Answer one question in up to 1,000 words by 11:59pm on Sunday 31 January 2027. Judged anonymously by people who work in veterinary practice. The winner gets prizes worth over £700.
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Should it be illegal to breed dogs whose body shape gives them lifelong health problems, such as flat-faced breeds that struggle to breathe?
Angles you might consider
These are starting points, not a checklist. The strongest essays pick a line of argument and follow it.
Background reading
Use our guides to get your bearings, then go to the original sources and reference them.
Free tips by email
Get our tips on how to approach the veterinary medicine question: how to plan it, the angles worth thinking about, a trap to avoid and where to start reading. We will also send you a reminder on Sunday 24 January, a week before entries close.
Winner, veterinary medicine
2 highly commended
Winning and highly commended essays can be published on our website with your name and school, if you are happy for us to.
Put it on your UCAS application
If you place, this is how to write it with the super-curricular activities in your personal statement, or on a CV:
A title is the start, not the point: admissions tutors want to know what you read, what you argued and what you learnt. How to write about it.
Criterion 1
A clear answer
An argument that answers the question asked and reaches a conclusion.
Criterion 2
Evidence used well
Facts and sources that support the point being made, with references.
Criterion 3
The people involved
Patients, owners, animals and the wider public: who is affected, and the ethics of it.
Criterion 4
Clear writing
Easy to follow, well organised, within the word limit.
Students from any country, at any school or college, who are thinking about medicine, dentistry or veterinary medicine and are one or two years away from applying to university. In the UK that is Year 11 or Year 12 in England and Wales, S4 or S5 in Scotland, or Year 12 or Year 13 in Northern Ireland. Outside the UK, enter if you will apply to university in autumn 2027 or autumn 2028, whichever country you plan to study in.
Between 300 and 1,000 words, not counting the title and your references. We check the document when you upload it, so a blank or unfinished file will not be accepted. Essays over the limit are not judged, so check your word count before you send it.
Entries close at 11:59pm on Sunday 31 January 2027. We announce the winners by Friday 12 March 2027 and email every entrant the results.
Only if it wins or is highly commended, and only if you are happy for us to. The entry form asks whether you agree to publication with your name and school; you can say no and still win. Before we publish anything we check again with you, and with a parent or carer if you are under 16.
You can use AI the way you would use a library: to find sources, to understand a topic, or to check your spelling and grammar. You cannot use it to write your essay, plan your argument for you or rewrite your sentences. If AI wrote it, it is not your work, and it is disqualified.
A simple test: could you explain every point in your essay, and why you made it, without looking at it? If yes, it is yours.
We check shortlisted essays for text copied from published sources. AI detectors are not reliable enough to decide a prize on their own, so we do not rely on them. Instead, before we confirm a prize, we may ask a shortlisted student to talk through their essay with one of our team on a short video call, which is exactly what an interview will ask of you anyway.
Read the full rules, or see the medicine competition and dentistry competition.
Ultimate Package students from our 2025/26 cycle, with their UCAT scores and offers, who trained with us for the UCAT, personal statements and interviews.
“Harry got my UCAT up to 2,590, working through the sections I kept dropping marks on week by week. Gemma then ran my interview practice so the MMI stations didn't catch me out, and Dr Akash mentored me the whole way through. I'm off to King's for Medicine.”
“The interview prep was the part that actually moved the needle. Proper mock MMIs, not just lists of questions, and feedback that was honest about what I was getting wrong. I ended up with four offers and firmed UCL.”
“The Ultimate Package kept me organised from UCAT through to interviews. They knew what dental schools actually ask and tightened up my personal statement. Four offers in the end, and I'm going to Birmingham.”
“Vet applications come down to the written SAQs as much as the interview. Dr Rebecca went through my SAQs line by line, sharpened my answers and prepped me for the panels. I came away with four offers and chose the RVC.”
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