Occupational Therapy - 2010 entry

BSc (Hons) - single

Accredited by the Health Professions Council and the College of Occupational Therapists

The Oxford Brookes Occupational Therapy course has a long and prestigious history of preparing occupational therapists who are well equipped to both deliver and develop excellent occupational therapy practice.

Occupational therapy practice is concerned with enhancing the daily lives of individuals with a very broad range of physical, mental health or social needs. As an occupational therapist you will work with clients to improve function and enable them to fulfil the demands of their daily lives with greater satisfaction. You will work with people of all ages (including children and young people) from all walks of life, in hospital, in the community, in their place of employment or in their home.  As a graduate occupational therapist, you will have the opportunity to work in a very wide variety of professional practice areas.

The School of Health and Social Care offers a very friendly and supportive environment in which to learn. All our courses are strongly focused on encouraging every student to attain their full potential as lifelong learners. This is achieved through a range of student support mechanisms, such as personal tutors, study skills advice and dyslexia support, and in practice with link lecturers, a placement team and mentors. Our students consistently rate the support they receive from lecturing staff as extremely high, and value the different learning and support opportunities offered within the Occupational Therapy course at Oxford Brookes University.

We have excellent teaching facilities including a state-of-the-art AVA classroom and lecture theatre, dedicated clinical skills suites and simulation resources, which include a fully equipped Activities of Daily Living suite and an orthotics suite, anatomy models and fully networked computer rooms. We also have excellent library resources, accessible both through the web and through a range of locally based facilities on University and NHS sites.

Information technology plays an increasingly important role in health care courses and a very extensive range of learning resources can be accessed through ‘Brookes Virtual’; an online repository of lectures, handouts, information and learning exercises. In addition to the tutor support you will receive in the School, there is also a range of other excellent student support resources to assist you with your studies such as Upgrade (academic skills development support), and the student disability service.

During the course you will have the opportunity to integrate occupational therapy theory with components of the biological, behavioural, social and medical sciences. You will learn to critically assess the living skills and occupations of clients in order to enhance and promote their performance within their unique environments. You will also learn the technical, practical, managerial and communication skills necessary to enter practice as a qualified occupational therapist.

No professional group in health or social care works in isolation. Oxford Brookes teaches a very wide range of pre-qualification courses, which include all branches of nursing, midwifery, occupational therapy, osteopathy, paramedic emergency care, physiotherapy and social work. You will share your learning with these other health and social care students. This is a key component of the course as it is essential to developing your teamwork skills and your understanding of the other roles you will encounter in practice.

The course

Year 1 modules provide you with a foundation in the knowledge and skills of occupational therapy and the biological and behavioural sciences relevant to Occupational Therapy. Oxford Brookes teaches a very wide range of pre-qualification courses, which include all branches of nursing, midwifery, operating department practice, osteopathy, paramedic emergency care, physiotherapy and social work. This gives the course a strong interprofessional focus, and you will have many opportunities throughout your course to share your learning with students from these health and social care professions. This is a key component of the course as it is essential to developing your teamwork skills and your understanding of the other roles you will encounter in practice.

In Year 1 you will take two inter-professional modules. Learning through experience to integrate the theory and practice of occupational therapy is also a key part of the course and the placements you undertake will provide you with practical experience of the work of an occupational therapist.

In Years 2 and 3 you will take further occupational therapy modules, developing skills and knowledge in specific practice areas. Emphasis is placed on integrating theory with practice and on developing the skills of thinking like an occupational therapist. You will develop the skills necessary to understand and undertake research. Further study with students from other professional fields provides you with opportunities to prepare for multidisciplinary teamworking and develop self-management and organisational skills. Two placement opportunities in different practice areas refine your practical and professional skills.

Teaching, learning and assessment

As adult learners you will experience a range of different approaches to teaching and learning which will include both traditional and experiential learning opportunities. In addition to lectures and seminars you will learn through group work and self-directed study. Increasingly the course makes use of new technologies such as learning from the web, which will enable you to be flexible in your study skills. Throughout the three years there are a range of assessments, such as skill-based assessments, coursework and exams. Each of your three placements will be assessed.

Work placement

Practice placements take place each year and form an important and integral part of your course. You will complete three placements, each consisting of supervised workplace learning in a selected health or social care setting, which may be located in a hospital or in the community. You will become increasingly involved in the treatment of clients of different ages and with a diversity of needs.

Study abroad

In partnership with the Boston School of Occupational Therapy, Tufts University, USA, a generous annual scholarship is currently available to enable an Occupational Therapy graduate of Oxford Brookes University (with at least 12 months work experience) to study full-time for the MSc in Occupational Therapy in Boston, USA.

Professional recognition

The course is accredited by the Health Professions Council (HPC) and the College of Occupational Therapists

Upon successful completion of the course, you will be eligible to apply for registration with the HPC. Registration is required for employment as an occupational therapist in the NHS and Social Services in the UK.

Career prospects

As a graduate, you will be well equipped with the knowledge, values and professional strategies you require for occupational therapy practice. You will also have developed the professional and personal competence necessary to become a confident, autonomous and accountable occupational therapist.

Funding

Students on the BSc (Hons) course are funded for all their tuition fees by the NHS; eligible students may be awarded a means-tested bursary. Full-time eligible students may also apply for a capped student loan.

In-service students have their fees paid by their sponsoring authority while they continue to work.

Open days

Please check our school website regularly where details of our school open days will be advertised. If you would like to have a tour of the university campus, please contact the enquiry centre on

Specific entry requirements

• GCSE Mathematics, English and a science subject at C or above.
• It is strongly recommended that you visit a range of occupational therapy services before applying to the University.
• All applicants must be screened for fitness for practice and will be required to take an enhanced Criminal Records Bureau (CRB) check.

Please also see the university's general entry requirements.

Typical offers

These are intended to give you a general guide to the attainment levels we expect for this course.

• GCSE Mathematics, English and a science subject at C or above, plus one of the following:
• minimum of CCC at A-level
• 240 UCAS Points
• Access Course to Higher Education (Science or Health Care): 45 credits at Level 3, plus 15 credits at Level 2 (please note the Level 3 credits must include a minimum of 12 in Biology).
• Advanced Diploma at grade B, including A-level Science/Social Science at grade C, GCSE Science at grade C.

Mature students are considered on an individual basis but will have to show evidence of recent academic study at A-level standard or above which includes GCSE Mathematics at C or equivalent.

Credit transfer

Oxford Brookes operates the European Credit Transfer System (ECTS). All undergraduate single modules are equivalent to 7.5 ECTS credits and double modules to 15 ECTS credits. More about ECTS credits.

How to apply

Full-time: through UCAS.

Part-time and In-Service: direct to the university.

International applications

Limited International student places are available, but are not funded by the NHS. See general details about joining a course as an international student. For specific details about joining the Occupational Therapy course please contact the Programme Administrator.

International students may be required to undertake an English language proficiency test, and are required to achieve 7.0 in the IELTS plus be eligible for matriculation into a university in their home country. International applicants with a WFOT recognised diploma in OT may apply for transfer into Year 2 of the BSc (Hons) OT at Oxford Brookes University.

Conditions of acceptance

When you accept our offer you agree to the conditions of acceptance. You should therefore read those conditions before accepting the offer.