Livestock Health and Production
How you study
Although the programme is designed to be followed successfully with a minimum of direct academic support, you are able to receive support in several ways:
- Up to three written assignments for each course will be provided for you to complete and submit for tutor comment and guidance. The marks for the best of these will count in the formal assessment process. Although the marks obtained for the other essays do not contribute to the overall assessment, students often find it helpful to receive academic feedback on their work to ensure that they are reaching the required standard. In addition, writing essays can be a useful aid in preparing for examinations.
- You are offered tutorial support for academic matters through the University of London International
Programmes Office at the Royal Veterinary College. Your enquiry will be answered by an appropriate
member
of the panel of experts from the RVC academic staff who support this programme. However, the RVC is unable to provide support on non-academic matters. - An online discussion board has been introduced for selected courses. This provides the opportunity to collaborate with others via discussion rooms. You will require access to the internet (either dial-up or broadband) to participate. At set times, a tutor will be online to answer questions and we are planning to run tutorials during the academic year.
- Students are invited to allow us to share their contact details with other students studying on the programme in their locality, so that networking and mutual support can be arranged locally if desired.
Study materials
When you first register as an External student you will receive:
- a Student handbook, giving you information on planning your studies, preparing for examinations and study techniques
- a Course pack for each course you study. This will contain a folder of directed learning notes, along with a series of readings. The readings will consist of copies of book chapters and articles which have been specially selected from leading academic journals and books. These will present the most concise and readable information and recent developments in the field
- Textbooks for certain courses
- Videos for certain courses
- Samples of past examination
papers, and, where a course has
previously been examined, an
examiner’s report - CD-ROMs (for certain courses).
In subsequent years of your registration you will receive:
- an updated Student handbook; the relevant course pack for any additional courses you begin studying; any sample/past examination papers and reports not previously received.
The programme is designed so that you are provided with all the materials you need to study. The materials are comprehensive so you will be able to complete the courses without access to any additional books or readings. There is, therefore, no need to purchase expensive textbooks, or to spend valuable time in trying to locate journals which may not be available locally.
Period of study and time commitment
Students registering for the MSc degree
programmes have a minimum of two
years and a maximum of five years in
which to complete, whilst Postgraduate
Diploma and Postgraduate Certificate
students have a minimum of one year
and a maximum of five. The ‘study year’ is effectively between February and
September, with examinations in
early/mid-October.
Because individuals differ in the number
of hours per week they need to devote
to study, and in the number of years in
which they would like to complete the
programme, it is difficult to be precise
about the number of hours’ study
required. A rough guide, however, is that
to complete in the minimum period you
should be prepared for not less than 10 hours of study per week and
15 hours would be recommended. It is
very important that the hours given to
study, however many they may be,
should be given consistently.
Sally Gaynor
MSc in Livestock Health and Production graduate, Ireland.
RVC graduates
(Sally, pictured far right)
“ Distance learning gave me the opportunity to gain a postgraduate degree by fitting my studying around a full-time job and rearing three children. I feel it has been a major achievement in my life. It has acted as a refresher course for my primary degree – 25 years after leaving college – giving
me renewed confidence. It has also expanded my knowledge and understanding of other areas that impact on my area of work for the State Veterinary Service. I found the course material interesting and very well presented. I am sure the
MSc will improve my chances of promotion in the future.”