Preparing your application

Applying to university can seem daunting, especially if you're the first in your family to go into Higher Education. Before you apply, it is worth reading the information about the Gateway course and studying at the RVC carefully. Here are a few more things to think about:

• Consider if veterinary medicine is the right thing for you. Think of what sort of skills you will need and what challenges veterinarians face.
• If you're looking for advice you can talk your plans through with teachers at your school/college, staff at your work experience placements and family. Remember though that if you want the most accurate and up-to-date advice about available courses and current admissions requirements and policies, always check our website (and those of other vet schools).
• If you have any questions you can always feel free to contact our Admissions Office by email to admissions@rvc.ac.uk or by phone on 020 7468 5147 and we'll be happy to help.

Making your application

Step 1: Apply through UCAS

You must apply to this programme through UCAS. See the UCAS website for further information, including lots of advice about how the UCAS application system works. The deadline is 31 January 2024 (18.00 GMT) for entry the following September. The course code for Gateway is D190 and the RVC's institution code is R84. You will not need a campus code.

Step 2: Supplementary Gateway Form

The Supplementary Gateway Form must be completed alongside a UCAS application. The form will be available in our application portal and applicants will be given access to this, and notified of the need to complete the form, via email on receipt of their application. 

The information provided in this form will be used to determine whether or not you meet the eligibility criteria for the Veterinary Gateway programme.

The form also gives you the opportunity to provide any additional information you feel may be relevant to your application that you did not include in your UCAS personal statement. Further information about what is required is given in the form.

Please note, without this form and documentation we cannot process your application.

What happens next?

You may have to wait for a while to hear if you have got an interview as we normally have to wait until most applicants have applied to make our decisions.

If you are invited to interview:

Interviews are normally held in late January and February. If you are selected for interview we will send you an invitation by email at least two weeks beforehand. Our interviews are held in person. If invited, it is often not possible to rearrange an interview for a different date, so applicants must ensure they are available for interview before applying and inform us by email of any specific days within this time period when they are unavailable.

It takes some time after the interviews to make our decisions (you will not be told on the day). We will notify everyone by the beginning of May, but many will hear sooner, via both UCAS and email.

If unsuccessful:

Unfortunately, we cannot interview all applicants. If you are not successful in getting an interview, then we will send you an 'unsuccessful' decision directly through UCAS and email.

If you have any questions about applying to Gateway which aren't answered on this website, please feel free to contact the Admissions office at admissions@rvc.ac.uk or on 020 7468 5147 and we will be happy to help.