VerifiedSouth Africa has one veterinary faculty. The University of Pretoria trains every veterinarian and every veterinary nurse in the country, at its Onderstepoort campus north of the city. There is no second school to apply to and no alternative route.
That changes what funding looks like. Places are scarcer than money, the degree is long, and several of the largest scholarships in the country will not fund it at all.
Where you study
The Bachelor of Veterinary Science runs six years. First year is taught on the Hatfield campus and years two to six at Onderstepoort. The faculty was established in 1920 and is the only one of its kind in South Africa.
The Bachelor of Veterinary Nursing is also offered only at Onderstepoort. It is a shorter degree and a cheaper one, and it is the route into the profession that most funders overlook.
Confirmed 23 September 2026 on the UP Faculty of Veterinary Science pages. The faculty describes itself as solely responsible for the training of veterinarians and veterinary nurses in South Africa.
Scholarships that exclude veterinary science
Four of the largest general scholarships in the country name veterinary science as an exclusion. Read the field list before you spend time on an application:
- The Allan Gray Orbis Fellowship funds health science excluding medicine, dentistry and veterinary science.
- The Absa Fellowship funds science including health sciences, but not medicine or veterinary science.
- The Ninety One Changeblazer bursary funds healthcare excluding dentistry, medicine and veterinary science.
- The Ashinaga Africa Initiative funds any field except medicine, dentistry, veterinary medicine, pharmacy and domestic law.
The Fulbright Foreign Student Program excludes clinical contact veterinary programmes, so it does not fund the BVSc, although it can fund veterinary research that has no clinical contact component.
SAVF bursary
The South African Veterinary Foundation is a non-profit founded in 1984 that funds veterinary research, community clinics and conservation work, and helps students through the clinical years, which are the most expensive part of the degree.
Its bursary fund is worth R12 000. To qualify you must be studying at the University of Pretoria, be registered for the BVSc, and be in your fourth or fifth year. There is no repayment obligation. Awards go to students with good academic results who also take part in campus activities, and the foundation runs study loans alongside the bursaries.
The foundation does not publish a fixed annual closing date. When we checked its bursary page on 23 September 2026 it recorded that applications had closed and would reopen in March 2026, so treat March as the month to watch. Contact Ms Debbie Breeze on 012 346 1150.
Bursaries that fund veterinary study
| Funder | What it funds | Closing |
|---|---|---|
| Moshal Scholarship Program | Names veterinary science in its field list, at UP among other universities. Full cover plus mentorship | 31 December 2026 |
| SASSETA | Names veterinary science as a qualifying field, for unemployed citizens aged 18 to 35 from households under R600 000 a year | 30 January |
| Gauteng Department of Agriculture and Rural Development | Funds the BVSc and the National Diploma in Veterinary Laboratory Technology as scarce skills | 30 September 2026 |
| SIOC Community Development Trust | Lists veterinarian among its preferred agriculture specialisations, for its Northern Cape host communities | 30 November 2026 |
| HWSETA | Postgraduate research with a preference for health, veterinary and social development research | 31 July |
| DHET Hungarian government scholarship | Funds one-tier master’s degrees, which is how veterinary science is structured in Hungary | 15 January |
The Gauteng scheme publishes its matric requirements, which are worth knowing because they are lower than the faculty’s own admission bar: mathematics and physical science at level 5, meaning 60 to 69 per cent, for the BVSc, and level 4, meaning 50 to 59 per cent, in mathematics, chemistry and physical science for veterinary laboratory technology.
Government funding
NSFAS funds the BVSc like any other qualification at a public university, and it applies no field exclusion. For most veterinary students it is the base layer, with the SAVF bursary or a departmental scheme on top for the clinical years.
The national Department of Agriculture and the provincial agriculture departments fund animal health and veterinary services because they employ state veterinarians and animal health technicians. The Limpopo department advertises after the Matric results come out.
Related qualifications
If you are not admitted to the BVSc, these are funded more widely and several lead back into veterinary work:
- Veterinary nursing. The BVetNurs at Onderstepoort, and the animal health technician qualifications at other institutions.
- Veterinary laboratory technology. A national diploma, named directly in the Gauteng agriculture bursary.
- Animal science. Funded by the commodity organisations, the feed companies and the agriculture departments. See our agriculture bursaries page.
- Zoology and wildlife management. Funded through the conservation and science schemes rather than the veterinary ones.
When to apply
| Period | Action |
|---|---|
| March | The SAVF bursary reopens. It is only for fourth and fifth years, so apply in your third year onwards. |
| July – September | HWSETA closes at the end of July. Gauteng agriculture closes 30 September. |
| October – December | Apply to NSFAS. SIOC-CDT closes 30 November. Moshal closes 31 December. |
| January | SASSETA and the DHET Hungarian scholarship close. The provincial agriculture departments advertise after the Matric results. |
See also our medical bursaries page, science bursaries, and agriculture bursaries for the animal science and livestock funders.