BSc (Hons) OCCUPATIONAL THERAPY
BSC (HONS) OCCUPATIONAL THERAPY
Choose to study Occupational Therapy and you’ll be taking the first step towards an exciting and rewarding profession that focuses on developing extraordinary partnerships with people and making lasting, positive changes to their lives by empowering them to reach their maximum potential.
By entering onto our three-year course, you will develop the skills and attributes required to help people to address their difficulties. Occupational therapists play a critical role in helping people of all ages to overcome challenges caused by illness, ageing or an accident, so that they can continue with the occupations that are important to them.
As well as giving you a solid and varied academic grounding, our programme will provide you with early patient contact and access to superb facilities, including our anatomy room and assistive technology suite. These will help you develop the practical skills which will prove vital to making your career a success.
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Our BSc Occupational Therapy is ranked in the top 20 for Health Professions by 'The Guardian University Guide 2023'.
About
As a qualified Occupational Therapist (OT), you’ll need to work in close collaboration with other health and social care professionals, which is why our programme has a strong inter-professional focus, embodying the principles that facilitate effective teamwork. You’ll develop a professional identity of your own, while gaining a greater awareness of the roles and responsibilities of all partners in health and social care.
Throughout the course, you’ll share modules with physiotherapy and speech and language therapy students. And you’ll take part in small teaching groups, allowing you to get involved with a close-knit student body and supportive learning culture.
Hands-on practice is vital, so you will have practice placement experiences in every year of your courses with us. We ensure you get a varied experience with a mixture of both physical and mental health placements.
Highlights of Occupational Therapy at UEA
Our three-year course, which is fully approved by the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC) and accredited by the Royal College of Occupational Therapists (RCOT) ensures you are:
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Able to practice autonomously, using your knowledge and skills to make complex decisions in practice.
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A lifelong learner, capable of using reflective practice within a framework of continuing professional development.
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An active research consumer, basing your practice on high-quality research evidence, and able to contribute towards the culture of enquiry within the profession.
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Flexible, innovative and responsive to change, able to manage yourself and others within shifting contexts of health, social care and education, enhancing service development while ensuring quality and productivity.
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Able to work safely and effectively within your scope of practice, understanding the impact of culture, equality and diversity so you act in the best interests of service users at all times.
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Proactive in leadership and the management of others.
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A skilled team member, operating effectively within interdisciplinary and multi-agency environments.
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Important Information
Whilst the University will make every effort to offer the courses listed, changes may sometimes be made arising from the regular review of course programmes. Where this activity leads to significant (but not minor) changes to programmes, there will normally be prior consultation of students and others. Changes may for example consist of variations to the content and method of delivery of programmes, courses and other services, to discontinue programmes, courses and other services and to merge or combine programmes or courses. The University will endeavour to keep such changes to a minimum, and will inform students.Placement Year and Study Abroad
Placement 6 is a professional development placement within an area guided by the student’s placement profile, in a location (with approval from the Personal Advisor / Course Director) chosen and organised by the student. You can choose where you’d like to complete the placement, based on your previous practice experience. There is the option to undertake your placement overseas, broadening your understanding of occupational therapy within a different country and culture. This is subject to government health advice at the time these placements take place.
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After the Course
Once you graduate, you’ll be eligible to register with the Health and Care Professions Council and join the Royal College of Occupational Therapists as a professional member.
Throughout your career, you’ll have the chance to make a real difference, giving individuals a renewed sense of purpose, opening up new horizons, and changing the way they feel about the future.
You’ll enjoy a broad range of career opportunities, and the skills you’ll develop could lend themselves to new emerging roles too, such as working with asylum seekers or refugees, the police or the fire services.
Discover more about the wide variety of career opportunities for occupational therapists by visiting the Royal College of Occupational Therapists site, and our own Careers webpages.
Career destinations
A degree at UEA will prepare you for a wide variety of careers. We've been ranked 1st for Job Prospects by StudentCrowd in 2022.
Example of careers that you could enter include:
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Acute health and social care
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Private practice
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Research/education
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Working in the community
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Mental health services
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Third-sector charities
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Assessment for Year 1
You’ll be assessed through a range of methods, including essays, integrated assignments, and case presentations.
We will assess your professional reasoning and analytical skills as they develop. You’ll also create a professional portfolio to capture your development throughout the programme. You’ll continue to build on this portfolio throughout your professional career in preparation for practice.
Placements are central to the course, and you have to pass all of them to progress.
You receive feedback throughout, so you can reflect on your practice and learning, helping you identify your strengths, as well as any areas you may need to work on.
Assessment for Year 2
You’ll be assessed through a range of methods, including essays, integrated assignments, and case presentations.
We will assess your professional reasoning and analytical skills as they develop. You’ll also create a professional portfolio to capture your development throughout the programme. You’ll continue to build on this portfolio throughout your professional career in preparation for practice.
Placements are central to the course, and you have to pass all of them to progress.
You receive feedback throughout, so you can reflect on your practice and learning, helping you identify your strengths, as well as any areas you may need to work on.
Assessment for Year 3
You’ll be assessed through a range of methods, including essays, integrated assignments, and case presentations.
We will assess your professional reasoning and analytical skills as they develop. You’ll also create a professional portfolio to capture your development throughout the programme. You’ll continue to build on this portfolio throughout your professional career in preparation for practice.
Placements are central to the course, and you have to pass all of them to progress.
You receive feedback throughout, so you can reflect on your practice and learning, helping you identify your strengths, as well as any areas you may need to work on.
This course is not recruiting to Year 1 in 2023/4
Assessment for Year 1
You’ll be assessed through a range of methods, including essays, integrated assignments, and case presentations.
We will assess your professional reasoning and analytical skills as they develop. You’ll also create a professional portfolio to capture your development throughout the programme. You’ll continue to build on this portfolio throughout your professional career in preparation for practice.
Placements are central to the course, and you have to pass all of them to progress.
You receive feedback throughout, so you can reflect on your practice and learning, helping you identify your strengths, as well as any areas you may need to work on.
Important Information
Whilst the University will make every effort to offer the modules listed, changes may sometimes be made arising from the annual monitoring and review of modules. Where this activity leads to significant change to a programme and modules, the University will endeavour to consult with affected students. The University may not be able to offer a module for reasons outside of its control, such as the illness of a member of staff. Availability of optional modules may be restricted owing to timetabling, lack of demand, or limited places. Where this is the case, you will be asked to make alternative module choices and you will be supported during this process.Assessment for Year 2
You’ll be assessed through a range of methods, including essays, integrated assignments, and case presentations.
We will assess your professional reasoning and analytical skills as they develop. You’ll also create a professional portfolio to capture your development throughout the programme. You’ll continue to build on this portfolio throughout your professional career in preparation for practice.
Placements are central to the course, and you have to pass all of them to progress.
You receive feedback throughout, so you can reflect on your practice and learning, helping you identify your strengths, as well as any areas you may need to work on.
Important Information
Whilst the University will make every effort to offer the modules listed, changes may sometimes be made arising from the annual monitoring and review of modules. Where this activity leads to significant change to a programme and modules, the University will endeavour to consult with affected students. The University may not be able to offer a module for reasons outside of its control, such as the illness of a member of staff. Availability of optional modules may be restricted owing to timetabling, lack of demand, or limited places. Where this is the case, you will be asked to make alternative module choices and you will be supported during this process.Assessment for Year 3
You’ll be assessed through a range of methods, including essays, integrated assignments, and case presentations.
We will assess your professional reasoning and analytical skills as they develop. You’ll also create a professional portfolio to capture your development throughout the programme. You’ll continue to build on this portfolio throughout your professional career in preparation for practice.
Placements are central to the course, and you have to pass all of them to progress.
You receive feedback throughout, so you can reflect on your practice and learning, helping you identify your strengths, as well as any areas you may need to work on.
Important Information
Whilst the University will make every effort to offer the modules listed, changes may sometimes be made arising from the annual monitoring and review of modules. Where this activity leads to significant change to a programme and modules, the University will endeavour to consult with affected students. The University may not be able to offer a module for reasons outside of its control, such as the illness of a member of staff. Availability of optional modules may be restricted owing to timetabling, lack of demand, or limited places. Where this is the case, you will be asked to make alternative module choices and you will be supported during this process.Entry Requirements
A Levels
BBB. If you are taking an EPQ and three A Levels, we may offer you a one grade reduction on our advertised typical offer if you achieve an A in the EPQ.T Levels
Obtain an overall Pass including a B in the core of the T Level and a Merit in the Occupational Specialism. Acceptable subjects: Health, Healthcare Science, ScienceBTEC
DDM in Health, Care or ScienceAccess course
Pass with Merit in 45 credits at Level 3 in Health, Care or Science subjectInternational Baccalaureate
31 pointsAdditional entry requirements
Grade B or above in one of the following subjects:
- Children's Care, Learning and Development
- Children and Young People's Workforce
- Health and Social Care (including Technical Level)
CCC or above.
A combination of Advanced Highers and Highers may be acceptable, please contact Admissions for further information.
We welcome and value a wide range of alternative qualifications, and we also recognise that some students might take a mixture of some of the qualifications above. If your qualifications aren’t listed, or if you are taking a combination of qualifications that isn’t specified, please contact Admissions.
UEA are committed to ensuring that Higher Education is accessible to all, regardless of background or experiences. One of the ways we do this is through our contextual admissions schemes.
Please note that we do not consider A Levels in General Studies or Critical Thinking, Apprenticeships, NVQs (any level) or Work-based Level 3 Diplomas (previously NVQs) to meet the minimum academic entry requirements, although these can be used as evidence of recent study. We’ll also be unable to consider you for this course if you’ve obtained an academic fail from a previous health based degree programme, including where an exit award has been achieved.
Graduates may wish to consider our accelerated Masters programmes.
GCSE REQUIREMENTS
5 GCSEs at a minimum grade C or grade 4, including Mathematics, English Language and a science subject. These requirements apply alongside all other specified requirements.
If you hold or are working towards Mathematics and English Language GCSEs but do not hold 5 GCSEs/a science GCSE, please contact Admissions.
RECENT STUDY
We would prefer you to be able to demonstrate evidence of recent academic study within 5 years of the start of the course. If your last qualification will have been completed more than 5 years ago by the time the course starts, please contact Admissions.
AGE ON ENTRY AND FEE STATUS
Applicants for this course need to be aged 18 or over by 31 December 2023. This is owing to the integrated nature of placements within the first year of the course and safeguarding implications. In view of this, applicants who will not be 18 years old or over by this date, should consider applying for deferred entry.
If your fee status changes, as this course has different application pools for overseas and home fee paying students, your application will be re-assessed within the relevant application pool. For example if your fee status changes from overseas to home during the application process, your application will be re-assessed alongside other home applications for a place allocated to home fee paying students.
INTERNATIONAL REQUIREMENTS
We accept many international qualifications for entry to this course. For specific details about your country, view our information for International Students.
If you do not meet the academic and/or English language requirements for this course, entry is available through successful completion of an International Foundation at our partner INTO UEA (as well as a successful interview):
International Foundation in Pharmacy, Health and Life Sciences
Students for whom english is a foreign language
If English is not your first language, we will require evidence of proficiency in English (including reading, writing, speaking and listening) at the level of IELTS 7.0 overall (minimum 7.0 in each component).
Review our English Language Equivalencies for a list of example qualifications that we may accept to meet this requirement.
INTO UEA also offer a variety of English language programmes which are designed to help you develop the English skills necessary for successful undergraduate study:
Interviews
The strongest applicants will be invited to interview. Please note that meeting (or being predicted to meet) the minimum academic entry requirements will not guarantee that you will be selected for interview.
Interview invitations will be sent by email. Please keep a close eye on all emails from UEA after you submit your UCAS application.
Our interviews for 2023 will take place on our campus. You will be invited to a morning or afternoon session by email. The email will include the arrival time and building location. We use a few of the buildings on our campus for interviews, but they will either be on our Main Campus or on our West Campus (which is around a 20-minute walk from the centre of the Main Campus, near the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital). The session will last no longer than 3 hours in total.
You will take part in ‘multiple mini-interviews’ with academic staff members from the School of Health Sciences, clinicians from the profession you are applying for, 3rd year students from the course, and/or health service users.
Note that we will not disclose interview questions in advance of the interviews, but in general terms the interviews will explore a range of issues, including your suitability for the profession and the NHS values (as reflected in the NHS constitution). We’ll look to consider your motivation to study this course, as well as whether you have an interest in people and a clear understanding of the profession (ideally with relevant voluntary or paid work in healthcare).
Applicants who are based outside of the UK at the point of applying will be offered an online interview. The format will match the process outlined above as closely as possible.
We are aware that it is a difficult time to try to gain relevant experience in healthcare. First time applicants to Nursing, Midwifery and the Allied Health Professions will all be in a similar situation. We will take this into account and will adapt our expectations.
Keep in mind that clinical work experience is not generally a requirement for applying to train in healthcare, but it is important to show that you are able to work with people and appreciate the health and social care setting. It is important to remember why we look for work experience in an application; this in turn can help you think of the numerous ways that you might be able to demonstrate how you have acquired relevant experience.
We will want to see that you understand what a career in Health involves. Work experience, and other related experiences, are only as valuable as the way you talk about them and what understanding you take from them. While we will expect you to show some understanding of what it is like to be the professional of your choice, part of this involves demonstrating that you know what it is like to work in a responsible role, particularly with the public.
Any activity or life experience that helps you to prepare for training to be a healthcare professional will help. This means any activity that allows you to demonstrate that you have:
- Had people-focused experience of providing a service, care, support or help to others, and that you understand the realities of working in a caring profession.
- Developed some of the values, attitudes and behaviours essential to being a Nurse, Midwife or Allied Health professional such as conscientiousness, effective communication and the ability to interact with a wide variety of people. The values that we are looking for are set out in the NHS Constitution.
- A realistic understanding of Health and Social Care and in particular the physical, organisational and emotional demands of the career.
Keep a reflective diary on what is happening in the news and online. Listen to what healthcare professionals have to say and reflect on this. All healthcare professionals can be a valuable source of information and experience, not just those that work in the specific profession that you are applying for. Demonstrating that you have a sense of all healthcare professions (and how they work together) will help you in both your personal statement and interview.
Volunteer in your spare time if you can, all forms of voluntary work can provide helpful work experience. Whilst volunteer work in the NHS might be disrupted at this time, other schemes may still be in operation and worth exploring i.e. working with other people in a caring or service role. Voluntary commitments to community groups (for example groups related to the work of churches, mosques and temples, or other groups such as Scouts or Guides) and online community support groups may also provide valuable experience of taking on responsibility, dealing with people and communicating effectively. It is likely that these sorts of volunteering opportunities will start to run again before healthcare related opportunities are available.
Remember: it is what you learn about yourself, about other people and about how effective care is delivered and received that counts. What you did is only a small part of the story; it is how you communicate what you learnt which matters.
PROGRAMME CONDITIONS
Offers will be made to applicants after completion of successful interviews, and will be subject to a satisfactory occupational health check (including evidence of appropriate immunisations), an enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check and two satisfactory references. We will let you know what you need to do (and when) to meet these conditions if you are successful in gaining an offer.
PLACEMENTS
During the course, practice experience is gained via placements. The placement environments include hospitals, community, social services, or a variety of other sectors. Placement allocation occurs throughout the counties of Norfolk, Suffolk, Cambridgeshire, Essex, Lincolnshire, Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire, and London.
As this course includes patient facing placements in health or social care settings, and these are a mandatory component of the course, you will need to comply with the placement vaccination policy. Failure to meet the placement vaccination policy may prevent you from joining the course or may lead to your withdrawal from the course in the future. Future employment may also be subject to this condition.
Gap year
We welcome applications from students who have already taken or intend to take a gap year. We believe that a year between school and university can be of substantial benefit. If you intend to apply with deferred entry, please let us know about your gap year plans in your UCAS application.
PROGRESSION REQUIREMENTS
Once enrolled onto your course at UEA, your progression and continuation (which may include your eligibility for study abroad, overseas experience, placement or year in industry opportunities) is contingent on meeting the assessment requirements which are relevant to the course on which you are enrolled.
Intakes
This course is open to UK and overseas applicants. The annual intake for this course is in September each year.
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Fees and Funding
Tuition Fees
See our Tuition Fees page for further information.
Scholarships and Bursaries
We are committed to ensuring that costs do not act as a barrier to those aspiring to come to a world leading university and have developed a funding package to reward those with excellent qualifications and assist those from lower income backgrounds.
The University of East Anglia offers a range of Scholarships; please click the link for eligibility, details of how to apply and closing dates.
Course related costs
You can find information regarding additional costs associated on our Fees and finance webpages.
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How to Apply
Apply for this course through the Universities and Colleges Admissions Services (UCAS), using UCAS Hub.
UCAS Hub is a secure online application system that allows you to apply for full-time undergraduate courses at universities and colleges in the United Kingdom.
Your application does not have to be completed all at once. Register or sign in to UCAS to get started.
Once you submit your completed application, UCAS will process it and send it to your chosen universities and colleges.
The Institution code for the University of East Anglia is E14.
View our guide to applying through UCAS for useful tips, key dates and further information:
Ask a Student
Your career
Why choose Occupational Therapy?
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Ask a Student
Your career
Why choose Occupational Therapy?
Occupational Therapy News
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