Occupational Therapy BSc (Hons)

Sheffield Hallam University

Please check the Sheffield Hallam University website for the latest information.

Course summary

• Develop the knowledge and skills to work as an occupational therapist.
• Apply your work to real-world situations on 32 weeks of placement.
• Focus on your personal and professional development.
• Make a difference to the lives of others.

On this course you’ll study a wide range of topics while developing knowledge and skills in a variety of placement settings. You’ll collaborate with other care professions to help you understand the wider context of your work, helping you to prepare for a rewarding career.

We also offer a degree apprenticeship version of this course, where you study alongside 30 hours of employment a week.

How you learn

All our courses are designed around a set of key principles based on engaging you with the world, collaborating with others, challenging you to think in new ways, and providing you with a supportive environment in which you can thrive.

You’ll study relevant topics like science alongside occupational therapy while gaining practical experience on placement. The learning, teaching and assessment methods used on the course mean you’ll qualify fit for practice in accordance with the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC) Standards of Education and Training (2017).

You’ll also learn with, from and about other professions within health and social care. We’ll provide you with the knowledge, skills and values to enhance your employment opportunities and give you a strong professional identity.

You learn through

• seminars
• lectures
• tutorials
• practical workshops
• practice-based activities

You will be supported in your learning journey towards highly skilled, graduate level employment through a number of key areas. These include

• access to our unique student support triangle to help with your personal, academic and career development
• access to our Skills Centre with one to ones, webinars and online resources, where you can get help with planning and structuring your assignments
• industry-specific employability activities such as live projects, learning in simulated environments and networking opportunities

Applied learning

Work placements

You’ll apply the theory you study to practice-based learning experiences. Here you’ll develop critical and ethical approaches to your practice – preparing you to become a life-long, competent professional. The experiences you’re provided with are compulsory to achieve the course’s practice-based learning outcomes.

These experiences will help you build your skills, confidence, creativity, resilience, integrity, and curiosity. They’ll take place in different practice-based learning environments – reflecting the range of ways services are currently delivered. This might include simulated learning and virtual placements, alongside real-world experience of services delivered face to face to service users.

We’ll ensure the practice-based learning element of your course complies with the requirements of the Professional and Statutory Regulatory Body (PSRB) which governs the occupational therapy profession. So by the end of your course, you’ll have the opportunity to show that you meet the requirements to register as an occupational therapist.

Future careers

This course prepares you for a career in

• occupational therapy
• teaching
• research

Previous graduates of this course have gone on to work for

• the NHS
• local authority social services
• schools
• private practices
• charities
• other health and social care environments

Equipment and facilities

On this course you work with

• state-of-the-art technology and equipment
• specialist teaching facilities which recreate the workplace on campus

We’ve invested over £100m in new facilities to help you study how and when you want. This means 24-hour libraries and study spaces designed by our students.