You’ve accepted our offer
– what next?
We are delighted that you have accepted our offer of study at the Royal Veterinary College! This is to confirm we’ve received your decision to make the RVC your firm choice – thank you.
So, you’ve made the RVC your firm choice and now you are looking forward to starting in September. We understand that for many of you, you will be embarking on a new journey, moving to a new city, and starting a new course; while deeply exciting, we understand that with this comes many unknowns, so we want to provide you with all the tools you need to make this adjustment.
Here is some information on the things we’ll be in contact with you about over the coming weeks and months, and some things you’ll need to do to ensure you can smoothly transfer onto the course and into life at the RVC.
Term dates
We can confirm that Welcome Week for 2025/6 starters will begin on Monday 29 September 2025. Term dates for the rest of the year will be made available here shortly.
Accommodation
The accommodation pack containing details of all of the halls available to you, as well as information on support available if you wish to rent privately, will be sent out to all offer-holders by June.
How to apply for accomodation
The pack will include a link to a preference survey where you can state your preferences for university accommodation in order.
During the allocation of accommodation, your order of preference will be taken into account, along with the distance you live from the campus and accommodation quotas. Most students are placed in halls that are high on their preference list.
In the meantime you can find out more information about the RVC’s accommodation options on our website.
There will be a separate accommodation pack for Vet Nursing Offer Holders, which will contain all the details needed to make an application for accommodation in Hawkshead.
Moving in
You will only be able to move into most university accommodation the weekend before Welcome Week, so please bear in mind that if you wish to arrive in London or Hertfordshire before this, you will need to arrange for alternative accommodation until your halls of residence become available.
There is no need for international students to arrive early or weeks ahead of your start date, as there is time factored into Welcome Week for you to complete admin activities such as opening bank accounts and registering with a GP.
In most cases we recommend arriving the weekend before the course starts, but understand you may want a little longer to familiarise yourself with the local area.
Bringing pets
For those of you thinking of bringing pets with you, we'd normally advise against it in the first year as it can make the transition a little trickier and finding pet-friendly accommodation near campus can be a challenge. Pets are not allowed in university accommodation. If you do still wish to bring your pet to the RVC despite this, you may find the following information useful if travelling from overseas.
Bringing Pets to the UK from Overseas
Money Matters
You may wish to begin considering your finances and how you will budget during your course. We will be providing webinars and more information to help prepare you, but a good place to start is this webpage:
Living Expenses and Course Related Costs
Equipment costs
Each course will have different equipment/clothing requirements such as lab coats and boiler suits. Equipment lists will be provided in due course but you may wish to look through the RVC SU shop to start getting an idea of prices now.
Visa costs
If you are an international student it is advisable to start thinking about the money you will need for your visa application (if applicable) – this will include the NHS surcharge. More information can be found here:
https://www.gov.uk/student-visa
Scholarships
Please note that shortlisting for our International Veterinary Medicine scholarship is now complete, so if you have not heard from us regarding this, unfortunately you were not shortlisted this year. There is only one scholarship and with so many worthy applicants it is a very competitive field.
All other scholarships will be allocated over the coming months, so please check your emails for further information we may send you about these.
Paying the deposit
International students can submit their deposit payment either via our online payment system or via bank transfer. The online payment system can be accessed here and and you can find more information on paying your tuition fees on our website.
If you have already fulfilled your offer conditions we recommend you pay your deposit as soon as possible; ideally by 31st May 2025 to ensure your place is secured. If your offer is conditional on academic results or completing further work experience, then you should not pay your deposit until you have met all of these conditions.
Occupational Health
You will receive your Occupational Health form over the summer - in most cases, once your offer is unconditional (you have met all conditions, including the deposit payment). You should complete this and send it to the Occupational Health provider as soon as possible as the process can take time. You will not be allowed to enrol until we receive clearance so please treat this as a priority once received.
Visa Applications
The visa application process for international students can only start once your offer is unconditional – i.e. you have met all of the conditions of your offer, including the deposit payment.
We will issue your Confirmation of Acceptance of Studies (CAS) number once you have met all offer conditions and this will then enable you to apply for your visa.
We will begin to issue CAS numbers via email to those eligible from the end of May, and then continue on a rolling basis. We will be sending out more information about visas in due course.
For now, some things to note about visas:
· If you have a US/Canadian/other international passport as well as an EU one, we strongly recommend that you apply for a visa on your EU passport. If you have not uploaded a copy of your EU passport to the portal, you should do this as soon as possible.
· If you have an Irish or UK passport, you will not need a visa to study in the UK. If you have not uploaded a copy of your UK/Irish passport to the portal, you should do this as soon as possible.
· If you hold an EU passport and have been granted Settled Status under the EU Settlement Scheme you will not need to apply for a visa to study in the UK. If you have Settled Status and have not notified us of this, you should do so as soon as possible. If you do not have Settled Status you will need a visa to study in the UK.
· If you will not complete your studies until the summer months you will still have time to apply for your visa and arrive on time, but will need to be in a position to move quickly with paying your deposit and making your visa application once your final results are received.
· If you are applying for a visa on a non-EU passport, you will need to attend a biometrics appointment in your country of domicile as part of the process. After this appointment, your passport will be taken and then later returned to you with your visa vignette. You will therefore not be able to travel abroad for this period as you will not have your passport, so please factor this in when making any travel plans for the summer.
What do I need to do now?
Complete your degree
If your offer mentions completing your current degree, this will need to be done by 31st July 2025. An official final transcript should be sent to myapplication@rvc.ac.uk directly from your university, which should contain your award/conferral date. If you do not think you will have a final transcript by 31st July, please let us know as soon as possible.
Complete other qualifications
For most other qualifications we will receive results but if your qualification falls outside of the main UK results days, please send us proof of your results as soon as possible once you receive them so that we can progress your application.
Work experience
If your offer is conditional on you meeting certain work experience requirements, the references for these should be uploaded to the portal by 31st July 2025. References should be in the form of a letter from your placement provider, and should include the dates/hours you worked and duties performed. Here is an example reference letter.
We will only accept references from placements carried out within 18 months prior to application, so from April 2023 onwards.
Non-clinical placements we would accept include stables, animal shelters, catteries, kennels. We do not accept fostering of animals in one’s own home, pet sitting, caring for your own pets or dog walking (unless it is through an official company). Lab work with animals may be accepted as long as you are actively involved in the care of the animals (e.g. cleaning cages, feeding, grooming etc). Feel free to email us to check whether the work experience you plan to carry out is acceptable.
Criminal Convictions Declaration
You should be able to see a button at the bottom of My Application portal to complete your declaration. Even if you have no criminal record, we would recommend completing this promptly so as to not delay other processes.
Vet Nursing CAW Declaration
The College of Animal Welfare (CAW) assist our Veterinary Nursing students in arranging their initial placements. If you have not already done so, please complete the College of Animal Welfare Declaration in the my Application portal unless you do not wish for CAW to have your details. Your contact details will only be shared once your status become Unconditional-Firm.
Student Finance Application
US loan applications will open for RVC students in May/June. More information on the process will be sent via email and you will receive invitations to relevant webinars shortly.
UK-based students can apply for student finance now. To make sure you get your funding in place for the start of your course, new students should apply by 17th May 2025.
Some important notes for Gateway and Veterinary Nursing applicants:
Gateway: When filling in your loan application please note that this programme starts at Year 0, not Year 1, in contrast to the entry year on UCAS. This will ensure you get the correct allowance all the way through your course.
Veterinary Nursing: You will be classed as a full time student of the RVC throughout the course, even when on placement. This means that, if you are applying for student finance from the UK government, you do not need to provide the dates of the placement blocks as part of the application. Additionally, all students of the RVC are classed as London-based, even when the course takes place at the Hawkshead campus.
Any questions?
We hope this information is helpful and look forward to being in touch with more information over the coming months and sharing opportunities for you to find out more about life at the RVC.
Don't forget you can access a wealth of information and watch our previous offer holder webinars on our Offer Holder Area of the website. You can access the site here. You'll need your RVC student number to access the site.
If you do have any questions that we haven't covered, please feel free to contact us on myapplication@rvc.ac.uk.
We very much look forward to welcoming you in September!
Best wishes,
The Admissions Team
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