Emma
Lockley

"I chose to study at Brackenhurst because I had read lots of positive reviews about the course itself and the staff’s attitude and this is what made me feel welcomed. I was also recommended by a friend that had previously done an Equine course here and they said that the learning environment is calm and stress free which really interested me."

"I came to study at Brackenhurst through my first career plan not working and having this course as back up plan, and I am glad I choose this career path instead. I came to this course straight after doing my GCSE’s and I feel it a very nice transition from work at school to this as its equivalent to A-levels."

"My course is very enjoyable if you are keen on being hands on with animals and are very interested in learning about the basic husbandry skills of animals, breeding and welfare, the behaviour and training of them, and how to manage them. This course is especially interesting as Brackenhurst provide the students with a wide variety of all animals ranging from a rabbit to a snake and everything in between. The element I enjoy the most is the practical lessons because this gives us an opportunity to show the staff all the knowledge we have learned and apply this to real animals which can also help us feel more independent too."

"I have been on a couple of field trips with my course, one in which included a trip to White Post Farm which is very handy as its close to campus and it helped us gain an understanding of applying the knowledge we learned, to real life scenarios. The other trip we went on was to Crufts 2020 which was very informative as it gave us an understanding how animal welfare needs were met in show standards and it helped us speak to many different breeders of dog breeds and widened our view on breeding and management."

"I find the course tutors very helpful and informative and they are all very approachable which makes it easier to ask them questions about anything. They are also very helpful in providing one to ones if you don’t feel comfortable speaking to them in a bigger group. They are also very good at supplying you with information sources to help you with any problems which they will try to resolve if possible."

"Brackenhurst has many facilities such as a Library that’s open 24/7 which are all free to use whenever needed if you attend the college/ university. The Animal Unit is also very useful because it can provide a practical element through the use of many different animal species to help the students use the knowledge they have learned and practice this on actual animals. The Library is very useful as this can provide you with lots of resources such as laptops to loan, computers, books, and articles and these can be very helpful with writing up assignments and gaining extra information for the course."

"I think the most valuable thing I have learned from my course so far is how many career opportunities this course can open up for me. This therefore makes the pressure of the future a lot less stressful because you aren’t required to choose your career straight away after the course and have lots of support if any help is needed to find the right one for you from the tutors."

"I would recommend Brackenhurst because it’s a very supportive college/university that is always supporting you as a student and has lots of facilities to help you through studying for your course. I would also recommend the Animal Management Level 3 as a course to study as it provides a broad understanding on the husbandry and management of lots of different animal species that can then be applied to a more specific area."

"My ambitions for the future are to study BSc (Hons) Zoo Biology at Brackenhurst which is a four year course and will hopefully open up many opportunities to work in Zoo's abroad as I would really like to work in a Zoo that house exotic animals abroad and are part of a conservation site."