Occupational Therapy

Duration

Three years, full time

Application Deadline

30 April 2020

Location

St George's, University of London

Accreditation

Health & Care Professionals Council (HCPC) and Royal College of Occupational Therapists

UCAS Code

B920, institution code S49

UK, EU and non-EU

(International) citizens may apply

Start dates

September 2020

Apply via UCAS

This course received a 75% overall student satisfaction rating in the most recent NSS survey.

As an Occupational Therapy graduate, you will work collaboratively with people to help them set and achieve goals to live their lives to the fullest. You will focus on helping people participate in the roles and activities they aspire to, want and need to do, despite any challenges they might face.

Occupational Therapists work with children and adults of all ages in a range of settings including health organisations, social care, housing, education, prisons, employment services, voluntary organisations, and in private practice. They work with clients with challenges including mental health problems, physical illnesses or disabilities and learning disabilities or a combination of these.

Read more information about our courses and university services terms and conditions.

Covid-19 updates

We won’t be making any significant changes to the content of our programmes, but there will be some changes to the way they are delivered. Please see the Covid-19 updates tab for further details of how this may affect this course.

Highlights

Successful completion of this course allows you to apply for registration with the Health & Care Professions Council (HCPC) and Royal College of Occupational Therapists.
Shared campus with one of the largest teaching hospitals in the UK.
There are well-established Allied Health Professional education programmes already running at St George's including physiotherapy, radiography and paramedic science which provides unique opportunities for inter-professional education and debates preparing students to work in multi-disciplinary health and social care teams.
Modern teaching facilities enable students to practice and develop practical skills in simulated environments to prepare for practice placements.
Established links with local NHS and Social Care organisations enhance prospects for graduating students seeking work in the local area.
Variety of placements both in the NHS, local authority and non-traditional settings.

Admissions Tutor

View profile

Government announces additional £5k support funding to students on Allied Health degrees

Students studying Allied Health degrees at university are set to receive an additional £5,000 per year of NHS funding from September 2020. The additional funding will be provided on top of existing support, including student loans. The additional funding applies to new and existing students and does not need to be paid back.

The government expects the £5,000 maintenance grants to benefit around 100,000 students every year.

There will also be extra payments worth up to £3,000 per academic year for eligible students. These include:

£1,000 towards childcare costs
£1,000 if studying in a region that is struggling to recruit
£1,000 if they’re a new student studying a shortage specialism important to delivering the NHS Long Term Plan.

Government announces additional £5k support funding to students on Allied Health degrees

Read the full article.

Tuition fees

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Home (UK/EU) student fees

Academic year	UK/EU (per academic year)	Total fee*
2020/21	£9,250	£27,750

For more information, see our fees and funding pages.*Tuition fees for home (UK/EU) students are determined by UK Government policy. Tuition fees are charged for each year of your course. Fees for second and subsequent years are likely to increase annually in line with UK inflation as measured by the Retail Price Index (RPI-X) and subject to maximum regulated fee rates set by the UK Government.

International (non-EU) student fees

Academic year	International (per academic year)	Total fee*
2020/21	£16,000	£48,000

*Tuition fees for international students are set by St George’s, University of London. Tuition fees are charged for each year of your course. Fees for second and subsequent years are likely to increase annually in line with UK inflation as measured by the Retail Price Index (RPI-X) and will not normally increase by more than 5% each year, except when the rate of inflation is significantly more than that projected in the preceding year.

For more information, see our fees and funding pages.

Additional costs

The following table gives you an indication of additional costs associated with your course. These costs are not included in your tuition fees.

Item	Description
Admissions costs	DBS - £40 Post office verification - £5 Administration fee - £6
Technology requirements	Find out more about technology requirements associated with online learning.

“From the second you walk through the door, the staff at St George’s are incredibly supportive and encouraging every step of the way throughout your learning experience. Our class bonded really well and we have a lot of fun as well as being there to provide support for each other.”

- Sharon

Occupational Therapy BSc

You will need to meet both the entry and personal statement criteria to be considered for this course. With the exception of GCSEs, all qualifications must have been awarded no more than five years before your year of application.

Entry criteria 2020

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GCSEs

Grades	5 subjects graded C (4) or above
Subjects	Five subjects which must include English Language, Maths and Double Award Science (unless with an Access course).
Additional information
We accept resits of GCSEs. We are unable to accept Adult Literacy and Numeracy or Functional Maths instead of GCSEs. If you have completed all of your qualifications before you apply and you meet the A-level or degree (or equivalent) academic requirement, but you do not meet the GCSE requirements, your application may still be considered.

A Levels

Grades	BBB
Subjects	Science or social science subjects may be helpful but are not essential.
Adjusted Criteria	If you attend a school or college in England from this list (ie a non-selective state school with an average A Level grade of D+ or below, or one that is in the bottom 20% in England for progression to Higher Education) then you may be eligible to receive an adjusted A Level offer two grades lower than the standard for the course. For BSc Occupational Therapy this will be an A Level offer of BCC. You will still have to meet all other academic and non-academic entry requirements. Please note that eligibility is determined based on the school/college at which you take your A Levels. If you completed your GCSEs at a school on our Adjusted Criteria list, but then undertook your A Levels at a school/college that is not on this list, you will not qualify for an adjusted offer. The scheme is reviewed annually, so may change scope in future years.
Additional information
AS levels are not considered for this course. Re-sits will be considered but you may be required to achieve higher grades. Modular re-sits will be considered, however, you may be required to achieve higher grades.

International Baccalaureate

Award

Full Award Diploma

Overall score

Overall score of 32

Subjects

15 points at Higher Level, Sciences or Social Science may be helpful but are not essential.

At Standard Level, a minimum score of 5 must be attained in Maths and English, if at least a 5 (Grade C) has not previously been attained in GCSE/IGCSE/O Level Maths and English.

Access Diploma

Award	Full award diploma
Scores	60 credits at level 3 (45 graded and 15 ungraded)
Grades	Overall 21 credits graded at Distinction and 24 at Merit. Must be completed within last 5 years.
Subjects	Subjects such as Biology, Health and Social Care Access courses would be an advantage but is not essential.
Additional credits	Any additional credits outside of the 60 credit diploma will not be accepted.
Additional information
Must be completed within the last 4 years. If you have not taken GCSEs and/or A Levels (or equivalent) or you have lower grades in previous studies, you will be required to complete your Access course prior to submitting an application. You are required to have GCSEs in English Language and Maths alongside the Access Diploma as per the requirements outlined above.

Other qualifications

Birkbeck College Certificate in Life Sciences	65 per cent overall
Pearson BTEC Level 3 Extended Diploma	DDM Subjects in Science, Psychology, Biology, Health and Social Care would be an advantage but is not essential
Open University (OU)	120 units at level 1 and 2 Level 1: Understanding Health Sciences, 30 units Level 2: Human Biology module, 30 units Any other module, 30 units All results must be received and verified by us by 1 September of the year of entry
Cambridge Pre-U Diploma	Overall score of 64 and no subject less than M2
Scottish Highers	Five B grades at Higher Level including English Language, Maths and Science BBB at Advanced Higher Level including Biology or Human Biology
Irish Leaving Certificate	Six B grades at Higher Level, including English and Maths, English Language and Maths B2 at HL Applicants should list their Junior Certificates on UCAS form
Undergraduate Degree	2.2 Honours or higher
HKDSE	5,4,4
Foundation Degree	Minimum overall score 65 per cent in health related subject.
EU and international qualifications	View a list of the international qualfiications we accept.
Other	Please contact us for details
Additional information
If your qualifications do not meet the indicated entry criteria but you have completed some other recognised study, please provide additional information and supporting evidence to the once you have submitted your application.

English language

GCSE / IGCSE

English Language grade 6 / B or above.

Please note: all components (speaking, listening, reading and writing) must be completed and assessed.

IELTS

(International English Language Testing System)

7.0 overall (with a minimum of 6.5 in all sections in core elements - Listening, Reading, Writing and Speaking)

You are able to take two attempts to achieve your IELTS qualification per year and your test results are valid for two years.

Pearson's Test

67 overall (including 67 in written and speaking element and no section less than 61)*

Non-academic criteria

Work experience	We understand the challenges for our prospective applicants for medicine and allied health courses trying to gain work experience at this time, particularly in clinical settings. In response to the government’s social distancing guidelines, which have a significant impact on all areas of life, we have chosen to relax our work experience requirements for prospective applicants for our courses which would normally require these. Despite the relaxed requirements, we still require our applicants to have an understanding of the realities of working as a healthcare professional and to show they have the necessary skills and attributes for their chosen career. Online resources can give you valuable insight into working in the healthcare sector and outline the wide range of careers and courses available. You can find a number of suggested resources for each of our courses here.
Personal statement	You must demonstrate interest in, and commitment to, working with people; able to identify relevant transferable skills that would make you a good Occupational Therapist; demonstrate a broad awareness of the scope and practice of Occupational Therapy; and an ability to reflect on work experience. In addition to meeting the academic criteria for admission, you should be able to demonstrate a keen interest in and commitment to working with people, be able to identify relevant transferable skills that would make you a good Occupational Therapist, demonstrate a broad awareness of the scope of Occupational Therapy, and have obtained some relevant work experience where possible. All of this should be evident from your UCAS personal statement. Applicants who do not demonstrate this are unlikely to be invited for interview. Applicants should be aware that we will be notified by UCAS of any plagiarism within a personal statement. If UCAS indicate that the plagiarism is above 60 per cent then you application is unlikely to be considered any further and you will be unsuccessful.
Health and police screening	Satisfactory clearance in both, including immunisation against Hepatitis B, MMR, Meningitis, TB and Chicken Pox. Once accepted onto a health and social care course, you are required to pass occupational health screening. When admitting candidates to study and practice as a health and social care practitioner, we have an obligation to both service users and to the individual student. Candidates who are concerned about a health issue are strongly advised to contact us prior to applying. All offers of places are made subject to satisfactory health clearance and an agreement to undergo appropriate blood tests and immunisations. You will be asked to be immunised against Hepatitis B for personal safety, so please contact your general practitioner (GP) to arrange screening. You should begin a course of Hepatitis B immunisation as soon as you submit your UCAS application, as it consists of three injections over a six month period. If you firmly accept an offer you will be sent a confidential health questionnaire and further information about the process of screening for Hepatitis B. This course includes working with children and vulnerable adults so all applicants must have enhanced DBS (Disclosure and Barring Service) check. More information about this will be sent to applicants as part of the admissions process. Read more about DBS checks.
Professional registration	If you already belong to a registered professional body, please provide details at interview. If you are a current healthcare professional or a member of a registered professional body, you must provide details of your registration. If you have had your professional registration suspended or revoked, or undergone a disciplinary/fitness to practice investigation, you will be required to provide further information if selected for interview. This will be reviewed by the admissions tutor and you may be required to provide full copies of related documentation. Any information you disclose will only be used for the purpose of considering your application to the applied course.

Work experience

You must have work or voluntary experience in a field which demonstrates communication and people skills which are relevant to a career in Occupational Therapy. This may be in the field of Education, Social Care, or Health but also in Customer Services or Conflict Resolution. Your personal statement should reflect your awareness of the relevance of your experiences to Occupational Therapy. In addition, you must be able to demonstrate a broad awareness of the scope of Occupational Therapy. Although work experience is ideal, your work experience does not have to take place in an NHS or social care setting. It can be paid or voluntary. Working in a care home, hospice or doing community work with disabled adults or children are examples of good work experience. It is useful to see evidence that you have experience with people using health or social care services.

If invited to interview you may be required to provide formal letters detailing the dates, hours worked and duties carried out.

We do not specify a minimum amount of experience, but the more you have the better - there's no such thing as too much experience. It does not have to be full time but regular experience over a period of months is preferable to a couple of weeks here and there as it demonstrates commitment. Recent work experience is preferable although you can reflect on any relevant past experience.

Exceptions

Applicants who are studying or who have previously studied on another Pre-Registration Occupational Therapy course in the UK may not be considered. However, it is worth contacting the admissions tutor to check.

The following qualifications may enhance your application, but cannot contribute to the minimum requirements:

NVQs
ITEC Anatomy and Physiology.

Entry criteria 2021

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GCSEs

Grades	5 subjects graded C (4) or above
Subjects	Five subjects which must include English Language, Maths and Double Award Science.
Additional information
We accept resits of GCSEs. We are unable to accept Adult Literacy and Numeracy or Functional Maths instead of GCSEs. If you have completed all of your qualifications before you apply and you meet the A-level or degree (or equivalent) academic requirement, but you do not meet the GCSE requirements, your application may still be considered.

A Levels

Grades	BBB
Subjects	Science or social science subjects may be helpful but are not essential.
Adjusted Criteria	If you attend a school or college in England from this list (ie a non-selective state school with an average A Level grade of D+ or below, or one that is in the bottom 20% in England for progression to Higher Education) then you may be eligible to receive an adjusted A Level offer two grades lower than the standard for the course. For BSc Occupational Therapy this will be an A Level offer of BCC. You will still have to meet all other academic and non-academic entry requirements. Please note that eligibility is determined based on the school/college at which you take your A Level . If you completed your GCSEs at a school on our Adjusted Criteria list, but then undertook your A Level at a school/college that is not on this list, you will not qualify for an adjusted offer. The scheme is reviewed annually, so may change scope in future years.
Additional information
AS levels are not considered for this course. Re-sits will be considered but you may be required to achieve higher grades. Modular re-sits will be considered, however, you may be required to achieve higher grades.

International Baccalaureate

Award

Full Award Diploma

Overall score

Overall score of 32

Subjects

15 points at Higher Level, Sciences or Social Science may be helpful but are not essential.

At Standard Level, a minimum score of 5 must be attained in Maths and English, if at least a 5 (Grade C) has not previously been attained in GCSE/IGCSE/O Level Maths and English.

Access Diploma

Award	Full award diploma
Scores	60 credits at level 3 (45 graded and 15 ungraded)
Grades	Overall 21 credits graded at Distinction and 24 at Merit. Must be completed within last 5 years.
Subjects	Credits must be in pure science subjects, excluding Sociology.
Additional credits	Any additional credits outside of the 60 credit diploma will not be accepted.
Additional information
Must be completed within the last 4 years. If you have not taken GCSEs and/or A Levels (or equivalent) or you have lower grades in previous studies, you will be required to complete your Access course prior to submitting an application. You are required to have GCSEs in English Language and Maths alongside the Access Diploma as per the requirements outlined above.

Other qualifications

Birkbeck College Certificate in Life Sciences	65 per cent overall
Pearson BTEC Level 3 Extended Diploma	DDM Subjects in Science, Psychology, Biology, Health and Social Care may be helpful but is not essential
Open University (OU)	120 units at level 1 and 2 Level 1: Understanding Health Sciences, 30 units Level 2: Human Biology module, 30 units Any other module, 30 units All results must be received and verified by us by 1 September of the year of entry
Cambridge Pre-U Diploma	Overall score of 64 and no subject less than M2
Scottish Highers	Five B grades at Higher Level including English Language, Maths and Science BBB at Advanced Higher Level including Biology or Human Biology
Irish Leaving Certificate	Six B grades at Higher Level, including English and Maths, English Language and Maths B2 at HL Applicants should list their Junior Certificates on UCAS form
Undergraduate Degree	2.2 Honours or higher
HKDSE	5,4,4
Foundation Degree	Minimum overall score 65 per cent in health related subject.
EU and international qualifications	Please contact us for details.
Other	Please contact us for details
Additional information
If your qualifications do not meet the indicated entry criteria but you have completed some other recognised study, please provide additional information and supporting evidence to the once you have submitted your application.

English language

If English is not your first language and you are not a national of a country deemed by either the UK Home Office or St George’s, University of London to be ‘majority English speaking’ listed here, you will be required to meet the English Language requirements outlined below. Tests are valid for a period of two years.

GCSE / IGCSE

English Language grade 6 / B or above.

Please note: all components (speaking, listening, reading and writing) must be completed and assessed.

IELTS

(International English Language Testing System)

7.0 overall (with a minimum of 6.5 in all sections in core elements - Listening, Reading, Writing and Speaking)

You are able to take two attempts to achieve your IELTS qualification per year and your test results are valid for two years.

Pearson's Test

67 overall (including 67 in written and speaking element and no section less than 61)*

Non-academic criteria

Work experience	We understand the challenges for our prospective applicants for medicine and allied health courses trying to gain work experience at this time, particularly in clinical settings. In response to the government’s social distancing guidelines, which have a significant impact on all areas of life, we have chosen to relax our work experience requirements for prospective applicants for our courses which would normally require these. Despite the relaxed requirements, we still require our applicants to have an understanding of the realities of working as a healthcare professional and to show they have the necessary skills and attributes for their chosen career. Online resources can give you valuable insight into working in the healthcare sector and outline the wide range of careers and courses available. You can find a number of suggested resources for each of our courses here.
Personal statement	You must demonstrate interest in, and commitment to, working with people; able to identify relevant transferable skills that would make you a good Occupational Therapist; demonstrate a broad awareness of the scope and practice of Occupational Therapy; and an ability to reflect on work experience. In addition to meeting the academic criteria for admission, you should be able to demonstrate a keen interest in and commitment to working with people, be able to identify relevant transferable skills that would make you a good Occupational Therapist, demonstrate a broad awareness of the scope of Occupational Therapy, and have obtained some relevant work experience where possible. All of this should be evident from your UCAS personal statement. Applicants who do not demonstrate this are unlikely to be invited for interview. Applicants should be aware that we will be notified by UCAS of any plagiarism within a personal statement. If UCAS indicate that the plagiarism is above 60 per cent then you application is unlikely to be considered any further and you will be unsuccessful.
Health and police screening	Satisfactory clearance in both, including immunisation against Hepatitis B, MMR, Meningitis, TB and Chicken Pox. Once accepted onto a health and social care course, you are required to pass occupational health screening. When admitting candidates to study and practice as a health and social care practitioner, we have an obligation to both service users and to the individual student. Candidates who are concerned about a health issue are strongly advised to contact us prior to applying. All offers of places are made subject to satisfactory health clearance and an agreement to undergo appropriate blood tests and immunisations. You will be asked to be immunised against Hepatitis B for personal safety, so please contact your general practitioner (GP) to arrange screening. You should begin a course of Hepatitis B immunisation as soon as you submit your UCAS application, as it consists of three injections over a six month period. If you firmly accept an offer you will be sent a confidential health questionnaire and further information about the process of screening for Hepatitis B. This course includes working with children and vulnerable adults so all applicants must have enhanced DBS (Disclosure and Barring Service) check. More information about this will be sent to applicants as part of the admissions process. Read more about DBS checks.
Professional registration	If you already belong to a registered professional body, please provide details at interview. If you are a current healthcare professional or a member of a registered professional body, you must provide details of your registration. If you have had your professional registration suspended or revoked, or undergone a disciplinary/fitness to practice investigation, you will be required to provide further information if selected for interview. This will be reviewed by the admissions tutor and you may be required to provide full copies of related documentation. Any information you disclose will only be used for the purpose of considering your application to the applied course.

Work experience

If invited to interview you may be required to provide formal letters detailing the dates, hours worked and duties carried out.

Exceptions

The following qualifications may enhance your application, but cannot contribute to the minimum requirements:

NVQs
ITEC Anatomy and Physiology.

By combining theoretical knowledge with practical experience, this course explores concepts, principles and theories of occupational science, human development, anatomy, physiology, and psychology to develop a strong foundation to practice as an Occupational Therapist. You will develop excellent communication skills and learn to work collaboratively with a range of clients, carers and communities to meet their goals.

Year one is primarily university-based, although you will complete your first practice placement. Collaborative inter-professional education, with other health care students, helps you develop invaluable communication and team-building skills and appreciate the roles of other professionals

In year two you will build on your understanding of theoretical concepts and learn skills to deliver Occupational Therapy with a variety of clients in a range of health and social care services, and with clients with learning disabilities or children. You will complete two practice placements, an opportunity to put theory into practice and develop your skills further.

A comprehensive research project in year three also puts your analytical skills to the test, and you will complete another practice placement where you will work with greater autonomy and competency.

Modules

Please note: the modules listed here are indicative. The actual modules available to students when they enrol, may be subject to change.

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Year 1

Essentials for Allied Health Professionals
Factors Influencing Professional Practice
Foundations of Occupational Therapy
Occupation for Health and Wellbeing
Practice Placement 1

Year 2

Research methods in Health and Social Care
Enabling Occupational Performance
Occupations in Context
Human Occupation across the Lifespan
Practice Placements 2 and 3

Year 3

Research in Practice
Promoting Occupation in Contemporary Practice
Reflection, Evaluation and Outcome Measurement for Occupational Therapists
Inter-professional Debates/Management
Practice Placement 4

Assessing your progress

Methods include a combination of written and practical examinations, academic coursework (including reports and presentations) and assessment of Occupational Therapy skills whilst on placement. In your final year, we ask you to produce a problem-based report on an aspect of interdisciplinary practice, a group research project, and a poster related to contemporary Occupational Therapy practice.

An Occupational Therapist needs a range of knowledge, skills and experience. These include excellent communication skills, along with a theoretical background and a passionate interest in helping people to achieve their own goals.

The overall aim of an Occupational Therapist is to help and empower people to participate in everyday activities that are important to them; despite any problems or barriers that may arise from illness, injury, disability or the environment. Working in multidisciplinary teams and practising within a variety of settings, you will be helping people of all ages. This could include work in:

older people’s services
mental health services
social care
children’s therapy services or schools
rehabilitation centres
hospitals
hospices
housing departments
private practice
charities
international services.

Successful completion of this course allows you to apply for registration with the Health and Care Professions Council and become a member of the Royal College of Occupational Therapists (COT).

If you are an EU or non-EU (international) applicant, you should check with the professional registration body in your country to ensure that you will be eligible to practice there.

Read more about Occupational Therapy on the Royal College of Occupational Therapists’ website.

Watch a short video produced by RCOT about Occupational Therapy.

Further study

As you gain experience, you may opt to specialise in an area of practice. There are many exciting opportunities for career advancement, further study or research, including further postgraduate study at St George’s.

Learn more about our MSc Rehabilitation post-graduate course.

At St George's we offer a broad range of learning environments which include traditional lecture-tutorials, small group working, interactive workshops, simulation and practical activities, student-led seminars and web-based delivery. Teaching staff comprise of university-based lecturers, clinicians and experts in their field.

Teaching methods include classroom-based learning, simulated practical exercises, case-based learning, individual and group working and practice placements. You will also benefit from the support of a personal tutor, peer-group learning and a range of web-based learning materials and online discussion forums.

Practice placements are undertaken in a variety of health and social care environments, including acute NHS hospital trusts, community-based services, mental health services, social care and children’s services. The supervised, hands-on experience you get with clients on placement is the best way to consolidate your learning. Assessed, practice placement blocks take place in all years of study.

Students have previously undertaken placements at the following locations*:

Vauxhall City Farm and Randall Close/Leonard Cheshire
Guy's & St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust
Enfield Community Services
Islington Community Rehabilitation Services
South London & Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust
St Georges University Hospitals NHS Trust
South West London & St George's Mental Health NHS Trust
West London Mental Health NHS Trust
Central London Community Healthcare NHS Trust
Camden & Islington NHS Foundation Trust
Southend University Hospital NHS Trust

*This is a selection of locations students have previously undertaken placements. This is subject to change.

Covid-19 guidance

For information on applications, clearing, work experience and gap years, view our latest Covid-19 FAQs for prospective applicants.

Apply for this course through UCAS (the University and College Admissions Service) by 15 January in the year of entry. There are no upper age limits, and we welcome applications from mature students.

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Application checklist

Things to remember

You must provide:

full details of your Level 2 (GCSE equivalent qualifications) with grades
full details of your Level 3 (A Level or equivalent qualifications) with achieved/predicted grades
a personal statement (more information about this document is available on the UCAS website)
an academic reference from your current or most recent institutions with predicted grades
log in to UCAS Track and check your application to see if all your academic details have been included.

If any subjects or predicted results are missing, email the Admissions Officer with your UCAS number and missing subjects and grades.

After submitting your application to UCAS

Log in to UCAS Track and check your application to see if all your academic details have been included.
If any subjects or predicted results are missing, email the admissions officer with your UCAS number and missing subjects and grades

Deferred entry

We will consider applications from applicants who wish to defer entry by a year, provided you plan to use the time constructively. If you are offered a place on the course and subsequently decide to defer, you must inform us by 1 June of the year of application.

After application

Acknowledgement emails and letters are sent out on receipt of applications. Please ensure that your email account is able to accept communications from St George’s as we will mainly communicate with applicants via email. Selected applicants will be invited to attend an interview.

Decisions from St George’s will be entered onto UCAS Track and direct applicants will be contacted via email.

We have been working hard to find ways to teach our courses without disruption, while keeping our staff and students safe and making sure we follow government guidance on Covid-19. We won’t be making any significant changes to the content of our programmes, but there will be some changes to the way they are delivered. Please see below for further details of how this may affect this course.

If government advice changes, we may need to update our plans. If we do so, we will update this information, and will keep current students and offer holders informed by email.

We will also continue to update our frequently asked questions page for applicants and offer holders and current students as more information becomes available.

Course content

We are not making any significant changes to the content of the Occupational Therapy programme. However, we have remodelled placement activity for Year 2 and 3 as students were unable to complete all their necessary placements for academic year 2019/20. This has been necessary as all students on this programme must complete 1,000 hours of practice placement as part of the degree award and professional body requirements.

All the programme modules are compulsory and must be passed for successful completion for the degree award, and for you to be eligible for registration with the Health and Care Professions Council under the protected title of Occupational Therapist.

There is a possibility that government advice on social distancing may change in the future and this may restrict access to the campus. Even if this were to be the case, we expect to be able to continue to deliver all modules of the programme. However, we would need to consider how to adapt practice placement activities, in line with the guidance of the relevant professional bodies (Health Education England, Health and Care Professions Council, and Royal College of Occupational Therapists).

Supporting vulnerable students

Students considered to be most at risk from Covid-19 should work at home wherever possible in line with government advice. Students who are going on placement will be required to complete an individual risk assessment and others may choose to do so. In addition, students from vulnerable groups, including care leavers, students estranged from their families and students with disabilities, are prioritised for help from the University’s Hardship Funds and for accommodation in Horton Halls. Priority for loans of laptops from the University will be given to those eligible to receive a hardship grant; those registered as disabled, care leavers or with caring responsibilities; and international students who may have difficulty sourcing an appropriate device on arrival in the UK.

We recognise the impact that the current circumstances may have on mental health and have expanded our counselling provision, offering remote appointments to any student. In addition, every student will be allocated a personal tutor to offer individual pastoral and academic support from the start of their studies. (Further information about health and wellbeing advice during Covid-19 is available here.)

Priority consideration has been given to support for students with disabilities when accessing teaching and learning online, through the provision of automatic live captioning and British Sign Language within our primary technologies of Panopto, MS Teams and Big Blue Button. These can benefit a range of students, especially those who are deaf or hard of hearing, as well as students with an Autistic Spectrum Condition (ASC), memory processing issues, and for whom English is an additional language.

Human-level captioning is also available where a need has been established through the Disability Advisory team. Human-level captioning requests are processed by the Learning Technology Services (LTS) section and can be requested by email to lts@sgul.ac.uk.

How the course will be delivered

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Incoming students (starting September 2020)

The existing learning outcomes for our modules and courses will remain in place. From September to December 2020 all students will primarily access their learning, including learning materials, via the Virtual Learning Environment (VLE), Canvas. Hands-on practical teaching and learning activities will be delivered on campus with appropriate social distancing and personal protective equipment (PPE) measures put in place, and with controls on the number of people in each location.

The online components of the course will be designed to balance interactive real-time sessions with lecturers and other students, with self-paced independent study. Students will have clear learning pathways through the activities they are expected to engage with, and there will be opportunities to check learning and progress.

Personal tutor support and all other student support, such as the Academic Success Centre, will also be online for this period, using a range of methods for staying in touch, such as telephone, email and the University’s web conferencing systems BigBlueButton and MSTeams.

Pending Health Education England (HEE) approval, placements are currently expected to resume from September 2020 with minimum changes to planned delivery or timings. All students on placement will be expected to undertake a risk assessment and adhere to local Trust working patterns and guidance.

To get the most from online study, hardware requirements have been established and communicated to all existing students and offer holders. Students will need their own personal computer or laptop and an internet connection in their place of accommodation. This needs to be in place at the start of the course. Once enrolled, students will have the ability to use Office 365 as part of our institutional licence, and access software required for their modules/courses via AppsAnywhere. In addition, we offer Office for Mac via Ofice365, but only the following applications are available for Mac: Teams, Word, Excel, Powerpoint, Outlook, OneNote. Web-based Office applications are available on Mac. Full details are available here. There is a provision for students who may struggle to meet the hardware requirements to contact our IT Hardship team.

Current students

Risk assessment

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Incoming students (starting September 2020)

Students with pre-existing illnesses or disabilities, or who are shielding

If you suffer, or have suffered, from a serious illness (physical or psychological) or have a disability, or have been required to shield due to Covid-19, please let us know. St George’s is committed to supporting our students and will explore all reasonable adjustments to support you to thrive on your course.

Please contact our Disability Advisor as soon as possible with details to help us establish whether your health history or disability is likely to affect your ability to study or practise. This will also give us sufficient time to carry out a detailed assessment, obtain reports and organise additional expert assessments if required.

Attendance at site

Most of our courses include elements of teaching for which you will be required to attend the University site. Attendance at these sessions will be essential to enable you to engage with the course and undertake assessments.

Placements

You will be required to undertake a personal risk assessment before you can attend any placement that is part of your course (or undertake certain other activities, such as those which include the practice of clinical skills or require the use of PPE). Where a health concern arises, every effort will be made to identify alternative placement arrangements, but your health and safety will be the first priority, and alternative arrangements may not be possible. This may have implications for the continuation of your study. If you are clinically vulnerable or have been shielding, we strongly encourage you to contact the Disability Advisor now to undertake an assessment.

Current students

Students with pre-existing illnesses or disabilities, or who are shielding

If you're a student with a pre-existing illness or disability, or who is shielding, your course team will contact you to ask if you would like to complete a personal risk assessment before you return to the site. If you suffer from a serious illness which may increase your level of risk or have been required to shield due to Covid-19, we recommend that you complete a personal risk assessment. St George’s is committed to supporting our students and will explore all reasonable adjustments to support you to thrive on your course.

Attendance at site

For the majority of our courses, we will be delivering an element of face to face, hands-on teaching on campus in line with social distancing guidelines which you are required to attend. If you will be unable to attend teaching on-site due to a health reason, you must let us know by the start of the academic year so we can consider alternative arrangements to ensure you progress through the course. Mitigating Circumstances can still be submitted for unforeseen illnesses; however, being unable to attend the site due to shielding or being at heightened risk from a pre-existing illness or disability will not be accepted as grounds for Mitigating Circumstances. Please discuss this with your course team and complete a personal risk assessment so that all reasonable adjustment can be made.

Placements

You will be required to undertake a personal risk assessment before you can attend any placement (or undertake certain other activities, such as those including the practice of clinical skills or requiring the use of PPE) that is part of your course. Where a health concern arises, every effort will be made to identify alternative placements arrangements, but your health and safety will be the first priority, and where alternative arrangements are not possible, there may be implications for your studies. If you are clinically vulnerable or have been shielding, we strongly encourage you to contact your course team now to undertake a personal risk assessment.

Course length

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Incoming students (starting September 2020)

At this stage, we expect to deliver the course within the planned timescales to enable successful students to progress through the programme, and to graduate without delay, providing they meet the requirements of the programme.

Some assessments are designed to be taken on-site or in small groups. Where necessary we have developed alternative assessment strategies to enable students to complete assessments remotely and without coming to campus. Students will be coached on how to use the relevant online platforms to enable them to do this.

The programme does include practical, clinical and skill-based elements that are delivered in specialist teaching rooms and with specialist equipment. Practical classes in our specialist teaching rooms will be arranged to minimise travel to and from the site (approximately three sessions during September–December 2020) with appropriate social distancing measures and PPE if required. Anatomy sessions normally delivered in our Dissecting Room will be delivered online with video recordings in the first term (September–December 2020). Communication skills sessions will be online in the first term. Practical, clinical and skills-based teaching will run as planned for the remainder of 2021.

We have currently planned for placement activity for Years 1, 2 and 3 of the programme and will use our normal systems and processes to allocate students to placements. We will consider any necessary risk assessments for individual students and plan their placements accordingly.

There is a possibility that government advice on social distancing may change. If that is the case, we will endeavour to delay practical components of the programme to a subsequent semester (or year) to protect the safety of students.

Current students

At this stage, we expect to deliver the course within the planned timescales to enable successful students to progress through the programme and to graduate without delay.

Some assessments are designed to be taken on-site or in small groups, we have developed alternative assessment strategies to enable students to complete assessments remotely and without coming on to campus. Students will be coached on how to use the relevant online platforms to enable them to do this.

We have currently planned for placement activity for Year 2 and 3 of the programme and will use our normal systems and processes to allocate students to placement. We will consider any necessary risk assessments for individual students and plan their placements accordingly.

We will continue to offer final year research projects in small groups which enable students to work with staff on topics related to occupational science or occupational therapy. Depending on government advice and guidance, we may be able to offer face-to-face data collection. However projects will be designed to be flexible, in case this is not possible.

For clinical programmes, placement providers will continue to offer placements as they have in previous years. Their capacity to offer placements may change if there is a further outbreak of Covid-19 and delivering care and treatment to affected patients becomes the overriding priority. If this happens, we will limit the impact on students where possible. We will place students in those placement sites that do continue to accept students, and if necessary we will use our simulation facilities or remote placements to offer a comparable clinical experience.

For continuing students, it may be possible to delay placements to the following academic year to protect student interests. However, there is a possibility that graduation for some final year students may be delayed until they are able to complete all placements.

Additional costs

We do not expect students to incur any extra costs over and above those that we have advertised on the course page.

As a result of our courses beginning with the majority of teaching online, you will need a personal laptop or computer and access to the internet to participate in online lectures. Information is available on recommended device specification. If you are worried you might struggle to meet these requirements, you should email IThardship@sgul.ac.uk so we can look at support options for you.

Personal protective equipment (PPE) will be provided for you if needed.

If government guidance changes and we need to postpone or alter placements, then you may need to cover living expenses might be beyond the standard term dates of the programme.

Assessment methods

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Incoming students (starting September 2020)

We assess the knowledge, skills and attributes of our students in a variety of ways. The methods that we use include formal written examinations, practical examinations and in-course assessments. These might include essays, practical write-ups and special study reports, oral presentations and poster presentations.

All formal written examinations take place December. At this stage, we expect to deliver these assessments as planned. Although some assessments are designed to be taken on-site, we successfully developed an alternative assessment strategy in 2019/20 to enable students to complete assessments remotely without coming on to campus. For example, formal examinations were taken remotely by students within at a time of their choosing within a window stipulated by us. If the government advice on social distancing changes, we will take this approach again.

Current students

The university-based assessments will continue, and students will submit online as usual. Some assessments have been adapted slightly (e.g. the small group presentation assessments) to ensure each student can achieve the learning outcomes. You will be informed of these changes at the start of each module.

Assessments, where students are directly observed performing a practical or clinical skill by an examiner, can only be delivered on campus or on practice placement. Assessments within which a student’s ability to communicate appropriately with a patient or simulated patient can also only be delivered on-site. At this stage, we expect to be able to deliver assessments of this kind on-site or during practice placement.

However, if government advice changes and the campus is closed, we would not be able to deliver these assessments as planned. In that case, it might be possible to delay these assessments to the following academic year to protect student safety. If that happens, graduation for some final year students may be delayed until you are able to complete all assessments, because we have an obligation to our regulators to confirm that our students have met the clinical and practical outcomes for the programme before they graduate.

Award

The Occupational Therapy BSc programme is accredited and validated by the Health and Care Professions Council and recognised by the Royal College of Occupational Therapists. The programme has previously mapped against their requirements and standards and this is unchanged.

Successful graduates from the programme will, therefore, be eligible to apply for registration when they complete the programme if they have passed all university-based and practice placement assessments. Students will be required to complete and pass 1,000 hours of assessed practice placement.

Location of study

All face-to-face teaching will take place at St George’s, University of London on the campus that we share with St George’s Hospital in Tooting with appropriate social distancing measures in place. We have not explored alternative locations for teaching and have no immediate plans to do so. If government advice on social distancing changes, we will consider ways in which we can deliver teaching on-site in a manner that is safe for students and staff.

For clinical programmes, placement providers will continue to offer placements as they have in previous years. We will use our existing procedures for allocating students to placements. We also use placements outside of the NHS and Social Care, and these will be subject to the same quality and safety arrangements for students. Prior to each placement, students undertake a week of preparation, which will include any necessary Covid-19, PPE and risk assessment arrangements.

Consenting to these changes

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Incoming students (from September 2020)

The changes that we are making are the consequence of current public health advice, and our capacity to offer alternatives is limited by that advice. If you wish to avoid these changes by deferring your offer please contact admissions@sgul.ac.uk.

Current students

The changes that we are making are the consequence of current public health advice, and our capacity to offer alternatives is limited by that advice. You will be required to consent to these changes as part of your re-enrolment. If you wish to avoid these changes (e.g. by taking a year out from your studies) please discuss this directly with your course team in the first instance. We remain, as always, focused on the best experience and outcomes for our students.

Duration

Three years, full time

Application Deadline

30 April 2020

UCAS Code

B920, institution code S49

Apply via UCAS

Occupational Therapy

Covid-19 updates

Highlights

Sarah Wink

Government announces additional £5k support funding to students on Allied Health degrees

Government announces additional £5k support funding to students on Allied Health degrees

Tuition fees

Entry criteria 2020

Work experience

Entry criteria 2021

Work experience

Modules

Assessing your progress

Further study

Covid-19 guidance

Things to remember

After submitting your application to UCAS

Course content

Supporting vulnerable students

How the course will be delivered

Risk assessment

Students with pre-existing illnesses or disabilities, or who are shielding

Attendance at site

Placements

Students with pre-existing illnesses or disabilities, or who are shielding

Attendance at site

Placements

Course length

Additional costs

Assessment methods

Award

Location of study

Consenting to these changes

Apply now

Duration

Application Deadline

UCAS Code

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