Hi Sarah, The BTEC National or NVQ Level 3, are excellent courses. It is not all just fluffy animals, they include science and business studies as an integral part of their sylabus.
To work as a vet nurse (with a veiw to getting onto the VN course) you simply need 5 GCSE's A - C that must include maths, English and a science subject. Obviously the courses (BTEC or NVQ) are academicaliy highger than the required standards for your VN. But they are the equivalant to 2/3 A levels, so you can use them to gain entry to other courses.
But what makes them invaluable is that they gain you experience in different fields of animal care as well as a good insight into the diffent areas of work within the animal industry. Also should you change your mind and decide that this is not the job for you, you will have a qualification that you can use in other jobs.
Most veterinary practices when looking for a trainee require experience, preferably within a practice so you are in a bit of a chicken and egg situation!
So if you do the course you will have experience, and a proven acedemic ability which would make you the ideal candidate for employment!
As I have explained before, (see postings re salary queries), it is likely you will be on the minimum wage whilst your practice trains you to become a VN, a newly qualified VN will be on around £14,000 and then your world is your oyster.
You can move onto do nursing degrees and work in referal centres, you may want to become a head VN, (this is where a BTEC or NVQ would come in useful), you could go into reping for drugs or food companies. You could locum as a nurse around the world as the VN is a profession in its own right.
But really try to think of why you want to go into the industry, a vet nurse is NOT a job, it is a lifestyle, it is emotionally demanding as well as physically, there is no 9-5! But if this is truely what you want to do, you will probaly find that once qualified you wont want to do anything else.
Regards