The Veterinary Supplementary Assessment Questionnaire (SAQ) is a scored set of questions that vet schools such as Bristol email you after your UCAS application, used to assess your work experience, motivation and understanding of the profession. We review and edit your SAQ answers, coach you for the Nottingham and Surrey SJT, and every SAQ is checked by our head vet, Dr Rebecca.
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At a glance
Every review package includes the Ultimate Veterinary SAQ Guide and a final check by our head vet. After purchasing, simply email us your SAQ draft and we return it within 5 days.
Each school selects differently. We support the SAQ and SJT schools directly. Always check the email and the university's own admissions page, as details change each cycle.
| University | Assessment | What it scores | We help |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bristol | Veterinary SAQ (offers ranked on SAQ score alone) | Work experience, the attributes needed to succeed, the vet's role and how people work in teams | |
| Nottingham | Situational Judgement Test (SJT), then interview day | Empathy and client relationships, professional integrity, resilience and teamwork | |
| Surrey | Online questionnaire with SJTs, then MMI | Values and judgement against the RCVS Day One Competences | |
| Harper & Keele | Scored Vocational Experience form, then MMI | Reflective work experience and understanding of the profession | |
| Glasgow | Work experience form + online ethical reasoning test + interview | Ethical reasoning and motivation | – |
| RVC (Royal Veterinary College) | Multiple Mini Interview (MMI) | Communication, motivation and problem solving across stations | – |
| Edinburgh (Royal Dick) | Multiple Mini Interview (MMI) | Insight, communication and suitability across stations | – |
| Liverpool | Multiple Mini Interview (MMI) | Work experience and personal qualities (no SAQ used) | – |
| Aberystwyth | Multiple Mini Interview (MMI) | Commitment, communication and vocational experience | – |
| Cambridge | ESAT admissions test + interviews | Scientific aptitude and academic potential | – |
Bristol emails the Veterinary Supplementary Assessment Questionnaire to applicants who meet the academic minimum, after they apply through UCAS. It asks you to draw on your work experience to show your awareness of the attributes needed to succeed, your understanding of the vet’s role and its challenges, and how people work together in teams.
Bristol does not routinely interview, so offers are ranked on the SAQ alone. That makes a carefully structured, well-evidenced SAQ the single most important thing you submit. We make every answer count and our head vet checks it before it goes back.
Nottingham uses an online Situational Judgement Test sent after the UCAS deadline, with a short completion window of around two weeks. It scores empathy and client relationships, professional integrity, resilience and teamwork, mapped to the RCVS Day One Competences, then invites top-ranked candidates to an interview day. Surrey runs a similar SJT inside its online questionnaire before an MMI.
Our 1-1 SJT coaching, led by our head vet mentor, drills realistic scenarios and the reasoning each school rewards, so you walk in ready.
The SAQ is scored, so treat every answer like a mini essay. Here is the approach our head vet uses. Full model answers and worked examples are inside the Ultimate Veterinary SAQ Guide, included with every package.
Marks come from what you learned, not where you went. For every experience, say what it taught you about the profession and about yourself.
Map each point to exactly what that school is scoring, whether that is teamwork, resilience or understanding of the vet's role. Generic answers score low.
Name the placement, the animal, the moment. A concrete example is far more convincing than a general claim about being passionate and hard working.
Stay concise and within any word or character count. We always bring your SAQ within the limit while keeping your strongest, best evidenced points.
Wording varies by school, but veterinary SAQs tend to ask things like:
These are representative themes, not any one school’s exact questions.
The SAQ and SJT both land after the UCAS deadline with a short window, so the applicants who are ready score best. Always confirm exact dates with each university.
Submit your UCAS application for veterinary courses. The SAQ is only sent once you have applied, so apply early.
Schools that use an SAQ or SJT email a link to the applicants who meet their academic minimum.
You usually have a short period, around two weeks at Nottingham, to complete and return it. Miss it and your application is unsuccessful.
Your answers are read and scored. At Bristol, offers are ranked on the SAQ score alone.
SJT schools such as Nottingham and Surrey invite the top-ranked applicants to an interview or assessment day.
“I didn't know much about the SAQs, but thanks to TheUKCATPeople I aced mine and received all of my interview invitations for vet school.”
“My best advice is to get in contact with TheUKCATPeople as soon as possible. Without their tutoring and application help I would not have gained my offers. They went over and beyond.”
“Joining the Ultimate Package was the best decision I made. I had constant support, mentoring and reassurance throughout the year, and my parents were kept in the loop too.”
“Breaking down exactly what I needed to do, with helpful pointers, proved invaluable. I would recommend them to anybody wanting to secure their place.”
We make sure each SAQ answer is structured to tick every box: work experience, reflection, motivation and the personal qualities each vet school is scoring.
With so many veterinary SAQs to read, yours has to stand out. After 10+ years and 100s of SAQs, we know exactly what scores well and what reads as generic.
Every answer is checked for English and grammar and the flow is improved, so your SAQ reads clearly and professionally from the first line.
Struggling to cut your SAQ down to the limit and unsure what to remove? We always bring it within the word count while keeping your strongest points.
Bristol, Surrey and Harper & Keele each ask different things. With the multi-university package we tailor every answer to what that school actually scores.
Every SAQ is given a final check by our head vet, Dr Rebecca, who has sat on admissions panels. You are guaranteed to leave with a stronger SAQ.
Our team has sat on the admissions panels of several vet schools and helped students into the RVC, Edinburgh, Bristol, Surrey and Nottingham. Every SAQ gets a final check by our head vet.
Head Vet | Reviews Every SAQ
Rebecca is our head vet and personally checks every SAQ before it is returned. She is a practising veterinary surgeon, has sat on university admissions panels, and has a 100% record of coaching applicants to at least one vet school offer. She knows exactly what each school is scoring.
Founder | Doctor | Head Tutor
Akash is a doctor and our founder. He has guided thousands of successful applicants into medicine, dentistry and veterinary courses across the country, and oversees the quality of every review and coaching session our team delivers.
Not sure which package you need, or have a deadline coming up? Contact a SAQ expert today and we will point you the right way.
SAQ stands for Supplementary Assessment Questionnaire. It is a set of questions that some UK vet schools email you after you have submitted your UCAS application, used to assess your work experience, motivation and understanding of the veterinary profession.
At Bristol it is called the Veterinary Supplementary Assessment Questionnaire, and offers are ranked on your SAQ score, so the quality of your answers matters enormously.
Bristol uses a Veterinary SAQ and ranks offers on it. Nottingham uses a Situational Judgement Test (SJT) followed by an interview day. Surrey uses an online questionnaire that includes SJTs, then an MMI. Harper & Keele use a scored Vocational Experience form and an MMI.
Other schools select differently: Glasgow uses a work experience form and an online ethical reasoning test, while the RVC, Edinburgh, Liverpool and Aberystwyth use MMIs and Cambridge uses the ESAT plus interviews. We support the SAQ and SJT schools directly.
Bristol emails the SAQ to applicants who meet the academic minimum after they apply through UCAS. It asks you to draw on your work experience to show your awareness of the attributes needed to succeed, your understanding of the vet's role and the challenges they face, and how people work together in teams.
Bristol does not routinely interview, so your offer is ranked on the SAQ alone. This is why a carefully reviewed, well-structured SAQ is so important, and why our head vet checks every one.
Nottingham's Situational Judgement Test is an online assessment sent after the UCAS deadline, usually with a short completion window of around two weeks. It presents realistic scenarios and assesses empathy and client relationships, professional integrity, resilience and teamwork, rather than academic knowledge.
Top-ranked candidates are then invited to an interview or assessment day. Our 1-1 SJT coaching prepares you for both the test and the day.
Yes. Surrey asks applicants to complete an online questionnaire whose second part is a set of Situational Judgement Tests, mapped to the RCVS Day One Competences. Shortlisted applicants are then invited to an MMI. Our SJT coaching covers the Surrey format as well as Nottingham.
The SAQ and SJT are sent after the 15 October UCAS deadline for veterinary courses, once your application has been received. They usually carry a limited return window, and missing the deadline means your application is unsuccessful, so it pays to be ready.
Exact dates change every cycle, so always check the email and the university's own admissions page. Booking your review early means we can turn answers around comfortably inside the window.
It varies by school and the universities do not publish a fixed length. Bristol describes a series of questions across a few themes rather than a single essay, so you typically write a short paragraph of a few sentences per question rather than a full personal statement.
There is no magic sentence count. The rule is to answer the question fully within any stated word or character limit, with no padding. We make sure every answer is the right length and uses the space to score as highly as possible.
Questions are based on your work experience and your understanding of the profession. Bristol, for example, asks you to draw on your experiences to show the attributes needed to succeed as a vet, your understanding of the vet's role and its challenges, and how people work together in teams.
Typical themes include: the attributes a vet needs and how you have shown them; what your work experience taught you; the challenges facing the profession; and a time you worked in a team. We help you turn each one into a high scoring answer.
No UK vet school uses the UCAT. Most select on your academic record, work experience and either an SAQ, an SJT or an MMI interview. The exception is Cambridge, which uses the ESAT (Engineering and Science Admissions Test) plus interviews. This is why your SAQ and SJT carry so much weight.
No, they are different things that share an acronym. Cambridge asks all applicants to complete an additional questionnaire (historically called the SAQ, the Supplementary Application Questionnaire, now part of the My Cambridge Application), which is separate from veterinary selection. For veterinary medicine specifically, Cambridge selects using the ESAT and interviews.
The veterinary Supplementary Assessment Questionnaire we help with is the scored SAQ used by Bristol. If you are applying to Cambridge for veterinary medicine, ask us about ESAT and interview preparation instead.
Yes. Harper & Keele use a scored Vocational Experience form rather than a free-text SAQ, followed by an MMI. We review and edit your reflective answers on that form to the same standard as a Bristol SAQ, and it is covered by both the single and multi-university packages.
Every SAQ is given its final check by our head vet, Dr Rebecca, a practising veterinary surgeon who has sat on university admissions panels. Our wider team handles the detailed editing and Dr Rebecca confirms it is ready to score well before it is returned to you.
You get unlimited reviews and edits for the university or universities in your package, the Ultimate Veterinary SAQ Guide (worth £249), full attention to structure, English, grammar, flow and word count, and a final check by our head vet. Everything is returned within 5 days.
Within 5 days of receiving your draft. Reviews are unlimited within your package, so you can send revised drafts back and forth until your SAQ is the best it can be.
Yes. The £999 Ultimate SAQ package covers 2 to 4 universities. Because Bristol, Surrey and Harper & Keele each score different things, we tailor every answer to what that school is actually looking for rather than reusing one generic SAQ.
Two hours of 1-1 coaching with our head vet mentor, built for the Nottingham and Surrey SJT. You practise realistic scenarios on empathy, integrity, resilience and teamwork, mapped to the RCVS Day One Competences, with personalised feedback, a clear strategy and worked example answers.
No. The SAQ must be your own work and your own experiences, and admissions teams can tell when it is not. We review, edit and coach so your genuine answers are as clear, well structured and high scoring as possible, while keeping your voice and your integrity intact.
The personal statement is part of your UCAS application and is read by every course you apply to. The SAQ is a separate, school-specific questionnaire sent after you apply and is often scored directly to rank offers. They draw on the same experiences but are assessed differently, so each needs its own approach.
If you also want your UCAS statement reviewed, see our veterinary personal statement service.
Don’t settle for a mediocre SAQ. Get yours reviewed today.
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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