Decision imminent on UCLan’s latest pet project – a 900-student vet school on Preston city campus

UCLan will become only the second university in the North of England to have a dedicated vets' school if the idea gets council backing next week.
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Plans to build a School of Veterinary Medicine in the heart of the booming Preston campus will be recommended for approval when they go before the city's planning committee.

The university says it is launching its latest pet project to address an acute shortage of vets across the country - and particularly in the North West. Numbers here are said to be down by between 11 and 13 per cent.

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Part of the school will be housed in a new four-storey block on land currently used as a car park adjacent to the Greenbank Building.

How the new School of Veterinary Medicine would look (Image: UCLan).How the new School of Veterinary Medicine would look (Image: UCLan).
How the new School of Veterinary Medicine would look (Image: UCLan).

If approved at next Thursday's committee meeting, work is expected to start almost immediately. UCLan says it is aiming to have 64 vet students enrolled by next year, rising to 470 in 2028 and more than 900 when at full capacity in 2029/30.

In a report to the committee, councillors will be told that the project "will put UCLan in a group of only 11 universities in the country that provide specialised teaching and research in this area.

"There is currently a significant employment need in the vet industry, particularly in the North West of the country where there is an 11 to 13 per cent shortage of qualified vets. The proposal will therefore help to fill this employment."The proposal would not only provide clear educational and employment benefits for students of UCLan, but also provide social benefit to the general public by providing more qualified vets to serve the needs of the population."

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Planners say the new school, the first in Lancashire, would partner with local, regional and national employers "to enhance educational and graduate outcomes and meet the needs of employers across a range of veterinary and animal science industries.”

The new department could have more than 900 students by the end of the decade (Image: UCLan)The new department could have more than 900 students by the end of the decade (Image: UCLan)
The new department could have more than 900 students by the end of the decade (Image: UCLan)

"The integration of postgraduate opportunities in education and employment will establish a strong population of veterinary graduates into the North West, an area affected by the national shortage of veterinary surgeons."

The designs for the new vets' school are described as reflecting "the contemporary buildings establishing the university character within the surroundings whilst delivering a gateway design."

The building would be the latest to be added to the expanding Preston campus, following on from the Engineering Innovation Centre and the Student Centre which were both added recently in University Square.

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"The project will deliver only the second School of Veterinary Medicine in the North of England, this is, therefore, a significant development not just for the city of Preston but also the region," adds the planning report.

The vet school could have its first students as early as next year (Image: UCLan).The vet school could have its first students as early as next year (Image: UCLan).
The vet school could have its first students as early as next year (Image: UCLan).

"This opportunity affords UCLan a project of high social value providing vets the chance to train where there is currently an extremely limited offer, benefiting the region with locally trained vets resulting in additional provision for the wider society.

"The staff selected are seeking to enhance this through the provision of a curriculum based on a high ethical value, where the experience of animals is considered from the outset through enhanced use of technology and the adoption of modern and class leading teaching and learning techniques."