Animal Management

It starts with you!

Get career ready with us and unlock your potential today, view our range of Animal Management courses and enrol to study at the No.1 Further Education College in Greater Manchester for achievement*.

Aged 16-18? Apply now

We passionately believe in helping you reach your ultimate goal, focusing on your future employability and developing the skills you need to have a successful career. Our Industry Excellence Academy for Animal Management is set up to help you do just that!

You don’t need any previous experience to enrol on your first course and you’ll be supported every step of the way by your tutors. They’ve worked in both animal care and teaching, and are as mad about animals as you are!

There are so many careers open to you and we want to make sure you have everything you need to be successful, so you’ll gain crucial work experience through our Centre of Excellence for Animal Care. You could end up with a placement at a vets, pet shop, riding stables, kennels or even the Blue Planet Aquarium.

We often invite guest speakers to the College including organisations like Dogs for Good, the RSPCA, Blue Cross and Manchester Museum. They’ve made a career out of working with animals, and will happily share their advice and tell you about some of the jobs you could apply for when you finish your studies.

Browse our courses

Our welcoming and supportive tutors are passionate about animals, wildlife and the environment. Each member of the department has a wealth of knowledge and experience in both animal care and teaching.

From working as a Marine Biologist in Australia’s Great Barrier Reef to working in British conservation and ecology, you’ll learn from their experiences and benefit from their links to the industry.

Learn more about some of our tutors and technicians:

Julian Smith - Assistant Principal

Julian oversees our Animal Management, Education and Early Years, Health and Social Care, Public Services, Science, Sport, Public Services courses. With 17 years of experience in further and higher education institutions, including 15 years in managerial and senior leadership roles, Julian brings a wealth of expertise to the position.

Liz Peters - Head of Department

Liz possesses 30 years’ experience in the service industries and worked as a manager in a variety of colleges including Bury College, Calderdale College and West Lancashire College.

Liz became Head of Department for Animal Care in 2021 after spending a number of years as Assistant Principal for Service and Retail Industries.

She is passionate about improving the lives and the employability skills of learners in Greater Manchester.

Philip Pownall - Department Team Leader

Philip has completed a BSc in Zoology with Animal Behaviour at Bangor University and has over 10 years’ experience working within the animal management industry. This includes experience as a zookeeper at Welsh Mountain Zoo, working with animals including big cats, primates, birds of prey, alligators and training the Californian sealions. Whilst at the zoo he would conduct animal presentations and shows alongside zoo animal husbandry. Philip has also worked within a horse sanctuary training horses that are feral to assist with rehabilitation. He specialises in animal behaviour, breeding and genetics, nutrition, and zoo animal health.

Jack Stevens - Head Animal Technician

Jack has worked within the animal industry for 10 years, since beginning work experience in secondary school at a dog training center.

He has worked with various species in animal collections including Eurasian wild boar, wallabies and skunks - which is why he finds this industry to be hugely rewarding. Jack has a love of some domestic animals too, he even has a pet rabbit called Theo and English Bull terrier called Thomas.

Jack has industry experience with aquatic species managing various aquatic systems. Jack has been at The Manchester College for 3 years and worked closely on the design of a new Centre of Excellence. 

Kirsty Munro - Tutor

Kirsty has a BSc (Hons) in Zoo Biology and a MSc in Zoo Conservation Biology and has over ten years’ experience working in the animal care industry.

During her time in the sector, she worked as a zookeeper and in conservation before more recently
becoming a tutor at The Manchester College. Kirsty’s specialisms are science, conservation and herpetology, the study of amphibians and reptiles.

In 2022 our Animal Management department and its huge variety of animals moved into brand new facilities at our Wythenshawe campus.

At Wythenshawe you’ll work with everything from rabbits, guinea pigs and chickens, right through to lovebirds, a leopard gecko and a royal python. We’ve even got racoon dogs.

If you love animals, you’re in for a real treat.

The Manchester College is committed to ensuring all our students receive the support they may need to achieve and enjoy college. We do this in a number of different ways including:

• Student Experience Support Team
• Careers Employability & Welfare
• Pastoral Support Officers
• Supported Learning

We also offer a bespoke transition service to new applicants with an Education Health and Care Plan (EHCP), accessibility or medical need.

Find out more about our student support offer:

Find out even more about our Animal Management department in our subject area guide or on our YouTube playlist:

Download our subject area guide

Watch our YouTube playlist