Course Enquiries - UK
Tel: 0207 815 7500
BSc (Hons) Occupational Therapy
Southwark CampusMode: Full-time; Part-time
Overview
Please note that due to exceptionally high demand, this course is no longer recruiting for September 2022 entry.
Occupational therapy is a unique career where you can empower people everyday to achieve goals they thought were out of reach. This rewarding professions will teach to you to support your patients in gaining back their independence. This full-time programme will provide you with an understanding of the science and artistry of occupational therapy. Develop the unique skillset needed to be a successful occupational therapist, including leading activity-based therapy, rehabilitation, communication skills and more. Plus, gain experience and expertise on a variety of practice placements outside of the university, and in our special Occupational Therapy Labs and their simulated living spaces and artistic intervention tools.
Why study Occupational Therapy at LSBU?
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- Ranked 1st for feedback satisfaction in Health Professions amongst London Modern Competitors (Guardian League Table 2021).
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- 1st in London for academic support (National Student Survey 2020)
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- Professional accreditation: we’re accredited by the Royal College of Occupational Therapists
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- Professional links: this course can enable you to become a registered occupational therapist, approved by the Health and Care Professions Council.
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- Work placements across a variety of clinical settings, such as NHS acute Trusts, community placements and the independent sector.
Student Story
“The tutors are very kind, and I received a lot of support from my personal tutor and the DDS service. The range of experience both at university and on the placements has been valuable and I have learnt so much about myself.”
| Mode | Duration | Start date | Location |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mode Full-time |
Duration 3 years |
Start Date September |
Location
Southwark Campus
|
| Mode Part-time |
Duration 4 years |
Start Date September |
Location
Southwark Campus
|
Modules
The Occupational therapy programmes at LSBU aim to provide an education centred on the meaning and performance of occupations in life. Occupational therapy as a profession is concerned with key concepts such as occupational performance, occupational identity and how the environment and cultural factors together influence the effective participation in unique and individual lives; from childhood through to older age and including end of life. The course begins with modules that introduce the concepts and theory of occupation and occupational therapy practice. Case studies are used to show the diversity and range of people and conditions that an occupational therapist can work with. Relevant anatomy, physiology and psychology are covered. The students get opportunities to apply the theory taught at university to practical placements that occur each academic year. Students will develop their professional identity as the course progresses.
Level 4 modules
- TOT-4-010 Exploring Occupation. 20 credits.
An introduction to the theory of occupation and activity analysis. - TOT-4-011 Occupational Therapy Practice 1. 40 credits.
This module includes the theory of the Occupational Therapy Process and the first practice 6-week placement. - TOT-4-012 Occupational Performance Analysis and Human Function. 20 credits.
This module includes anatomy, physiology, and normal movement patterns. - TOT-4-013 Introduction to Occupation Focused Practice. 20 credits.
This module builds on the previous studies and includes the use of frames of reference and models. - IPL-1. Concepts of Interprofessional and Collaborative Practice. 20 credits.
This is an interprofessional module studied with other allied health care students. - TOT-5-010 Occupational Therapy Practice 2.40 credits.
This module builds on TOT-4-011 and includes the second practice 7-week placement. - TOT-5-011 Delivering Occupation Focused Practice.20 credits.
This module builds on TOT-4-013 and develops the concepts further. - TOT-5-012 Occupational Therapy Practice 3.40 credits.
This module builds on TOT-5-010 and includes the third practice 10-week placement. - IPL-2. Research and Evidence-Based Practice. 20 credits.
This is an interprofessional module studied with other allied health care students. - TOT-6-010 Professional Identity, Autonomy and Accountability. 40 credits.
This module has a focus on accountability, professional behaviours and continual professional development. - TOT-6-011 Research and Evidence-Based Practice. 20 credits.
This module builds on IPL-2. - TOT-6-012 Occupational Therapy Practice 4. 40 credits.
This module builds on TOT-5-012 and includes the fourth and final practice 10-week placement. - IPL-3. Leadership and Service Innovation in Occupational Therapy. 20 credits.
This is an interprofessional module studied with other allied health care students.
Level 5 modules
Level 6 modules
Employability
Once you graduate you’ll be eligible to eligible to apply for registration as an occupational therapist with the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC). This allows you to practice within the NHS, community services and local authorities, as well as the private sector. Thanks to this course, you’ll be equipped with the skills you need to work as an occupational therapist with both adults and children who have complex health and social needs. The Royal College of Occupational Therapists have a website Choose OT which explains if this career is right for you and the possible routes your career could take.
You might also choose to apply for further study at postgraduate level. We have a part-time MSc Occupational Therapy course that’s suitable for graduates with professional practice experience. You can find out more about this course in our online CPPD prospectus.
Employability Service
At LSBU, we want to set you up for a successful career. During your studies – and for two years after you graduate – you’ll have access to our Employability Service, which includes:
- An online board where you can see a wide range of placements: part-time, full-time or voluntary. You can also drop in to see our Job Shop advisers, who are always available to help you take the next step in your search.
- Our Careers Gym offering group workshops on CVs, interview techniques and finding work experience, as well as regular presentations from employers across a range of sectors.
Our Student Enterprise team can also help you start your own business and develop valuable entrepreneurial skills.
Professional links
This course is approved by the Health and Care Professions Council, the regulator of health, Psychological and Social professionals. And it’s accredited by the Royal College of Occupational Therapists, the professional association for staff in Occupational Therapy.
The course fulfils the requirements of the World Federation of Occupational Therapists, which makes you eligible to apply for international employment. The programme is delivered in partnership with health and social care authorities and University staff. We’re actively involved with Knowledge Transfer Partnerships and endeavour to expand our links with the voluntary and independent sector.
The course is accredited by HCPC and RCOT.
The Health and Care Professions Council is the regulator of health, Psychological and Social professionals.
The Royal College of Occupational Therapists is the professional association for staff in Occupational Therapy.
Placements
During the course you’ll spend a third of your time involved in practice within a broad variety of healthcare and social care settings – and the rest in academic study. A practice placement lets you put theory into practice, by working with a range of health professionals in clinical situations to develop the skills, knowledge, values and experience required to become a competent occupational therapist. This can be challenging to start with, but practice learning is one of the most interesting and exciting aspects of learning to be an occupational therapist.
You’ll complete over 1000 hours of placement; meeting the Royal College of Occupational Therapists (2008) and the World Federation of Occupational Therapists (WFOT, 2002) requirements. The placements are full-time and are integrated into the curriculum in four blocks (the first placement is six weeks, the second is seven weeks, and the third and fourth placements are ten weeks in length). Over these four placements the practice placement facilitators on the programmes aim to provide you with the range of experience as outlined by WFOT (2002). You’ll get experience working with people of different ages, acute and long standing health needs (including physical, mental health and learning disability) and services in a range of settings (hospital and community, urban and rural).
Practice settings
At LSBU, we work closely with a number of healthcare organisations to provide a wide range of suitable practice placements so that by the end of the course, you’ll have experienced wide-ranging healthcare provision that’s suitable for the chosen programme. These placements take place across a variety of clinical settings such as NHS acute Trusts, community placements and the independent sector. You’ll go on placements within the Greater London area in the NHS, local authority, voluntary, social enterprise and private sectors. Placements can be in existing services as well as emerging services.
Structure of placements
The four practice placements within the professional pre-registration courses, which total 33 weeks full time study, allow students to achieve the minimum 1000 hours required for their professional qualification. The student learning on placement is designed to be cumulative across the four placements:
Occupational Therapy Practice Placement 1
This is the first practice placement and will foster an overall appreciation of occupational perspectives of health and wellbeing, and the occupational therapy process. This placement provides an opportunity to observe and engage with occupational therapy practice. You'll also be encouraged to reflect on the impact of different aspects of the environment on occupational performance.
Occupational Therapy Practice Placement 2
This placement will support you to begin developing skills in implementing person centred, occupation focused occupational therapy practice. This is facilitated through the provision of guidelines and policies that govern practice.
Occupational Therapy Practice Placement 3
Building on the learning outcomes from practice placements 1 and 2, there is an increasing emphasis of developing depth of understanding of and increasing competence in the application of the occupational therapy process during this third practice placement.
Occupational Therapy Practice Placement 4
This final placement prepares you to be competent to practice, by providing the opportunity to make the transition from student to independent practitioner in occupational therapy and facilitating you to meet the HCPC standards of proficiency (HCPC, 2013), COT (2014) graduate competencies and COT (2015) Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct. This placement will require you to demonstrate competence in implementing the occupational therapy process with a limited caseload.
Support on placements
While you’re on a placement you’re allocated a named Practice Educator who will facilitate your learning. At least once during each placement, our staff will contact you and the Practice Educator to make sure all procedures and support mechanisms are in place and working productively for your learning and achievement.
Location
Practice learning opportunities will be arranged in a geographical location within the M25 area for all London sponsored or self-funding students. Where an approved opportunity has arisen, students have been able to complete one placement, placement 2 or placement 3, abroad. However, this is limited as a scrutiny process has to be undertaken to ensure the compatibility of the placement with the programme and eligibility for HCPC registration.
Facilities
Occupational Therapy Laboratories
We have three Occupational Therapy Laboratories, including an Art and Music skills laboratory, Splinting laboratory and Assisted Daily Living (ADL) laboratory. You will carry out a range of activities to practice your skills including using art, music and role-play as interventions. You will practice making hand splints using thermoplastic materials as well as anatomy practicals using anatomy models. The simulated kitchen, bathrooms and bedroom spaces are used to practice patient transfers, wheelchair manoeuvres and planning activities for intervention using activities from daily life. You also practice using a wide range of standardised assessment tools such as assistive devices for dressing, kitchen work and mobility.
The laboratories enable you to practice problem identification, intervention planning, implementation, communication skills, risk assessments, problem solving skills and group work skills; all to learn how best to work with the patient.
Teaching and learning
The course is taught in the form of lectures, seminars, tutorials and practical sessions.
There are a range of assessments including essays, examinations and presentations. The placements are also assessed by the practice educator at the placement site.
Every student is provided with a professional and personal tutor who supports the student throughout the course.
Entry requirements
- A Level BBB or;
- BTEC National Diploma DDM or;
- Access to HE qualifications in Health and Social Care or similar with 30 Distinctions and 15 Merits or;
- Equivalent level 3 qualifications worth 128 UCAS points
- Applicants must hold 5 GCSEs A-C including Maths and English or equivalent (reformed GCSEs grade 4 or above).
- 7.0 overall or equivalent
- 7.0 in the listening and reading sections
- 7.0 in the writing and speaking sections.
English language
If your first language is not English you must have the following minimum International English Language Test Score (IELTS) results at the time of applying:
Foundation Year
If you have been out of study for a considerable amount of time or have slightly missed the entry requirements this course, you can take your first steps to becoming a registered practitioner with our Health and Social Care Foundation year. Boost your qualifications and confidence for further study with this one-year introductory course and on completion of this course you will be guaranteed entry on to one of our 13 health BSc pre-registration health and social care degrees.
Advanced entry
If you have already completed some studies at another university, we may be able to consider you for advanced entry. Please see our advanced entry page for more information.
Course status
- Accreditation and Course validation status
How to apply
Home/EU applicants
| Mode | Duration | Start date | Application code | Application method |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mode Full-time |
Duration 3 years |
Start date September |
Application code B930 |
Application method |
| Mode Part-time |
Duration 4 years |
Start date September |
Application code 2386 |
Application method |
Application is via UCAS.
Home/EU postgraduate students and research students should apply through our dedicated application system.
Full details of how to do this are supplied on our How to apply section for postgraduate students and our How to apply section for research students.
International applicants should use our international application system. Full details can be found on our How to apply section for international students.
See our admissions policy (PDF File 1,043 KB) and complaints policy (PDF File 516 KB).
Considering your application
Your application will be circulated to a number of potential supervisors who will look at your academic qualifications, experience and the research proposal to decide whether your research interest is something that could be supervised at LSBU.
There will also be an interview either by telephone or at the University. If you are successful you will be offered a place on a course and informed of the next enrolment date. The whole process normally takes between six to eight weeks, from receipt of your application to a decision being made about your application at the School.
Prepare to start
- Duncan, E. A. S. (ed.) (2020) Foundations for practice in occupational therapy. 6th ed. Edinburgh: Elsevier Churchill Livingstone.
- Duncan, E. A. S. (ed.) (2009) Skills for practice in occupational therapy. Edinburgh: Churchill Livingstone Elsevier.
- Scott, W.N. (2011) Anatomy and physiology made incredibly easy! London: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins.
Important statement for new and continuing students studying Health and Social Care courses
An exciting part of many of our Health and Social Care courses is the opportunity to learn off-campus and work with patients, clients and/or service users. Before you start, we need to make sure that you have the correct levels of immunisations.
Please be aware that from 1 April 2022, all NHS and Social Care personnel (including students) will be required to have evidence of double vaccination against Covid. This measure has been taken to protect the public, patients and staff.
If you are unable, or unwilling, to be vaccinated, we will not be able to provide you with the practice placements necessary to complete your health care degree. If this is the case, you may wish to look at an alternative career.
See the government's press release statement.
Prepare to start
We help our students prepare for university even before the semester starts. To find out when you should apply for your LSBU accommodation or student finance read the How to apply tab for this course.
Enrolment
Before you start your course we’ll send you information on what you’ll need to do before you arrive and during your first few days on campus. You can read about the process on our Enrolment pages.
Fees and funding
Fees are shown for new entrants to courses, for each individual year of a course, together with the total fee for all the years of a course. Continuing LSBU students should refer to the Finance section of our student portal, MyLSBU. Queries regarding fees should be directed to the Fees and Bursaries Team on: +44 (0)20 7815 6181.
Full-time
Part-time
BSc (Hons) Occupational Therapy - Year 1 FT Southwark SEPT
| UK fee: £9250 | International fee: £17500 |
| AOS/LSBU code: 3769 | Session code: 1FS00 |
| Total course fee: |
| UK £27750 |
| International £52500 |
BSc (Hons) Occupational Therapy - Year 1 PTDER Southwark SEPT
| UK fee: £6935 | International fee: £12833.33 |
| AOS/LSBU code: 2386 | Session code: 1PS00 |
| Total course fee: |
| UK £26203.34 |
| International £46200 |
For more information, including how and when to pay, see our fees and funding section for undergraduate students.
Please check your fee status and whether you are considered a Home, EU or International student for fee-paying purposes and for our regulatory returns, by reading the UKCISA regulations.
See our Tuition Fees Regulations (PDF File 226 KB) and Refund Policy (PDF File 775 KB).
Possible fee changes
The University reserves the right to increase its fees in line with changes to legislation, regulation and any government guidance or decisions.
The fees for international students are reviewed annually and the University reserves the right to increase the tuition fees in line with the RPIX measure of inflation up to 4 per cent.
Scholarships
We offer several types of fee reduction through our scholarships and bursaries. Find the full list and other useful information on our scholarships page.
The individual fee for this course is shown above. For more information, including how and when to pay, see our fees and funding section for postgraduate students.
See our Tuition Fees Regulations (PDF File 226 KB) and Refund Policy (PDF File 775 KB).
We have a range of PhD Scholarships available in partnership with businesses and organisations; read notices of PhD studentships.
Contact information
Course Enquiries - UK
Tel: 0207 815 7500
Order a prospectus