Course Summary
If you are interested in developing the specific technical and professional skills and knowledge that will lead to meaningful employment in the animal care industry, then this is the ideal course for you.
Course Details
This course gives you the opportunity to study a range of specialist technical practical skills and knowledge that build upon the core animal management skills. You will explore a wide range of industry areas.
What will I study on this course?
Year 1:
* Animal Health and diseases
* Practical Animal Husbandry
* Animal Behaviour
* Animal Welfare & Ethics EXAM
* Wildlife, Ecology and Conservation Management
* Work Experience
Year 2:
* Human Animal Interaction
* Exotic Animal Husbandry
* Zoological Health and Husbandry
* Advanced Animal Nutrition
* Principles of Animal Nursing
* Investigate Research Project
As part of Year 1 and Year 2 you will also study:
* Breeding & Genetics EXAM
* Animal Biology EXAM
* Animal Boarding Establishment
Work Experience - 150hrs each year = 300 hours in total.
Work experience is a mandatory part of the programme and it is a requirement that all learners complete this.
Without completing the work experience hours in year 1 you will be unable to progress to the second year.
How will it be delivered and assessed?
This programme is assessed by a combination of external exams, written tests, projects, assignment work and demonstration of competence in a range of practical tasks. This is a two-year programme and extended diploma courses have three achievement points. You will work towards the Subsidiary Diploma qualification in the first year of the course and will have the opportunity to work towards either the Diploma or the Extended Diploma in the second year.
How many UCAS points will I achieve on this course?
Our level 3 vocational courses qualify for UCAS tariff points to apply for university in the same way as A-Levels. This course is an extended diploma which is delivered over two years and you could achieve up to 168 UCAS points (which is equivalent to three A* grades at A-Level).
BTEC extended diplomas are graded as a pass, merit, distinction or distinction star (with distinction star being the highest grade) with the overall grade being a combination of three grades which represent an aggregation of your performance on mandatory and optional units on the course.
The following table gives some examples on the amount of UCAS points you can achieve on a BTEC extended diploma:
| BTEC grade | UCAS Points |
| --- | --- |
| D* D* D* | 168 |
| D* D* D | 160 |
| D* DD | 152 |
| DDD | 144 |
| DDM | 128 |
| DMM | 112 |
| MMM | 96 |
| MMP | 80 |
| MMP | 64 |
| PPP | 48 |
Depending on your circumstances, you may study a smaller qualification, such as a subsidiary diploma (for example, if you only complete one year) or general diploma which may carry less UCAS tariff points.
You can find more details and examples on the UCAS tariff points calculator here.
Entry requirements
You will need:
* 5 GCSEs at grade 4, including English, Maths & Science
Or:
* A relevant Level 2 in Animal Care at Merit grade or above studied at CWA or another further education provider. This does not include level 2 courses studied at school alongside GCSEs.
Mature applicants may be considered based on previous experience
Your next steps...
Degrees that you could explore on successful completion of the course include Ecology, Animal Behaviour, Zoology and Zoo Animal Management.
Additional information
https://www.cwa.ac.uk/school-leavers
For more courses like this, check our courses page.