Royal Veterinary College

Scores

Student satisfaction	3.90
Research assessment	2.50
Entry standards	463
Student/staff ratio	10.6
Academic services spend	2316
Facilities spend	––
Good honours	25%
Graduate prospects	93%
Completion	91.9

What do these scores mean?

History

The foundation of The Royal Veterinary College, London, in 1791 marked the establishment of the veterinary profession in the UK.
The College was granted the first Royal Charter in 1875. To this day the RVC remains the only veterinary college in the UK to have its own Royal Charter.
In 1949 The Royal Veterinary College (RVC) became a full part of the University of London.

Location and transport

The Royal Veterinary College has two campuses; one in Camden, Central London and the other in Potters Bar, Hertfordshire.
The Camden campus is the principal location for first and second year Veterinary Medicine students and all students on the BSc Bioveterinary Sciences course. The campus houses the Beaumont Sainsbury Animal Hospital, the London BioScience Innovation Centre and the College's central administration.
The Hawkshead Campus in Hertfordshire is a 20-minute train ride from London King's Cross and is the base for the third, fourth and fifth years of the undergraduate Veterinary Medicine course, alongside all Veterinary Nursing students. It is also home to the Queen Mother Hospital (the largest veterinary referral hospital in Europe), the Equine Referral Hospital, Equine Practice and the Farm Animal Clinical Centre. The RVC's working farm at Boltons Park is also located nearby.

Entry standards

Application to the RVC is usually fairly competitive, no matter which programme a student is applying to. But we actively encourage students to apply who have the desire to succeed.
We accept a wide range of qualifications for entry onto all of our programmes, details can be found on our website.

Student mix

1,566 undergraduate students.
314 postgraduate students.
The student mix is: 1:3.9 (men:women) at undergraduate level and 1:2.1 at graduate level.
The home/overseas student mix at undergraduate level is 6:1, at postgraduate level it is: 1.8:1.
Approximately 37% of the College is comprised of mature students.

Teaching standards

The RVC scored a maximum 24/24 in the 2000 QAA assessment.
The College employs scientists and veterinarians with international reputations, and is the largest provider of veterinary education for the professions in the UK.
The RVC's teaching provision is accredited by the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons (RCVS), European Association of Establishments for Veterinary Education (EEAVE) and American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA).

Research standards

The Research Assessment Exercise in 2008 ranked the RVC as England's best veterinary school, amongst institutions whose research is exclusively veterinary related. A total of 55% of submitted academic staff were viewed as producing 'world class' or 'internationally excellent' research.
The RVC is one of the leading veterinary research centres in Europe.
The RVC has over 100 research-active staff.

Academic strengths

The college employs 129 academic staff.
Research areas include: Infection and Immunity, Musculoskeletal Biology, Reproduction, Genes and Development, Cardiovascular and Inflammation Biology.

Student facilities, including library and computing

The RVC has extensive library facilities at both the London and Hertfordshire campuses. Our librararies have approx 30,000 volumes of books and journals. The material at Camden reflects the pre-clinical and taught post-graduate courses here, while the Hawkshead stock covers the clinical and taught post-graduate courses based at that site.
MetaLib federated search software allows students to search all the RVC databases in one go and provides links to the full text when it is available.
Podbooks are another innovation soon to be introduced which will be set up to access various learning materials including WikkiVet, eLearning DVD’s and eJournals.
In the 2010–11 academic year we launched our PodBook project which provides quick access to online resources via short-loan netbooks and this has been expanded to Hawkshead having being piloted at Camden in conjunction with Electroninc Media Unit. There are now 30 PodBooks for loan from each LRC and as these have proved tremendously popular with student users, and the collection will be expanded for the 2011–12 academic year.
One future project that we will soon deliver is real-time PC availability information for all open access and Directed Learning rooms to screens at the entrance to each LRC. This information is something that students have said that they would find useful and should help alleviate pressure on access to PCs at peak times.
The open access computers (approx 175 at each campus) had a major upgrade in the summer (2010) with a change of operating system from XP to Windows 7. There have also been substantial software upgrades so that each computer has; any Video Convertor, Endnote X4, Inspiration 9, Internet Explorer 8, Live Messenger, Spellex and SPSS 18.

Disability services

The RVC has a Disability Officer dedicated to providing support for students with dyslexia, dyspraxia and/or health conditions. Please visit the website for further information.

Students' Union

The RVC has an active students' union and full access to the University of London facilities.
Information on clubs and societies can be found online.

Recent/prospective new builds

The RVC's Live Centre was opened in 2007. It is the only CETL in veterinary education.
The expansion of the Queen Mother Hospital at the Hawkshead Campus was completed in 2008
Over £4-milion was invested in the new Centre for Emerging, Endemic and Exotic Diseases (CEEED), opened in February 2009.
A £3-million expansion of our Equine Hospital was complete in 2010.
Camden Campus welcomed a social learning zone, student bar and gymnasium in 2010.
A new student village and restaurant were opened in 2011, following a £18-million investment.
Also in 2011, the Beaumont Sainsbury Animal Hospital underwent a £1.5-million renovation project.

Notable alumni

Aleen Cust – first woman to hold the MRCVS (Member of the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons) diploma, 1922.
Olga Uvarov –the first woman to become President of The Royal College of Veterinary
Surgeons (1976).
Mark Evans – from Inside Natures Giants, Channel 4.
David Grant – Animal Hospital.