Inspiring the next generation of veterinary professionals – RCVS at New Scientist Live 2025

Our Outreach and Engagement Manager, Rosie Powley (pictured right), blogs about the RCVS team’s presence at New Scientist Live recently, where they inspired young people to consider the veterinary profession as a future career.

From 18 October - 20 October 2025, we attended New Scientist Live - an exciting festival showcasing the latest breakthroughs in science, technology, and innovation, designed to inspire the next generation of scientists and researchers.

With over 21,000 attendees - from young people, to teachers, carers and family members - it was a fantastic opportunity to get the public enthused about the veterinary world and highlight the wide range of career paths available.

Why did we attend?

As a Royal College that regulates, one of our key aims is to widen participation in the veterinary sector and inspire people to understand just how brilliant and varied veterinary can be.

With our wonderful team of RCVS staff, vet school volunteers, and 11 students and recent graduates, we used our stand and talks to share up-to-date, accurate information about veterinary education and careers. We also highlighted lesser-known pathways into the profession, including gateway courses and contextual offers.

Our students and graduates really helped bring the stand to life - supporting activities, sharing their own experiences and advice, and dispelling some common myths - for example, that you have to have straight A*s to become a vet!

Our involvement

Our stand featured a variety of activities aimed at engaging children and young people aged 7 to 18.

These included: 

• Colouring and child-friendly microscopes for younger visitors. 
• A life-size model of a foal to learn about anatomy (kindly loaned by Horse Inside Out).
• The opportunity to examine different parasites and animal blood with a microscope.
• A canine head model with a grass seed embedded in the ear - delegates could use an otoscope to locate it, then try their hand at removing it with forceps.
• A range of smaller animal anatomy models, posters and other promotional materials showcasing a variety of veterinary areas, from small animal, farm, exotics, and equine, to public health and government. 

Everyone who took part in an activity received a ruler and/or sticker featuring a QR code linking to our careers pages, which offer a wealth of useful information on becoming a vet or a vet nurse, along with real-life student stories and case studies.

We also took part in a panel session with RCVS Fellow Dr Ami Sawran, taking to the stage as part of the 'Protecting our environment' stream. Ami shared her career journey and highlighted the vital role vets play within the One Health framework.

Key takeaways

Having the opportunity to engage with enthusiastic young people and showcase the sheer breadth of career opportunities in the veterinary professions cannot be underestimated. For many in the veterinary world, it’s something they have wanted to do from a young age, but lots of people simply aren’t exposed to veterinary as a career option when they're young, so never have the opportunity to ignite that passion.

By going out and engaging with young people from all backgrounds, as well as their parents and teachers, we hope to inspire more people from a range of backgrounds to discover that veterinary is for everyone, no matter who you are.

Sometimes, a simple conversation can have the biggest impact.

Reflections on the event

Below, some of our student and university reps, as well as former RCVS President Sue Paterson and RCVS Council members, reflect on some of the interesting and inspiring conversations they had at the event. 

"The majority of the conversations focused on alternate pathways into veterinary medicine. There can be a perception that unless you achieve the high marks at school that programmes require for direct entry, there is no other route to becoming a vet. With the increase of foundation years and gateway programmes, combined with a focus on widening participation criteria, there are now multiple routes available to students, whatever their age or background."
Stephen Grant, Marketing and Student Recruitment Officer, Scotland’s Rural College 

"I think the conversations I had were very impactful. As a vet nurse, many people do not necessarily know what the role actually entails or looks like. So providing them with a little more understanding about what we actually do and the many different hats we wear was great."
Joshua Sancho RVN

"It was a brilliant event - the day was engaging and it was particularly impactful to see recent graduate vets and vet nurses speaking about their experiences and what life now looked like for them. It was great to have many young people and their families show an interest in veterinary medicine and to be able to answer any questions."
 Catriona Lawson, Student Recruitment, Marketing and Admissions Administrator, Glasgow Veterinary School

"The New Scientist exhibition was a real opportunity to engage with young people from a wide range of backgrounds. The ability to speak to the youngsters, their parents and especially their career teachers was hugely beneficial in opening their eyes to the wide range of exciting career opportunities veterinary medicines offers, as well as dispelling myths around the requirements of vet school entry."
Sue Paterson FRCVS, RCVS Council member and former President

Join us in inspiring the future of veterinary science!

Whether you’re a veterinary professional or student, there are plenty of ways to get involved in our outreach projects. Email Rosie at [email protected] to share your ideas, offer your expertise, or find out how you can make a difference.

Considering a veterinary career? 

Visit our careers pages.