Occupational Therapy (pre-registration)

You should have or be expected to achieve, a minimum of a 2:1 Honours Degree in a life science or health-related subject. This may include (but is not limited to): biology, behavioural science, sports science, physiology, health science, or a health-related profession which ideally contains human anatomy and physiology.

Experience of the research process and/or completion of an undergraduate research project is essential.

All degrees must be awarded before 1 August on the year of entry.

We welcome applications from applicants around the world. For information on the requirements for your country, please visit our International Qualifications for Postgraduate Study page.

If you are applying from outside of the UK, you will need to meet the English language requirements outlined here. This is a Group 1 course.

You will be asked to submit a personal statement with your application. This statement should outline your reasons for applying for the course, demonstrate evidence of experience and what transferable skills you learnt from this experience. The personal statement will be considered at various stages in the application process including if you are invited to interview.

You will need to provide one reference. This should be an academic or professional reference. See the 'Apply' tab for more information.

Through the application process, you will need to demonstrate appropriate personal qualities, motivation, communication skills and understanding of an occupational therapist’s role.

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 continued impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, 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.

If you meet the entry requirements above, you will be invited to attend a Multiple Mini Interview (MMI). This will usually be in-person, however we can also offer remote MMIs for international applicants.

You can find further information about this process on our MMI Guidance page, however please note that some of this information may change for those applying during the 2024 application cycle.

Should you receive an offer to study at St George’s, you will be required to complete a health check and be declared fit to study and practise by the Occupational Health (OH) department before you begin your studies.

The following vaccinations are mandatory for all healthcare students before you begin your studies:

• MMR (measles, mumps and rubella)
• Meningococcal meningitis
• Diphtheria
• Pertussis (whooping cough)
• Poliomyelitis
• Tetanus

As part of the process, you will also be screened by the OH team for Chickenpox, Tuberculosis, HIV and Hepatitis B and C.

We do not currently require you to have been vaccinated against Covid-19, but we strongly recommend that you get double vaccinated before the start of your studies, unless medically exempt.

When admitting candidates to study and practise as a health practitioner, we have an obligation to both patients and to the individual student. Candidates who are concerned about a health issue are advised to contact us.

This course will include work with children and vulnerable adults, so you will be required to submit a series of declarations.

If you are invited to an interview, we will request some additional information from you, regarding your criminal record, educational history and employment history. You will also have the opportunity to make any other declarations that you’d like us to be aware of. We may not able to consider applicants who were suspended from previous study/work due to fitness to practise issues or failure in assessments/examinations.

If you are made an offer, you will be required to complete an enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check. More information about this is sent to applicants as part of the admissions process.

Due to the demanding nature of the programme, it is important that applicants can demonstrate recent engagement in education. If the qualifications that you are applying on the basis of (e.g. Level 3 or degree level qualifications) were awarded more than five years ago (e.g. before summer 2019), it may still be possible for us to consider your application. In this case, we would look at supplementary level 3 qualifications, or relevant work experience, that you have undertaken within the last five years.

These applications will be considered on a case-by-case basis, following submission of a UCAS application.

You should have or be expected to achieve, a minimum of a 2:1 Honours Degree in any subject. 

Experience of the research process and/or completion of an undergraduate research project is essential.

All degrees must be awarded before 1 August on the year of entry.

We welcome applications from applicants around the world. For information on the requirements for your country, please visit our International Qualifications for Postgraduate Study page.

If you are applying from outside of the UK, you will need to meet the English language requirements outlined here. This is a Group 1 course.

You will be asked to submit a personal statement with your application. This statement should outline your reasons for applying for the course, demonstrate evidence of experience and what transferable skills you learnt from this experience. The personal statement will be considered at various stages in the application process including if you are invited to interview.

You will need to provide one reference. This should be an academic or professional reference. See the 'Apply' tab for more information.

Through the application process, you will need to demonstrate appropriate personal qualities, motivation, communication skills and understanding of an occupational therapist’s role.

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 continued impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, 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.

If you meet the entry requirements above, you will be invited to attend a Multiple Mini Interview (MMI). This will usually be in-person, however we can also offer remote MMIs for international applicants.

You can find further information about this process on our MMI Guidance page, however please note that some of this information may change for those applying during the 2025 application cycle.

Should you receive an offer to study at St George’s, you will be required to complete a health check and be declared fit to study and practise by the Occupational Health (OH) department before you begin your studies.

The following vaccinations are mandatory for all healthcare students before you begin your studies:

• MMR (measles, mumps and rubella)
• Meningococcal meningitis
• Diphtheria
• Pertussis (whooping cough)
• Poliomyelitis
• Tetanus

As part of the process, you will also be screened by the OH team for Chickenpox, Tuberculosis, HIV and Hepatitis B and C.

We do not currently require you to have been vaccinated against Covid-19, but we strongly recommend that you get double vaccinated before the start of your studies, unless medically exempt.

When admitting candidates to study and practise as a health practitioner, we have an obligation to both patients and to the individual student. Candidates who are concerned about a health issue are advised to contact us.

This course will include work with children and vulnerable adults, so you will be required to submit a series of declarations.

If you are invited to an interview, we will request some additional information from you, regarding your criminal record, educational history and employment history. You will also have the opportunity to make any other declarations that you’d like us to be aware of. We may not able to consider applicants who were suspended from previous study/work due to fitness to practise issues or failure in assessments/examinations.

If you are made an offer, you will be required to complete an enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check. More information about this is sent to applicants as part of the admissions process.

Due to the demanding nature of the programme, it is important that applicants can demonstrate recent engagement in education. If the qualifications that you are applying on the basis of (e.g. Level 3 or degree level qualifications) were awarded more than five years ago (e.g. before summer 2020), it may still be possible for us to consider your application. In this case, we would look at supplementary level 3 qualifications, or relevant work experience, that you have undertaken within the last five years.

These applications will be considered on a case-by-case basis, following submission of a UCAS application.

• Occupational Beings
• Theory and Foundations of Occupational Therapy Practice
• Maximising Occupational Performance
• Evidence-based Practice and Research
• Practice Placement 1
• Practice Placement 2

• Advancing Contemporaneous Occupational Therapy Practice
• Research in Practice
• Contributing to Communities
• Practice Placement 3
• Practice Placement 4

You will be taught by staff with extensive experience of working in practice, teaching and research, who will share their up-to-date knowledge and experience in specialist areas including mental health, neurology, trauma, orthopaedics, children and families. Where possible we invite carers, service users or patients to talk to you directly about their own experiences, for example, their lived experience of occupational therapy and the importance of participating in their occupations. Capitalising on our contacts with a range of organisations, we invite practitioners to deliver teaching sessions on specialist areas of practice (for example, palliative care) and evolving areas of occupational therapy practice (for example, working with refugees).  

St George’s enjoys a global reputation as experts in population health, infection and immunity, and molecular and clinical sciences thanks to our four world-class research institutes – Molecular and Clinical Science, Population Health Research, Faculty of Health, Social Care and Education and Infection and Immunity.

Students will receive feedback after each of their module assessments, which may include an Objective Structured Clinical Examination (OSCE), an examination, written analyses and reports, presentations, research proposals and projects. Students are assessed separately in professional practice placements blocks by their nominated assessor.

• Acute health and social care
• Charities
• Children’s therapy services or schools
• Forensic mental health
• Hospices
• Hospitals
• Housing departments
• International services
• Mental health services
• Older people’s services
• Private practice
• Rehabilitation centres

For more information, see our fees and funding pages.

*Tuition fees for home (UK) 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.

*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.

The table below highlights the additional course-specific costs related to this degree.

Visit the additional course-related costs for more information on general costs to consider alongside your studies.

To be eligible for a scholarship you must:

• have completed an application for the course
• not already be qualified at Masters level or above (e.g. PhD)
• must be self-funding (courses fully funded by the NHS or students receiving employer or sponsor funding are not eligible)
• have or be predicted to obtain at least a 2:1.

Please note scholarships cannot be deferred to 2025 or later entry.

Applicants with the highest scores across all courses will be considered for the scholarship and may be invited for interview.

If you are a Home (UK) or International (EU or non-EU) applicant applying for a taught postgraduate programme which has a scholarship, you will be automatically considered for the scholarship, providing you apply by the deadline (31 January 2024).

You do not need to submit an additional application form. However, you may be asked to attend a physical or virtual interview.

Successful candidates will be those whom the Scholarship Committee consider will make a positive contribution to the academic environment at St George's and achieve the highest scores.

Your application will be scored based on:

• your degree classification
• your personal statement
• your interview
• your references.

You must provide:

• full details of your Level 2 (GCSE or equivalent) qualifications with grades
• full details of your Level 3 (A Level or equivalent) qualifications with achieved/predicted grades
• full details of your degree qualification(s) 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.

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.

Acknowledgement emails are sent out as soon as we receive your application. Please make sure that your email account is able to accept communications from St George’s as we will mainly communicate with you via email.