Intro

Occupational therapists help people to regain their independence and to lead full lives. You could work in health and social care, in the NHS, social services, the private or voluntary sectors.

Our professionally accredited part-time occupational therapy degree gives you everything you need to qualify and practice.

We have a practical approach to learning and you'll spend around a third of your degree on placement.

At university you'll develop your skills in our daily living suite, simulation ward and specialist rooms equipped for the creative arts, with theory linked to practice through problem-based learning.

This degree is also available as an apprenticeship for students who are employed in a healthcare setting.

Key facts

Location Brighton: Falmer

UCAS code Apply direct to the university

Part-time 4 years

Approved by the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC), the Royal College of Occupational Therapists and the World Federation of Occupational Therapists.

What are my next steps?

Please review the entry requirements carefully and if you have any questions do get in touch with us.

Apply now for your place

Entry criteria

Entry requirements

Academic requirements
You will be expected to provide evidence of academic achievement at Level 3 or above, equivalent to at least one subject at A-level. This could be a BTEC National Extended Certificate, an Access to HE qualification or a Cambridge Technical Extended Certificate.

Normally, this will have been awarded no earlier than the summer 10 years before the September start date. If your academic qualifications were gained outside of this period you are asked to support your application with evidence of relevant work-related CPD or other studies.

T-level
Pass with D or E in your core components in the Health, Healthcare Science or Science T-level. Other T-levels are not accepted.

GCSE
Grade C/4 or above from GCSE maths and English language. Level 2 Functional Skills will be accepted.

If you do not have the required GCSEs, find out which equivalent qualifications we accept instead.

Age requirement
Applicants must be aged 18 or over on the day the course begins.

Non-academic requirements
A 500-word report which demonstrates the applicants understanding of the diversity of occupational therapy. Each applicant is responsible for gaining the knowledge required to write the report. Applicants who work in an occupational therapy setting may wish to draw on their experience, but it will be expected that a range of services will be referred to including physical, mental health, hospital or community settings. All applicants are encouraged to use resources such as books, journal articles, and web-based sources. The report will not be expected to cover all occupational therapy practice settings.

The report is in addition to the personal statement and should be uploaded as a separate document on the personal statement section of our admissions portal.

English language requirements
IELTS 7.0 overall, with no element below 6.5.

References
Two references. References should not be from personal acquaintances, and you should consider referees who can best support your suitability for an occupational therapy course at undergraduate level.

Your application
We currently welcome applications and are planning online interviews from January to June to commence the course in September. There is no application deadline but we reserve the right to close the course if all places are filled. Places are limited and we recommend that you apply early to be considered.

Apprentice applicants may be individually interviewed earlier if their employer has supported an earlier application.

You can find more interview information and dates in the Interview info and deadlines tab.

All offers are subject to a satisfactory occupational health check and a Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) enhanced disclosure check.

Deferred applications
We are not able to accept applications for deferred entry onto this course. If you wish to apply for a later year of entry, we recommend waiting until the admissions cycle for that year opens – this is usually in October of each year.

International students
We are unable to accept applications for this part-time course from international students who require a student visa.

We embrace diversity and welcome applicants from all backgrounds, including those who form part of minority groups.

If you have an honours degree in any subject awarded within the last 10 years, you may be able to apply for our accelerated Occupational Therapy (Pre-Registration) MSc (PGCert PGDip) course. It is ideal for graduates who wish to start a career in this challenging and highly rewarding field.

Interview info and deadlines

Interviews will take place online from January to June. We have limited places on this course so we recommend that you apply early to be considered. There is no application deadline but we reserve the right to close the course if all places are filled. Places are limited and we recommend that you apply early to be considered.

Candidates are scored using a point system. Candidates with the highest scores are offered conditional places based on confirmation of DBS and occupational health clearance.

We are looking for students who have a very good understanding of the profession, are highly motivated, have excellent communication skills and are able to accurately evaluate their own performance.

All candidates must be able to demonstrate (in your application form and at interview) a sound knowledge of occupational therapy as a profession. This could come from, for example, experience of working in occupational therapy departments, talking to qualified occupational therapists, visits to departments, open days or other events, and reading relevant material.

Contextual admissions

When you apply to Brighton we want to hear about who you are. Grades are never the whole picture; we're interested in things like creativity, resourcefulness, persistence and the capacity to think big and find new ways of doing things. And we recognise that not everyone has the same background. That's why we treat everyone who applies as an individual. We recognise many qualifications and we care about all of your achievements and the experiences you've had that set you apart.

Find out more about contextual admissions.

Graphic with the text 'Potential + possibility'

Course content

Top reasons to choose this course

  • Approved by the Health and Care Professions Council, the Royal College of Occupational Therapists and the World Federation of Occupational Therapists.
  • You'll develop your knowledge and skills on placement working alongside occupational therapists in practice settings.
  • Practise your skills in our daily living suite, simulation ward and specialist rooms equipped for the creative arts.
  • Our innovative curriculum uses a problem-based learning approach, where you will examine real-life scenarios in small groups with a tutor.
  • Non-repayable grant of at least £5,000 each academic year.
  • Brighton is in the UK top 25% for graduate earnings in allied health, three years after graduating – Longitudinal Education Outcomes 2022.
man being shown how to use a walking frame

Course structure

This part-time degree runs over four years. You will attend classes on campus two days per week, 32 weeks per year. Within those 32 weeks you will also complete seven or eight weeks of full-time practice placement in each year of the degree. You should also expect to spend 20 hours per week (on average) on degree-related independent study during term time. 

The innovative curriculum uses a problem-based learning approach, where you will examine real-life scenarios in small groups with a tutor. This type of education has been found to deepen understanding and promote lifelong learning. You will practice a variety of creative skills, for example in arts and crafts, cooking, ceramics, and horticulture.

As a student on this professional course you’ll be required to adhere to the Health Care Professions Council Standards of Proficiency and Royal College of Occupational Therapist  Professional Standards and Ethics. You will be assessed to meet these standards through a combination of essays, presentations and group work. You will also be required to learn about research methodology.

You will study in a shared cohort with students on our Occupational Therapist Degree Apprenticeship.

As a student on this course you’ll also get to participate in Schwartz Rounds - hour-long sessions where students come together to listen to stories and share reflections in a supportive and confidential environment. The sessions offer the opportunity to reflect on the emotional aspects of clinical practice and are designed to support students and recent graduates working in complex settings.

Making sure that what you learn with us is relevant, up to date and what employers are looking for is our priority, so courses are reviewed and enhanced on an ongoing basis. When you have applied to us, you’ll be told about any new developments through Student View.

Two students doing a high five

Syllabus

Year 1

Modules

  • A Professional Perspective of Human Occupation

    This module will introduce you to professional standards of practice, the study of occupational science, the theories and practice of occupational therapy, and will also help you to develop academic skills such as study and computer skills.

  • Beginning Practice

    This module introduces you to the practice context and provides opportunities to develop your assessment skills, enabling you to build confidence in working with service users. You'll work with your practice educator to translate the theoretical concepts of OT into the practice context and develop the ability to assess and identify occupational issues. 

  • Foundations of Assessment in Occupational Therapy

    This module is where you'll start the in-depth study of the occupational therapy process. You'll focus on the skills needed to gather information relating to service users functional and occupational abilities, risk factors and the assessing occupational performance and participation. You will develop communication skills and show how these can be used to build a professional relationship with a service user, alongside carrying out and reflecting on the interview and your interview skills. 

  • Assessment in Occupational Therapy

    In this module, you'll continue to study the occupational therapy process focusing on theory and strategies that enable you to assess functional and occupational abilities, risk factors and the assessment of occupational performance and participation. You'll explore the use of both standard and non-standard tools for this assessment. You'll also further develop the clinical reasoning introduced in other modules to facilitate the initial collaboration between service user and occupational therapist

Year 2

  • Occupational Therapy in Teams
  • Occupation for Change
  • Intermediate Practice

Year 3

  • Occupational Therapy in Diverse Settings
  • Diverse Practice
  • Research Foundations for Occupation-centred Practice
  • Research Design for Occupation-centred Practice

Year 4

  • Final Practice
  • Employability and Professional Development
  • Achieving Occupation-centred Practice
  • Readiness for Practice
students during a craft session

Facilities

As a Brighton occupational therapy student you will use a range of specialist facilities which will include:

  • an occupational therapy daily living suite with kitchen, bedroom and bathroom facilities. Here you’ll practice activities of daily living in a realistic, furnished home environment.
  • occupational therapy craft rooms equipped for the creative arts and crafts taught as part of the occupational therapy curriculum with its focus on health through occupation.
  • a virtual anatomy lab that houses our 3D anatomy visualisation table
  • simulation ward so you can become confident working in a hospital environment.

The facilities are so new that we haven't yet taken photos, but you can view them when you visit us. You can also get a feel for them by watching the short video and checking out our Falmer campus information.

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Problem-based learning

Our educational philosophy mirrors the philosophy of occupational therapy. We believe that an individual's positive engagement in (learning) activity leads to advanced productivity, increased perception of self worth, improved quality of life and enjoyment (of the course).

Our occupational therapy degrees use problem-based learning (PBL), a technique recommended by authorities around the world. All subjects covered are integrated around problem-solving within a real life situation. We find that learning in this way significantly increases our students' engagement with the subjects.

The pre-registration occupational therapy programmes incorporate the experience of doing and making, in order to engage with, analyse and develop skill in therapeutic media. We have creativity studios for cooking, ceramics, crafts, and performing arts, and we have developed gardens for the practice of horticulture.

Around the world, many academic courses in occupational therapy are losing this aspect of their education, to give over more time to ‘theory’, but here at the University of Brighton we believe that it is vital to retain these embodied learning experiences – which utterly link theory and practice – as they are central to the understanding of the true essence and potential of occupation. Recent research has revealed the connection between skilled hand use and the development of thinking. As one student, who could not imagine a course without these sessions, said “how can we learn about doing without doing?” These classes are central to the philosophy of our occupational therapy education at Brighton and they have become one of its hallmarks.

Occupational therapy students

About the profession

Occupational therapists work with individuals and their families to identify where change is needed. The individual might not be able to feed or dress himself independently if he can only use one hand following a stroke, or they may be too depressed to get out of bed to go to work.

They try to discover what the impediments are, and how the person might be able to resolve them practically. This often involves demonstrating new techniques that allow the individual to undertake everyday activities independently again.

Alternatively, occupational therapists might introduce new activities, such as cooking or pottery, for the individual to find enjoyment or improve their self-confidence.

Occupational therapists believe that humans are creative beings who thrive when engaged in a balanced range of enjoyable activities. They seek to understand peoples' motivations and needs and try to match activities to a person's existing skills.

Activity analysis exposes that although the things people do may seem deceptively simple, human occupations are actually incredibly complicated.

Occupational therapy is the study of what people do, how they do things, the effect these activities have on human health, and the reasons why people choose to do what they do (the meaning behind the doing).

The videos here show students Rhys Philips and Troy Croxton, in the role of Occupational Therapy Support Workers explaining how occupational therapy helps people live meaningful lives and carry out activities of importance to them. 

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Two students explain how they mix practical experience with their degree in occupational therapy.

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Rhys and Troy, fourth year students, talk about how they became interested in occupational therapy.

Practice placements

What are practice placements and why are they necessary?
You will undertake four placements of approximately eight weeks, working alongside an occupational therapist in a practice setting.

Placements make up approximately one third of the course and meet the World Federation of Occupational Therapists requirement that all students complete a minimum of 1,000 hours supervised practice. This enables you to acquire an understanding of the centrality of occupation in human life and the possibility of transformation through occupation.

Placements provide opportunities for you to develop your professionalism, knowledge and skills under the guidance of an occupational therapist. Your skill development might be related to many areas of practice including group work, creative activities, mobility, communication, and the use of technology.

What type of placement?
You will practice in many different settings including the National Health Service, social care organisations, schools, the voluntary sector, hospital in-patient settings, community settings and mental health services.

Where are the placements?
Placements take place across the south-east of England, including Kent, Sussex, Surrey and South London. It may be necessary for you to travel up to 90 mins or to stay away from home.

What support can students expect?
We provide preparation sessions in advance and a practice educator will support you on placement. We select your first two-week placement, then you can provide your preferred options (not guaranteed). If you have commitments outside of university, such as childcare, we will try and accommodate (not guaranteed). A tutor will visit or call you and your practice educator halfway through the placement to discuss your progress.

Meet the team

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Careers

After professional registration with the HCPC graduates are eligible to take up opportunities in health and social care, in the NHS, social services, the private, and voluntary sector. There are now many new and exciting possibilities for occupational therapists nationally and worldwide.

Occupational therapists work in an ever-widening range of mental health and physical disability settings including acute hospitals, long-term rehabilitation, social care, local communities, schools, factories, residential homes, institutions for older or more profoundly disabled people, voluntary organisations and prisons.

Completion of the Occupational Therapy BSc will also prepare you for further study at MSc, MPhil and PhD level if you wish to continue pursuing an academic path.

Want to know more about being an allied health professional?

The Springpod virtual work experience programme offers the opportunity for anyone aged 14-25 to learn more about a career as an allied health professional. You’ll develop key skills for the profession, hear from NHS professionals about their day-to-day work, complete assignments and join live workshops. Find out more about the Springpod virtual work experience programme.

Occupational therapy students looking at patient notes in the Leaf Hospital

Royal College of Occupational Therapists logo

Fees and costs

Course fees

UK6,935 GBP

Additional funding support

UK students studying nursing, midwifery and some allied health professions subjects receive a non-repayable grant of at least £5,000 each academic year. Find out more on the NHS website.

Funding arrangements for part-time students

Students can apply for a loan if this is their second degree providing it is not in the same profession/subject. Find out more on the gov.uk website.

Fee information for this course for 2025 entry will be updated here no later than December 2024.

The fees listed here are for the first year of study if you start your course in the academic year 2024–25.

You will pay fees for each year of your course. Some fees may increase each year. UK undergraduate and some postgraduate fees are regulated by the UK government and increases will not be more than the maximum amount allowed. Course fees that are not regulated may increase each year by up to 5% or RPI (depending on which is higher).

If you have specific queries about the course fee, our fees team will be happy to help. Email them at fees@brighton.ac.uk.

Find out more

What's included

Here you’ll find details of specific resources and services that are included in the tuition fee for our allied health professions students. To help you to budget for your studies, there is also information on any additional costs that you may have to pay or can choose to pay in addition to your tuition fee.

Find out how tuition fees enable us to support all of our students with important services, facilities and resources across the university and check out our finance pages for info about fees, funding and scholarships along with advice on international and island fee-paying status.

You can chat with our enquiries team if you have a question or need more information.

What's included in your tuition fee

  • An initial set of specialist uniforms.
  • DBS checks and occupational health checks.
  • Where health course includes a placement: UK students – travel costs which are over and above your daily journey to university and dual accommodation costs may be reimbursed by the NHS learning support fund.
  • Course books, magazines and journals are available in the university libraries. You do not need to have your own copies. See the subject area in the library for an up-to-date list of key subject journals and databases.
  • You will have access to computers and necessary software on campus – and can borrow a laptop from us if yours is broken or you don’t have a computer at home. Specialist equipment is provided to cover essential learning.

Additional course costs

  • Where health course includes a placement: Overseas students are not covered by the NHS learning support fund. This means that any additional travel or accommodation costs for this course will be your responsibility. Travel to placement may be up to 90 mins each way/travel on public transport at peak time cost, and you may incur additional accommodation and living costs if staying away from your usual home base for the length of your placement.
  • You’ll need to budget for printing and stationery for personal study, and books if you decide to buy your own.   
  • In most cases coursework submissions are electronic but you may wish to print notes which would involve an extra cost.   
  • Many students choose to buy their own hardware, software and accessories. The amount spent will depend on your individual choices, but this expenditure is not essential to pass any of our courses.

Location and student life

Campus where this course is taught

Falmer campus

Set in the South Downs, our Falmer campus is around four miles from Brighton city centre. Students based here study a range of subjects including education studies, teaching, sport and exercise, nursing and midwifery, allied health professions and medicine. Brighton and Hove Albion's Amex stadium and beautiful Stanmer Park are right next door.

Falmer campus has two halls of residence on site, as well as a library, restaurant, cafes and the students' union shop and bar.

The campus has extensive sport and leisure facilities including a fitness suite, swimming pool, outdoor grass football and rugby pitches, sports hall, tennis and badminton courts, and dance and spin studios.

Specialist learning facilities at Falmer include the curriculum centre used by teaching and education students, which houses over 30,000 teaching resources, clinical skills and simulation suites used by health students, and labs and a strength and conditioning suite used by sport students. We’ve recently redeveloped the Falmer campus - learn more about the many facilities our students have access to.

Cycle lanes link Falmer with our other campuses and the city centre. There are regular bus services to the city centre and other campuses. Falmer train station is right next to campus and a nine-minute journey to central Brighton.

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Accommodation

We guarantee an offer of a place in halls of residence to all eligible students. So if you applied for halls by the deadline you are guaranteed a room in our halls of residence.

Brighton: Falmer

Halls of residence
We have self-catered halls on all our campuses, within minutes of your classes, and other options that are very nearby.

  • You can apply for any of our halls, but the options closest to your study location are:
    • Paddock Field and Great Wilkins halls offer a range of rooms on our Falmer campus, minutes from your classes, and on the edge of the South Downs.
    • Varley Park is a popular dedicated halls site, offering a mix of rooms and bathroom options at different prices. It is around two miles from Falmer campus and four miles from the city centre, and is easy to get to by bus.

Want to live independently? We can help – find out more about private renting.

Outside views at Falmer accommodation

Outside views at Falmer accommodation

student outside the sport and health complex at Falmer

Extensive facilities at Falmer sports centre

Students dining at Westlain

Students dining at Westlain

Local area

About Brighton

The University of Brighton is at the heart of our city's reputation as a welcoming, forward-thinking place which leads the way when it comes to the arts, music, sustainability and creative technology. Brighton is home to a thriving creative community and a digital sector worth £1bn a year to the local economy, as much as tourism.

Many of the work-based learning opportunities offered on our courses such as placements and guest lectures are provided by businesses and organisations based in the city.

You can also get involved with city festivals and events such as the Brighton Festival, the Fringe, Brighton Digital Festival, Brighton Science Festival, the London to Brighton bike ride, and the Great Escape festival of new music to name but a few. Other annual highlights include Pride, the Brighton Marathon, and Burning the Clocks which marks the winter solstice.

You'll find living in Brighton enriches your learning experience and by the end of your course you will still be finding new things to explore and inspire you.

It's only 50 minutes by train from Brighton to central London and there are daily direct trains to Bristol, Bedford, Cambridge, Gatwick Airport, Portsmouth and Southampton.

Map showing distance to London from Brighton
Brighton Beach sunset

Maps

Falmer campus

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Support and wellbeing

Your course team

Your personal academic tutor, course leader and other tutors are all there to help you with your personal and academic progress. You'll also have a student support and guidance tutor (SSGT) who can help with everything from homesickness, managing stress or accommodation issues.

Your academic skills

Our Brighton Student Skills Hub gives you extra support and resources to develop the skills you'll need for university study, whatever your level of experience so far.

Your mental health and wellbeing

As well as being supported to succeed, we want you to feel good too. You'll be part of a community that builds you up, with lots of ways to connect with one another, as well having access to dedicated experts if you need them. Find out more about how we support your wellbeing.

Sport at Brighton

Sport Brighton

Sport Brighton brings together our sport and recreation services. As a Brighton student you'll have use of sport and fitness facilities across all our campuses and there are opportunities to play for fun, fitness or take part in serious competition. 

Find out more about Sport Brighton.

Sports scholarships

Our sports scholarship scheme is designed to help students develop their full sporting potential to train and compete at the highest level. We offer scholarships for elite athletes, elite disabled athletes and talented sports performers.

Find out more about sport scholarships.

Students playing frisbee

Student views  

Lucy Howell 

"I often saw university to be inaccessible due to many personal factors. I had not considered occupational therapy as a career but the more I looked into the profession, the more knew this was the direction I wanted to head. 

"The course at Brighton includes the problem based leaning approach to teaching which is combined with practical hands on sessions and placement learning. Not being a naturally academic student, this course allowed me a flexible approach to leaning, which suited me far better than traditional studies. I had to be creative and self directed to develop my knowledge and clinical reasoning skills, which I still use with my clients in a community mental health setting.

"Learning on the job with placement educators and group work opportunities gave me practical experience of the occupational therapist role and the benefit of working in multi-disciplinary teams, all of which enhances wellbeing for my clients today. 

"Discovering I had a learning disability halfway through the course came as both a shock and relief. Staff were supportive in offering time and additional support when needed and the university has a network offering support and guidance for both personal and professional issues. The part-time course allowed me to retain a balanced life as a mum and grandma, continue with my self-employment and complete my academic studies.

"Over the 4 years, I have grown in ability and confidence and feel equipped and proud to be a member of the occupational therapy profession, where I encourage and support clients to build their own recovery journeys."

Lucy Howell, graduate, 2017. 

Lucy Howell

Iain Wilkes 

"My cohort was mixed with students from all sorts of backgrounds. This benefitted our learning and we all learnt a lot from each other as well as from our formal studies. The academic staff were excellent, had a variety of clinical backgrounds and each brought their own unique flavour to learning. I found them all to be very approachable and have maintained links with the university since graduation.

"Problem-based learning (PBL) was new to me and is a great way to build confidence and skills in presenting and group participation, and it develops self-reliance. There were also guest lectures from practising Occupational Therapists and a variety of fixed resource sessions. The clinical placements were always a highlight; they were a necessary part of the training and also widened my perceptions and have benefitted me in my current practice. 

"I now work as Specialist Neurological Occupational Therapist in a Community Neurological Rehabilitation Team. The course fostered a confidence and independence in my approach to learning and I have found it invaluable post-qualification. I have been fortunate to be invited back several times to participate in or facilitate some learning sessions with current pre-registration students and always extol the benefits of studying occupational therapy at Brighton."

Iain Wilkes, Occupational Therapy BSc graduate, 2013.

Iain Wilkes

Kate Guy

"For someone taking their first degree later in life than most, Occupational Therapy at the University of Brighton really was the perfect degree to maximise my skills as a student and my skills in life!"

Kate Guy

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If you have a question about this course, our enquiries team will be happy to help.

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Find out more about how the academic year and degree courses are organised, and about learning and assessment activities you might get to grips with at Brighton. More specific information about this course is detailed in the programme specification (linked below). You can find out also about the support we offer to help you adjust to university life.

Course and module descriptions on this page were accurate when first published and are the basis of the course. Detailed information on any changes we make to modules and learning and assessment activities will be sent to all students by email before enrolment, so that you have all the information before you come to Brighton.

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Course specification

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