NW London | Full-time | Independent Practice
Are you serious about building a career in veterinary nursing?
At Roundwood Vets, we’re offering a structured and supported pathway into the profession. We’re looking for a Veterinary Care Assistant (VCA) to join us with an immediate start, with the intention of progressing onto a Student Veterinary Nurse (SVN) apprenticeship in September 2026.
The apprenticeship runs over 36 months and combines hands-on learning in practice with one day a week at college (Wednesdays, North London). It’s a great opportunity but also a big commitment. You’ll be working full-time while studying, and it requires consistency, resilience, and a genuine willingness to learn.
The Role
You’ll start with us as a Veterinary Care Assistant, learning the foundations of how a veterinary practice runs and what great patient care looks like day-to-day.
This stage really matters. It’s where you build your habits, your standards, and your understanding of the role, all of which will set you up for success when you move onto your nurse training.
As you progress, your responsibilities will grow and you’ll gradually take on more clinical duties under supervision.
Day-to-day, your role will include:
Patient care
Feeding, walking, observing, and making sure patients are clean, comfortable, and well cared for
Supporting the clinical team
Helping vets and nurses, holding patients, and preparing clinical areas
Cleaning and preparation
Keeping kennels, theatres, and equipment clean and safeCleaning instruments, doing laundry, and staying on top of the day-to-day running of the practice
Reception support
Welcoming clients, answering phones, booking appointments, and taking payments when needed
This isn’t a glamorous role. There’s a lot of cleaning, and it can be physically and emotionally demanding. But it’s also incredibly important. Everything you do contributes directly to patient safety and the smooth running of the practice.
This is a long-term opportunity, not just a job, but the start of your career.
Probation and Apprenticeship Assessment
There is a 6-month probation period, with the first 3 months focused on assessing your suitability to progress onto the Student Veterinary Nurse apprenticeship.
We’re not expecting you to know everything, but we are looking for the right attitude and behaviours.
We’ll be looking for:
- Reliability, turning up on time, ready to work, consistently
- Work ethic, taking pride in all tasks, especially the less glamorous ones
- Attention to detail, understanding that small things really matter in patient care
- Willingness to learn, listening, taking feedback on board, and improving
- Teamwork, being supportive, respectful, and easy to work with
- Kindness towards patients, clients, and each other
- Resilience, being able to handle a busy, sometimes challenging environment
- Commitment, showing that this is something you genuinely want to pursue long-term
We’ll support you with feedback and guidance throughout, but progression onto the apprenticeship will depend on you demonstrating that you’re ready.
About Us
We’re a small, independent first opinion small animal practice, seeing mostly cats and dogs. Our team is made up of 3 vets, 5 nurses, and 2 care coordinators, and we care a lot about how we work together.
We see a mix of routine and more urgent cases, so no two days are exactly the same. This gives you a great opportunity to build a wide range of practical skills and experience from the very start.
We’re proud to serve a loyal local community, and many of our clients have been with us for years. That continuity means we’re able to build strong relationships with both pets and their owners, and provide consistent, personalised care.
Our values shape how we show up every day:
- Honesty, we take ownership and learn from mistakes
- Kindness, we treat each other, our clients, and our patients with care
- Conscientiousness, we do things properly because it matters
- Teamwork, we support each other and communicate openly
- Fun, we enjoy what we do and who we do it with
- Growth, we’re always learning and improving
We believe that when the team feels supported, everything else works better too.
About You
This role is for someone who is genuinely serious about becoming a Veterinary Nurse.
You don’t need experience, but you do need the right mindset.
You’ll likely do well if you are:
- Reliable and consistent
- Friendly, but also focused and able to get things done properly
- Organised and detail-oriented
- Happy to work hard, including cleaning and routine tasks
- Open to feedback and keen to improve
- Comfortable working with both people and animals
- Looking for a long-term career, not just a job
This Role Isn’t for You If…
- You’re not sure if you want a career in veterinary nursing
- You’re looking for something short-term
- You don’t enjoy practical, hands-on work or cleaning
- You struggle with punctuality or consistency
- You find it difficult to take feedback or follow processes
- You’re not prepared to balance full-time work with study over 36 months
- You prefer working independently rather than as part of a team
Commitment to Learning and Study
This pathway requires more than just showing up to work. It requires a genuine commitment to learning.
As part of the apprenticeship, you’ll be balancing full-time work in practice with one day a week at college, alongside additional study, coursework, and exam preparation in your own time.
We’re looking for someone who can demonstrate that they are ready for this. That might be through previous study, work, or personal experiences where you’ve had to stay disciplined, manage your time, and follow something through over a longer period.
The course runs over 36 months and is not an easy qualification. There will be times when it feels challenging, and you’ll need to stay consistent, organised, and motivated.
We don’t expect perfection, but we do expect commitment. Someone who is prepared to put the time and effort in, ask for help when needed, and take ownership of their development.
Requirements
- Minimum of 5 GCSEs at grade 5 or above, including Maths, English, and Science
- Right to work in the UK
- Values that align with how we work
We’re looking for someone who understands the level of commitment involved and is ready to take on both the practical demands of the role and the long-term responsibility of completing the apprenticeship.
Travel and Practical Considerations
This is a full-time, physically and mentally demanding role, and we take mental health and wellbeing seriously. It’s important that this role is sustainable for you, not just in the short term, but over the course of the apprenticeship.
We ask that you think carefully about your commute to the practice (NW10 9NP), including early starts, late finishes, and Saturday shifts. Consistency and reliability are essential in this role.
As a guide, we will not consider applications where the daily commute is over one hour, as we have found this is not sustainable alongside the demands of the role and training.
Most of our team commute via public transport, and we encourage you to be realistic about what you can maintain long-term.
The Role Details
- Full-time, 40 hours per week (Monday–Friday, shifts between 8am–8pm)
- 1 in 3 Saturday mornings (with time off in lieu)
- Immediate start as a VCA
- Progression to SVN apprenticeship in September 2026
- College day release on Wednesdays (North London)
- 6-month probation period
- £12.70 per hour
- 20 days holiday per year plus bank holidays (holiday year runs January–December and will be pro-rated for those joining part way through the year)
Why Join Us?
- A clear, supported pathway into veterinary nursing
- A genuinely supportive and close-knit team
- Hands-on learning with experienced vets and nurses
- A positive working environment where people matter
- Long-term development and progression
Additional Information
- No onsite parking and limited parking locally
- Most of the team commute via public transport (nearest tube: Neasden)
Application Process
We receive a high number of applications for this role and may close it early if we find the right candidate. This position is also advertised across multiple platforms.
While we carefully review every application, we’re not able to provide individual feedback to unsuccessful applicants.
We kindly ask that you do not call the practice about this role, so our phone lines can remain available for our clients and patient care.
Thank you for your interest in joining Roundwood Vets, we really appreciate the time and effort that goes into applying.
Job Types: Full-time, Permanent, Apprenticeship
Pay: £26,416.00 per year
Application question(s):
- Please list your GCSE grades (you will be required to provide proof of results).
Please note, we are unable to consider applications that do not meet the minimum requirement of 5 GCSEs at grade 5 or above, including Maths, English, and Science.
- This role requires reliable attendance and a sustainable commute. Please provide your postcode, how long your commute would take, and what your journey would involve (e.g. tube, bus, walking, etc.).
- In your view, what makes someone an excellent Veterinary Nurse day-to-day in practice, not just in theory? Which of those qualities do you already bring?
Work Location: In person
