I'm not sure if i'm in the right section here or not, but here goes,!
i have a 16 yr old brother in law who has learning difficulties.He lives in Marple in Stockport , Cheshire and he is due to leave school in june/july but won't be taking any exams, so his options for work are very limited. He wants to work with animals ( any kind ) and i was wondering if anyone on here knows of anywhere that would take him on when he leaves school.He has just done 1 weeks work experience in a vet and really liked it. I've tried the RSPCA's website but they dont have anything as yet.......

Please could anyone out there help   ??????????????????

If he liked working in the veterinary industry, how about applying to local vets to work as an ANA (Animal Nursing Assistant)?

NO formal qualifications are required to become one just enthusiam for the job/animals. To gain the title of ANA a practical portfolio has to be completed - based on cases within the the vet practice. There is an exam at the end, but it is based around the practial aspect of the job rather than the vet nurse exams that go into great detail about the science behind everything.

The course covers:
Husbandry, Animal Management and First Aid
Biological Science
Finance, Veterinary Reception and Administration
Health, Hygiene and Basic Nursing
Health and Safety

and you can progress onto:
Assisting Veterinary Surgeons and Nurses
Pet Shop Assistant
Laboratory Technician
Assistant in Wildlife or Zoological Parks
Kennel/Cattery Assistant

...if you so wish.

The hardest part of becoming an ANA is finding a vet practice. Before you can apply for a course you need to working within the industry and the practice (I think) has to be one that is a registered Training Practice (TP). Training practices will have a trained in house assessor (A1 or D33/34) to help you through assessment period.

If you were interested, the BVNA are the people to contact. They should be able to help you identify practices, course providers etc.

http://www.bvna.org.uk

Hope this has helped, it is certainly a worthwhile course in my opinion and very rewarding as you would be involved with the interesting array of animals that come through the veterinary industry.

Sue