 in each element) where your international qualifications were not taught and assessed in English.

Please note: As our courses include online learning components, students are required to have access to a PC or laptop with a reliable internet connection.

Apprenticeship course fees are payable by the employer. Fees are dependent upon the size of the organisation you are employed in.

Course fees for Growth and Skills (Apprenticeship) Levy Paying Employers
(organisations with an annual pay bill of more than £3 million)

These employers will pay the full apprenticeship amount of £17,000 using their digital account.

Course fees for Non-Levy Paying Employers
(organisations with an annual pay bill of less than £3 million)

These employers will pay 5% (£850 in one payment) towards the cost of the apprenticeship using their digital account.

Please note that fees may be free for those aged 16-21 years, working in a non-levy paying organisation with less than 50 employees.

Awarding Body Fees
In addition to the course fee, employers will be required to pay the RCVS Registration fee of £228 and any resit exam fees should a student need to re-sit an exam.

Remote examination invigilation – It is possible for students to sit their theory exams via remote invigilation (undertaking them at home or work, rather than in a college centre); there is an additional fee of £30 for this. Please note that for a first attempt of any theory exam the college waives the remote invigilation fee, and it is therefore only payable for re-sit exams. This fee is payable in addition to the normal exam fee.

General Advice
These are current figures and may be subject to change. The differences in course fees reflect the level of funding that is available as a result of government policies and priorities. These may be as a result of age, employment status, previous education achievements, or location for example, and are outside the control of The College of Animal Welfare.

On completion of this qualification you will be eligible to apply to join the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons’ (RCVS) Register of Veterinary Nurses and use the post nominal term, RVN. Entry on the register allows you to legally practice as a veterinary nurse under the direction of a veterinary surgeon.

Many veterinary nurses choose to remain in first opinion veterinary practice, however there are also opportunities to pursue more specialist roles in referral practices, emergency ‘out of hours’ practices or large veterinary hospitals; perhaps specialising in a particular area such as surgical nursing. You could also find work in, for example, teaching, management, research or sales.

You may also look to pursue further training by ‘topping up’ your qualification to a full degree by undertaking the BSc Honours Veterinary Nursing Degree Top Up Programme. A degree can open up further opportunities in post graduate study, such as veterinary physiotherapy. You could also consider completing the Level 5 Advanced Diploma in Veterinary Nursing (Practice Nurse), which is designed to equip you with advanced veterinary nursing skills and knowledge relevant to practice and consulting environments.

Yes, you must be employed in a veterinary practice that is approved to train veterinary nurses (a Training Practice – TP) and have the full support of your employer. If you are not employed in a veterinary practice, you could consider undertaking the VetSkill Level 3 Diploma in Veterinary Nursing programme.

Yes, successful completion of this qualification, along with at least 1,800 hours of employment or work placement in an RCVS approved veterinary training practice, will allow you to apply to join the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons’ (RCVS) Register of Veterinary Nurses.

No, unfortunately the veterinary practice you are working in must be an RCVS approved Training Practice (TP/aTP). However, we offer a full Training Practice approval service so we can work with your practice to help them become a TP/aTP if they wish to become one.

• Get a foot in the door – many people secure a student veterinary nurse position as they are known to the practice. This could be via work experience, or a change of role from a veterinary receptionist or veterinary care assistant, for example.
• Online jobs boards – Keep an eye out on job boards such as the CAW jobs board, Vet Times Jobs, National Apprenticeship Service or more generic ones such as Indeed. The College of Animal Welfare also has an Apprenticeship Vacancy page where you can sign up for new apprenticeship job alerts.
• Contact veterinary practices directly – Introduce yourself, leave your CV and show them how much you would really like an opportunity to train. You can use it as an opportunity to try to gain some work experience too.

Level 2 English and Maths are required to enrol with the RCVS as a student veterinary nurse so unfortunately you will need to have these before you begin the course. We do run online Functional Skills Maths and English courses that take around six months to complete.