How UCLan’s latest pet project - a new vets’ school in Preston – would help solve acute shortage of animal doctors in UK

Architects have submitted designs for a new four-storey School of Veterinary Medicine in the Greenbank Building complex on Victoria Street.

The project, which has now gone to the city council for approval, has been launched to help meet an acute shortage of vets across the country - numbers are down by between 11 per cent and 13 per cent nationally.

If approved the school would be only the second in the North of England and the 11th in the UK.

UCLan says it is aiming to have 64 vet students enrolled by next year, rising to 470 by 2028. At full capacity in 2029/30 the school will offer a range of 10 undergraduate and postgraduate courses to more than 900 students.

Why is UCLan proposing a new vets’ school?

The proposal to develop a new School of Veterinary Medicine by the University of Central Lancashire has been undertaken “in response to the national shortage of vets," says a planning report submitted to the council.

"This shortage is potentially more significant in the North of England where there is only one veterinary school."

The planners say the new school 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.”

How important is the project both regionally and nationally?

"The creation of a School of Veterinary Medicine will place UCLan within a group of only eleven UK universities that provide highly specialised teaching and research in this area.

"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."

How would a new vets’ school add to Preston’s student offer?

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.

"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 design, therefore, warrants a presence and image that is memorable to support its significance.

"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."