Royal Veterinary College

HISTORY: The Royal Veterinary College is the largest and longest-established vet school in the English-speaking world. The Veterinary College, London, was built in 1791, on the current site of The RVC’s Camden Campus. In 1875 the College received its first Charter of Incorporation from Queen Victoria. In 1949 The Royal Veterinary College became a full part of the University of London, whilst retaining its independence with its own Royal Charter, and in 1955 the College acquired a country estate in Hertfordshire to provide a new field station; this is now RVC’s Hawkshead campus.

LOCATION: The main Camden campus has one hall of residence on site and the, Mary Brancker house is 20 minutes walk away. The Hawkshead campus based in Potters Bar is 15 minutes by train into central london and the main Camden campus. Shuttle buses run regularly from Hawkshead to Potters Bar station.The Camden campus is centrally located in London, near Regent’s park, the British museum and many other central London attractions. It is also very near mainline train stations with direct train connections across the UK.

RANKING: RVC is ranked between 401-500th in the Times Higher Education World University rankings. RVC is ranked between 801-900th in the Shanghai Jiao Tong rankings. RVC is not a member of the Russell Group of universities.RVC is ranked 93rd in the National Student Survey Satisfaction rankings.

INTERNATIONAL: The numbers of international students fluctuates, but typically represent about 10-12% of all students at RVC. Main countries represented in the international student body include; US, Canada, Malaysia, Singapore and Hong Kong.

SIZE: There are approximately 2,000 students at RVC, roughly 90% are undergraduates and 10% are postgraduates.

EMPLOYMENT: 98.1% of RVC graduates enter directly into work, further study or training within 6 months of graduation (source:HESA). A breakdown of post graduation employment by course, showing the split into professional/managerial positions, rather than general employment figures, is available from Unistats an independent source of university data. For more information, please visit the REF Information page.

FACILITIES: The Camden campus is RVC’s main campus and is where RVC veterinary medicine students spend the first two years of their course and is where the bioveterinary and biological science students spend most of their time, along with many postgraduate students. Veterinary medicine and veterinary nursing students spend part of their training within the Beaumont Sainsbury Animal Hospital, which is near the Camden campus.RVC’s other campus, Hawkshead- based north of London, in Hertfordshire, is where predominantly older year’s students are based. Hawkshead hosts most of the College’s outdoor sports facilities-playing pitches etc and is where College sports fixtures are played. Some indoor sports facilities are hired on a weekly basis from local schools near both campuses.The RVC's business incubator, the London BioScience Innovation Centre, is also on the Camden Campus, and is home to more than 50 life science companies.

ACCOMMODATION: Camden Campus is the heart of RVC, there are two RVC halls near to the main Camden campus – College Grove (which is on campus) and Mary Brancker House, which is a 20 minute walk away in Kentish Town.There is additionally the option to stay at the Hawkshead Campus in Hertfordshire and commute into the Camden campus. Self catering options start at £139.50 per week (en suite) - based on the Hawkshead campus. There is a free shuttle service to the nearest train station (Potters Bar) and from there it’s a 15 minute journey into Central London. All RVC owned accommodation is self-catered and single occupancy and 3 of the 5 halls of residence offer en-suite rooms.There are also Intercollegiate Halls shared with other colleges that make up the Federal University of London. Those offered to RVC students are based in Bloomsbury, 20 minutes walk away from the main Camden campus, and these Halls are catered with a price example of £185.08 per week.

COST: Fees for full time undergraduate courses start at £14,470 for a BSc Veterinary Nursing, rising to £20,090 for BSc Biological Sciences and £36,760 for a Bachelor in Veterinary Medicine.

SUBJECT AREAS: REF (Research Excellence Framework) was an independent government review conducted into the quality of research at UK universities and published in December 2014. This information highlights subjects of specialism within each university. We have listed all subject areas where at least 60% of the research conducted in these specific fields has been graded 3 or 4 stars. (4 stars being the highest ranking REF award). For more information, please visit the REF Information page.

ONLINE COURSES: RVC runs a selection of tutor-moderated, flexible Continuing Professional Development 6 week online courses. e-CPD courses at the RVC allow veterinarians and nurses from around the world to participate in interactive, online learning. Online CPD courses for vets include Equine radiology (advanced). Online courses for nurses include local anaesthetic techniques. The college also offers online masters programmes including MSc Livestock Health & Production, and MSc Veterinary Education.

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