Vet School Interview Hot Topics 2026

What are the top vet hot topics for 2026-27 interviews?

These are ranked by how likely each one is to come up in a 2026-27 vet school interview, as of November 2026. Each entry links to its section further down this page, and the notes are written the way I'd explain each topic to a student sitting across a table from me.

1. The cost of vet care and the CMA. Questions about cost come up in many forms, from an owner who can't afford surgery to a complaint about a bill. The Competition and Markets Authority's order on vet prices became law in September 2026.
2. Euthanasia decisions. Requests to put a healthy animal to sleep, shelters with limited space and owners who disagree with each other all come up. Interviewers want to see you put the animal's welfare first while staying kind to the owner.
3. Vet wellbeing, mental health and the workforce. Expect to be asked what makes the job hard and how you'd look after yourself. Know the support available and why vets leave the profession.
4. Farm animal welfare. Picture stations often show broiler chickens, pigs housed indoors or dairy cows in stalls. The Animal Welfare Strategy for England, published in December 2025, gives you the current direction.
5. Live animal transport and the export ban. Since 2024 Great Britain has banned exporting live animals for slaughter and fattening. Questions ask what a vet does before, during and after the animals travel.
6. Animals in research and the 3Rs. This has been an ethics topic for years, and the government now has a strategy to replace animal tests. Learn the 3Rs well enough to apply them to a study you've never seen.
7. Bird flu and disease outbreaks. Avian influenza, bluetongue and foot and mouth disease show what government vets do. You may be put in the shoes of a vet called to a suspected case.
8. Antimicrobial resistance and One Health. Antibiotic use connects vets with doctors, farmers and the environment, so be ready to explain antimicrobial stewardship in a sentence or two.
9. Flat-faced breeds and responsible breeding. A friend who wants to breed a French bulldog is a typical role play. It tests how well you can give unwelcome advice kindly.
10. Pet obesity and preventive care. An overweight cat in for its vaccinations is a common picture or communication station. Think about how you'd raise weight with an owner who loves feeding treats.
11. Reforming the Veterinary Surgeons Act. The government plans to replace the 1966 Act, and a white paper in July 2026 set out licensing for practices and a protected title for vet nurses.
12. Rural and farm vets. Farm vets are hard to recruit and rural communities rely on them. Bovine TB and the end of the badger cull belong here too.

Medicine and dentistry applicants have their own lists: our NHS hot topics guide and dentistry hot topics guide. Several topics overlap, especially antimicrobial resistance, AI and end of life care, so read the human side of anything you'd like to talk about in depth.

What has the CMA decided about vet prices?

The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) spent two years investigating vet services for pets and published its final report on 24 March 2026. It found that owners often weren't given the information they needed to compare prices or choose treatment, and that many didn't know who owned their practice. Its legal order came into force on 22 September 2026.

The order applies to every vet business that treats pets, with large groups (15 or more practices) going first. The main duties, with the dates they start for large groups, are:

• Price lists: published prices for a standard set of common services, from December 2026.
• Ownership: practices must say which group owns them, from March 2027.
• Prescriptions: a cap on the fee for a written prescription, from March 2027, and owners told they can buy medicines elsewhere, from June 2027.
• Estimates and bills: written estimates when treatment is likely to cost £500 or more, and itemised bills, from June 2027.
• Complaints: an in-house complaints process and access to mediation run through the RCVS.

The prescription fee cap is £21.40 for the first medicine and £12.70 for each extra one, including VAT, fixed until March 2028. Smaller businesses get longer to comply, and the CMA guidance for large groups sets out every deadline.

Why interviewers ask about it

The CMA investigation gives an interviewer an easy way into questions about money and who owns practices. You might be asked whether practices should make a profit, whether corporate ownership has helped or harmed the profession, or how you'd talk an owner through an estimate they can't afford. In my experience it more often comes as a scenario about an owner and a bill.

It helps to give both sides. Corporate groups have brought investment in equipment, out of hours cover and training, and their supporters say staff are better paid and supported as a result. Owners have also seen bills rise quickly, and the CMA found that clearer information would help them make choices that suit their animal and their budget.

When I talk about cost with clients, I offer a range of options and explain what each one involves, because the most expensive treatment isn't always the right one for that animal and that family. Vets call this contextualised care, and it's a useful phrase to know. If you can link the CMA's rules to conversations like these, the interviewer will see you understand the day to day job.

If you'd like the wider picture of how vets are paid, our guide to vet salaries in the UK explains it, and informed consent from the medical side gives you useful language for talking about options.

How should you answer euthanasia questions at a vet interview?

Euthanasia is part of every vet's working week, which is why interviewers return to it so often. Scenarios include an owner who wants a healthy dog put to sleep because they're moving abroad, a shelter that can't treat a cat with a contagious skin condition, a dog with behaviour problems, and two owners who disagree about whether to treat an injured pet.

Start with the animal's welfare and quality of life, then think about the owner's circumstances, the options available and the law. A vet can decline to euthanase a healthy animal, and the RCVS expects vets to put welfare first, but refusing may lead an owner to abandon the animal or go elsewhere. Talk through the alternatives too, such as rehoming charities, a treatment plan or a second opinion.

Interviewers also want to see that you've thought about the emotional side. You might be asked how you'd feel, who you'd talk to afterwards, or how you'd make the experience better for a grieving owner. Quiet rooms, time to say goodbye and clear explanations of what will happen all matter, and you may have seen some of this on work experience.

I'd encourage you to have one euthanasia you saw, or heard discussed, that you can talk about thoughtfully. You may also be asked whether euthanasia should be allowed in human medicine, so read our guide to assisted dying in the UK, where Parliament voted on the issue in 2025 and 2026. Our breaking bad news guide gives you a structure for the conversation itself.

Why is vet mental health such a big interview topic?

Vets work long hours, make hard decisions about animals they care about and deal with upset or angry clients, and the profession has higher rates of suicide than the general population. In the RCVS surveys of the professions, published in November 2024, 49% of vets put stress among their top three concerns and 34% reported harassment by clients.

The surveys also asked about the workforce, and found 75% of vets intend to stay in the profession for at least five years, down from 79% in 2019. An RCVS exit survey in November 2025 found 40% of vets leaving the UK register were moving or staying overseas, and that overseas-qualified vets now make up about a third of the register.

You should be able to name the support available. Vetlife runs a free, confidential 24-hour helpline for anyone in the veterinary community, and the RCVS Mind Matters Initiative funds research, training and suicide prevention resources for vets and vet nurses.

When students tell me they cope with stress by exercising or talking to friends, I ask them to go further and give an example of a time they actually did it. Interviewers also like to hear what the profession could do better, such as flexible rotas, protected breaks, good mentoring for new graduates and clear policies on abusive clients.

For the human comparison, our NHS mental health crisis briefing covers similar pressures among doctors and nurses.

What do you need to know about farm animal welfare?

Farm welfare questions usually start with a picture: broiler chickens in a shed, pigs housed indoors, dairy cows in cubicles or sheep at an abattoir. You're asked what you can see, what's good and bad for the animals and what a vet's role would be. The five freedoms and five domains give you a structure for any of these, so learn them first.

The current direction of policy is set by the Animal Welfare Strategy for England, published by Defra on 22 December 2025. It covers farmed, companion and wild animals. Many of its commitments are plans to consult, which means they are proposals for now, and the detail may change before anything becomes law.

Interviewers often ask how you'd balance welfare with farmers' incomes and the price of food. A fair answer recognises that higher welfare usually costs more to produce, that British farmers compete with imports produced to different standards, and that vets work with farmers to improve health and productivity together. Healthy animals tend to be more productive, which gives vets common ground with farmers.

You may also be asked how you feel about abattoirs, since vet students learn about meat hygiene and usually visit one during the course. Official vets work there, checking animals before slaughter and overseeing meat inspection afterwards to protect welfare and public health. I'd encourage you to think about that question before the day, because a calm, thoughtful answer comes across far better than surprise.

Why did Great Britain ban live animal exports?

The Animal Welfare (Livestock Exports) Act 2024 bans exporting cattle, sheep, goats, pigs and horses from or through Great Britain for slaughter or fattening. It came into force on 22 July 2024 and covers England, Wales and Scotland, but it doesn't apply to Northern Ireland, and animals can still be exported for breeding.

Supporters of the ban pointed to long journeys, heat, crowding, injuries and animals held at ports for hours, and argued that animals should be slaughtered as close to the farm as possible. Some farmers argued that it removed a market and that tighter standards for journeys would have protected welfare while keeping the trade open.

Transport questions often use a photograph of animals on a ship or a lorry. The interviewer wants to know what a vet does before the animals travel (checking each animal is fit to travel and signing health certificates), during it (space, water, ventilation, rest stops and temperature) and afterwards (checking for injury, stress and disease on arrival).

When I see students answer this kind of station, the best answers start with what they can actually see in the picture before giving an opinion. You'll sound more like a vet if you describe the animals' body condition, behaviour and surroundings first, then bring in the law and the ethics of moving animals long distances.

Should animals be used in research?

Animal research has been an interview topic for years, and the government changed its approach in November 2025, when it published a strategy to replace animals in science, aiming for animal use only in exceptional circumstances.

The strategy sets target dates for ending specific animal tests where validated alternatives exist, and plans to cut dedicated dog and primate studies of how drugs move through the body by at least 35% by 2030. These are government targets and not law, so describe them as aims.

The latest Home Office statistics recorded 2.54 million scientific procedures on living animals in Great Britain in 2025, the lowest since the current law came in in 1986. Mice made up 56% of experimental procedures, and dogs, cats, horses and primates together made up 1%.

You should know the 3Rs well enough to apply them to an unfamiliar study: Replacement (using non-animal methods such as cell cultures, computer models or organs-on-chips), Reduction (designing experiments so fewer animals are needed) and Refinement (reducing pain and distress for the animals that are used).

In your answer, weigh the benefits to human and animal health against the harm to the animals involved, then explain how the 3Rs reduce that harm. Interviewers sometimes add a twist, such as protesters outside the lab or a question about openness, so think about how researchers can show the public that welfare standards are being met.

What do bird flu and bluetongue tell you about a vet's role?

Avian influenza has become a yearly crisis for poultry farmers. In the 2025-26 season the UK confirmed 100 cases of highly pathogenic bird flu in poultry and other kept birds, and England brought in a national housing order from 6 November 2025, requiring birds to be kept indoors. Those measures were lifted in June 2026.

The 2026-27 season has already started. Great Britain lost its bird flu free status after a case on the Isle of Lewis in early October, and England's first case of the season was confirmed in commercial poultry near Belford in Northumberland on 19 October 2026. The situation changes week by week, so check the government's latest update before your interview.

When a notifiable disease is suspected, vets from the Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) visit the farm, take samples and put movement restrictions in place. If the disease is confirmed, infected birds are humanely culled, protection and surveillance zones of 3km and 10km are set up around the farm, and nearby premises are checked.

Interviewers sometimes put you in the role of that government vet. You might have to explain to a worried farmer why birds can't leave the farm, even when their income depends on it. Showing empathy while keeping to the rules, and explaining why the rules protect other farms, food supplies and public health, is what they're looking for.

Bluetongue and foot and mouth disease

Bluetongue is a virus spread by biting midges that affects cattle, sheep and goats. It doesn't affect people or food safety. All of England has been a single bluetongue restricted zone since 1 July 2025, Wales since November 2025 and Scotland since October 2026, and by late October 2026 the UK had recorded 3,472 cases in the current season.

Three BTV-3 vaccines are permitted, but they have to be prescribed by a vet, and they reduce illness more than they prevent infection. Vets help farmers weigh up prevention, cost and welfare when they decide whether to vaccinate.

Foot and mouth disease returned to Europe in 2025, with outbreaks in Germany, Hungary and Slovakia followed by Cyprus and Greece in 2026. The UK has had no cases since 2007, and since April 2025 travellers have been banned from bringing meat and dairy products from the EU into Great Britain.

The 2001 UK outbreak, when millions of animals were culled, is still the reason farmers and vets take biosecurity so seriously, and it is a useful example of how one disease can affect farming, tourism and rural communities at the same time.

What is antimicrobial stewardship and why does One Health matter?

Antimicrobial resistance happens when bacteria, viruses, fungi or parasites stop responding to the medicines used to treat them. Animals and people share many of the same bacteria and many of the same antibiotics, so the way vets use antibiotics affects human medicine too.

UK farming has cut its antibiotic use sharply. The latest UK-VARSS report from the Veterinary Medicines Directorate shows sales for food-producing animals fell 57% between 2014 and 2024. The report now uses a new way of measuring use, so its figures shouldn't be compared directly with older reports.

The government's national action plan for 2024 to 2029 treats humans, animals, food and the environment as one problem. That idea is called One Health, which the World Health Organization describes as balancing the health of people, animals, plants and ecosystems together. Bird flu, rabies and Lyme disease are good examples of diseases that cross between species.

Antimicrobial stewardship means using these medicines only when they're needed, choosing the right drug, dose and length of treatment, and preventing infection in the first place through vaccination, hygiene and good housing. Vets also see owners who expect antibiotics for a problem that doesn't need them, and that conversation often turns up as a communication station.

I'd suggest you practise explaining stewardship to a non-scientist in two or three sentences, because that's often the question. Our antibiotic resistance guide for medicine interviews covers the human side, which is useful when you talk about vets and doctors working together.

How would you advise a friend who wants to breed a flat-faced dog?

Flat-faced (brachycephalic) breeds such as French bulldogs, pugs and English bulldogs are very popular, but many struggle to breathe, overheat easily and have eye, skin and spine problems, and many need a caesarean to give birth. The UK Brachycephalic Working Group, which brings vets, breed clubs and welfare charities together, asks people to stop and think before buying one.

A friend who wants to breed their dog is a typical role play. The interviewer wants to see you give unwelcome advice kindly. Listen first and ask why they want to breed, explain the health risks for the mother and the puppies in plain language, mention health testing and finding a vet's advice before going ahead, and keep the friendship intact.

The government is also acting on breeding. Its Animal Welfare Strategy commits to ending puppy farming and to consulting on registering all dog breeders. The Animal Welfare (Import of Dogs, Cats and Ferrets) Act 2025 became law in December 2025 and will ban bringing in puppies and kittens under six months old, heavily pregnant animals and animals with cropped ears, once its regulations are made.

Since August 2024, the Pet Abduction Act 2024 has made stealing a dog or cat a specific offence in England.

The XL bully ban

Since 1 February 2024 it has been illegal to own an XL bully type dog in England and Wales without a certificate of exemption, and exempted dogs must be neutered, muzzled and kept on a lead in public. Defra figures show more than 55,000 dogs held certificates in January 2026. Scotland introduced similar rules in 2024.

Supporters say the ban was a necessary response to a rise in serious and deadly attacks. Many vets and welfare charities argue that banning a type of dog punishes responsible owners and that each dog should be judged by its behaviour and its owner, often summed up as deed not breed.

Vets were also asked to euthanase dogs surrendered by owners who didn't want to apply for an exemption, which many found very hard. If the conversation goes further, this links back to the euthanasia and wellbeing sections above.

How would you talk to an owner about an overweight pet?

Pet obesity is one of the most common health problems vets see, and it's a favourite communication station. In the PDSA's 2026 animal wellbeing report, 17% of dog owners and 14% of cat owners said their pet needed to lose weight. Those are owners' own judgements, and vets usually think the real figure is higher, because many owners don't recognise an overweight body shape.

The station is about raising a sensitive subject without upsetting the owner. Start with something positive, ask open questions about feeding and exercise, use a body condition score chart so the conversation is about the animal and not the owner, and agree a small, realistic plan with a follow-up appointment. Treats are often how owners show love, so suggest alternatives.

Preventive care is a related topic, and the same report found 67% of dogs and 48% of cats are insured, which links back to the cost of care. Vaccinations, parasite control, neutering and dental care all prevent bigger problems, and you'll have seen vets discussing them on work experience.

Why is the Veterinary Surgeons Act being reformed?

The Veterinary Surgeons Act 1966 still governs who can treat animals, and most people agree it is out of date. Defra consulted on reform from January to March 2026, and on 9 July 2026 published a white paper on the future of the veterinary sector. These are proposals: no bill has been introduced yet, and the government says legislation will follow when parliamentary time allows.

• A licence for every veterinary business, with a named person responsible for standards, because today the RCVS regulates individual vets and not the practices they work for.
• A protected title for veterinary nurses, so only registered nurses can call themselves one.
• A wider role for vet nurses, with the regulator deciding which procedures they can carry out.
• Gradual regulation of other animal care professions, a new fitness to practise system and a clearer split between the RCVS as regulator and as professional body.
• A binding redress scheme for owners, similar to an ombudsman.

This topic sometimes arrives as an open question, such as how you'd regulate the profession if you were in charge. Think about who regulation protects (animals, owners, the public and vets themselves), how you'd handle complaints fairly, and why a practice's systems matter as well as the individual vet. Linking your answer to the CMA findings is a good way to join the topics up.

Why are farm and rural vets so important?

Farm vets protect animal welfare, food safety and the country against disease, but they are hard to recruit and keep. An RCVS workforce model estimated that in 2023 the UK had about 90% of the vets it needed overall and only 79% of the vets needed in government roles, the ones who respond to outbreaks like bird flu.

In June 2026 a House of Commons committee report on a sustainable veterinary workforce highlighted pressure on rural and large animal work, and the RCVS responded to its recommendations. Interview questions often ask what life is like for a vet in a rural community, with long distances, out of hours calls and fewer facilities nearby, or what vets add to a rural economy.

I'd encourage you to talk about the farm work experience you've had, even if it was only a few days, and what you noticed about the vet's relationship with the farmer. Farm vets spend much of their time on herd health planning and prevention, which surprises many applicants who expect mostly emergencies.

Bovine TB and the badger cull

Bovine tuberculosis is one of the most costly animal diseases in England, and farms that test positive lose cattle and face movement restrictions. In August 2024 the government pledged to end badger culling by the end of this Parliament, and the licensed culls that ran from 2013 stopped in January 2026.

The focus has moved to badger vaccination, cattle testing and a cattle vaccine. A vaccine called CattleBCG and a skin test that can tell vaccinated cattle from infected ones are in final field trials.

In June 2026 the government welcomed expert recommendations for a new eradication strategy, with the aim of England being free of bovine TB by 2038. You'll hear strong views on both sides from farmers, conservation groups and vets, so set out the evidence for each side fairly.

How do hot topics come up at a vet school interview?

Hot topics arrive in several forms, and it helps to practise each one. The most direct is an open question such as what current issue in the profession interests you or what the biggest challenge facing vets is today. You'll have a minute or two to show you read about the profession and have a view of your own.

• Picture stations: a photograph of farm animals, a caged bird, a working donkey or an overweight pet, with questions on welfare and the vet's role.
• Ethics scenarios: euthanasia, owners who cannot pay, a shelter with a contagious animal or research on animals.
• Role plays: advising a friend, a farmer or an owner, often on breeding, weight, cost or a complaint. Our guide to MMI role play stations shows how they are marked.
• Data and calculation stations: a graph of disease cases or a drug dose. Practise with our data interpretation guide and MMI calculation questions.
• Prioritisation tasks: ranking cases or tasks for a busy day, covered in our prioritisation stations guide.

Some schools also ask about current issues in written questions or situational judgement tests before interview, so our vet SAQ and SJT support is worth a look if you're applying to one of them. For every format, the 170 vet school practice interview questions give you plenty to rehearse with.

How should you answer a vet hot topic question?

Most hot topic questions can be answered with the same pattern, and practising it out loud will help you more than memorising extra facts. Interviewers are judging your reasoning and your communication, so a clear, balanced answer with one or two accurate facts will score better than a long list of statistics.

1. Say what the issue is in a sentence or two, as if explaining it to an owner in the waiting room.
2. Explain why it matters to animals, owners, farmers, the public and the profession.
3. Give the main arguments on each side, fairly, before you give your own view.
4. Say what you think and why, and what a vet can do about it.
5. Link it to something you saw or heard on work experience if you can.

When I mock interview students, the answers that stand out connect a national story to an animal they've actually met. Your vet work experience is where those examples come from. The ethical principles doctors use, such as respecting autonomy, translate well to owners making decisions for their animals.

If you're asked about something you haven't read about, say so calmly, then reason through it using what you do know about welfare, disease and communication. Interviewers would much prefer that to a confident guess, and vets work the same way when they meet a case they haven't seen before.

Which other veterinary topics are worth knowing?

These topics come up less often than the Top 12, but they're worth a few minutes each, especially if one links to your own interests or work experience.

• Animals in sport, entertainment and work: horse racing, birds of prey displays, zoos, and working horses and donkeys in communities that depend on them.
• Laying hen cages: Defra consulted in early 2026 on phasing out cages for laying hens. This is a proposal, and the government has yet to respond.
• AI and social media: the RCVS published advice on using AI in 2026, which keeps the vet responsible for every clinical decision, and owners increasingly arrive with advice from social media. Our guide to AI in healthcare covers the human side.
• Climate change and sustainability: livestock emissions, anaesthetic gases and the carbon cost of vet care. The NHS version is in our greener NHS briefing.
• Gene editing and de-extinction: from disease-resistant pigs to bringing back the mammoth. Our CRISPR ethics guide gives you the background.

How do you keep up with veterinary news?

You don't need to read everything, so I'd pick a few topics from this page that interest you, read about each one properly, and then follow the news for updates in the weeks before your interview. The RCVS and BVA news pages, the Veterinary Record and Defra's animal disease updates on gov.uk will keep you current.

Free online courses are another good source of things to talk about, and our list of free veterinary MOOCs includes courses on One Health, welfare and farm animal health. If you're still choosing where to apply, our guide to every UK vet school, vet entry requirements and the vet degree explained will help, and the guide to becoming a vet sets out the whole application.

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• Vet interview questions and answers guide: model answers you can study at home.
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