Complete your degree in two years with our accelerated course.

 

Occupational Therapists work with people of all ages to enable participation in the occupations that they want and need to do. Underpinned by the professional belief that occupation and wellbeing are linked, Occupational Therapists use occupation as both the goal and main tool of intervention. During the lifespan, occupational participation may be disrupted by ability, a condition, an illness, an injury or a state of mind that can cause a mismatch between the person's ability, the demands of the occupation and/or the environment. Occupational therapists enable participation through modifying occupations, promoting new skills or approaches, adapting environments, or a combination of these.

 

You will have the opportunity to learn from people who are experts by their own lived experience who have used health and social care services and who are fully integrated into the learning and teaching across the course. This ensures that you develop your skills prior to practice placement and receive feedback in a safe and secure learning environment. Through this process you will be more confident and competent when engaging with people on placement which will support your learning in practice to flourish.

 

You will be taught by a highly skilled and motivated team of lecturers, visiting practitioners and volunteers who are experts by their lived experience. Teaching methods include online lectures, seminars and workshops. There may also be off campus teaching sessions in public facilities such as swimming pools or the beach. A mixture of group work and problem-based learning methods are used in conjunction with resources on our virtual learning platform Canvas and via a unique learning environment Thinglink. You will be supported by a tutor, and you can arrange one-to-one or group tutorials with them. You will also have the opportunity to work and learn alongside students from other professions and to learn about the other professions through participation in inter-professional education. As this course leads to a professional qualification a minimum attendance level of 80% per semester is required.

 

You will be assessed through written assignments, presentations, demonstrations and observed, structured, practical assessments (OSPA). Every assessment is an individual assessment, there are no group assessments. During your practice placement you will be assessed by a Practice Placement Educator.

 

Practice placements form a significant part of this course. You will successfully complete a minimum of 1000 hours practice placement. During your practice placement you will benefit from supervision from a practice placement educator as well as support from academic staff. You may be required to work an altered shift pattern and may be required to work weekends. Placements can take place anywhere in the North East region and some placements (especially any re-sits) take place outside of the normal university calendar.

 

The course operates over the same number of academic weeks as a three-year course however, there are fewer holiday weeks which enables you to complete it over a shorter time. In addition, towards the end of the course, in order to help students transition from academic life to work life, some modules are taught during placement time, to imitate how staff in practice undertake their continuous professional development. 

 

This format has been designed following feedback from students who have felt the long holidays interrupt their learning flow and have resulted in them finding it difficult to slip back into academic study after a holiday. We recognise that this may not suit applicants who like longer periods of time to reflect on their learning. If you would like to discuss your learning style before deciding which course to apply for, please contact the admissions tutor, who will be happy to provide advice.