First look inside Wales’ brand new Vet School

Vet school

Vet school

19 November 2021

Aberystwyth University has released the first pictures of Wales’ only School of Veterinary Science which opened for the first time this year.

The pictures show the new Veterinary Education Centre on the University's Penglais campus and the first cohort of students.

The students are benefitting from the more than £2 million investment in new teaching facilities on the University’s Penglais campus, which includes brand new anatomy and study facilities.

The facilities were funded from a combination of alumni donations and the University's own funds.

The first students began their five year degree in September this year.

They will spend the first two years at Aberystwyth University followed by three years’ study at the Royal Veterinary College’s Hawkshead Campus in Hertfordshire.

The programme covers the full range of animals, from domestic pets to farm animals, in common with all other veterinary programmes.

The course also provides opportunities for students to study specific areas of veterinary science through the medium of Welsh, which is partly funded by the Coleg Cymraeg Cenedlaethol.

Professor Darrell Abernethy, Head of Aberystwyth University’s School of Veterinary Science said:

“The commitment of staff and students in our first year has been excellent. Opening the School and the new facilities has been incredibly exciting for all of us. The efforts and support of so many people and organisations has helped realise this – thanks ever so much to them all.

“After so much hard work by staff at both Aberystwyth University and the Royal Veterinary College in preparing for the start of the course, it’s a great feeling for us all to see our students are now here studying.  They are benefitting enormously from the skills of the new staff team and the significant investment in the new facilities.” 

The new School builds on over 100 years of animal health teaching and research at Aberystwyth University, and more recently, the successful introduction of a BSc Veterinary Biosciences degree in September 2015.

As well as the new Vet School facilities on the University’s Penglais campus, the students will also study in the excellent existing laboratory facilities enjoyed by IBERS students and gain valuable experience on the University’s dairy and sheep farms, and at the Lluest Equine Centre.