MSc Occupational Therapy (pre-registration)
Full-time
Location • Collegiate Campus
Subject area • Occupational therapy
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A 360 degree tour of the home environment room in our Robert Winston Building
One of our lecturers receives the highest honour available from the College of Occupational Therapists. Read more about it.
FInd out more about the teaching staff in this subject area.
At a glance
Gain the skills and knowledge required to apply for registration as an occupational therapist anywhere in the UK, on this innovative course. Over 28 months you learn both in the practice setting and at university.
Key points
• Study on the only course of its kind in the UK.
• Register with the UK Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC) after completion.
• Learn from an award-winning team.
• Gain real experience with over 30 weeks on placement.
This is an innovative course, the first of its kind in the UK. You learn about occupational therapy while in the workplace, supported by one or two days a week of academic learning delivered at Sheffield Hallam.
Successfully completing this course makes you eligible to apply for registration with the UK Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC). Registering with the HCPC enables you to work as an occupational therapist anywhere in the UK.
You learn from a highly respected and award-winning team that includes two fellows of College of Occupational Therapists. This team will lead your learning in the core theories and principles of occupational therapy.
You take four periods of practice in occupational therapy health and social care settings and study nine academic modules. Modules you study include
• introduction to professional practice
• occupational therapy philosophy, theory and practice
• leadership in occupational therapy
• occupational therapy project (practice-based research dissertation)
Your academic modules guide you in developing relevant knowledge and theory that underpins occupational therapy practice, and are assessed through coursework. Throughout the taught modules we use your placement experiences in group discussions to relate theory to practice and enhance critical thinking skills.
You also spend a significant amount of your time in practice-based learning. In the first year, after a six week full-time induction period, you are placed in two different occupational therapy services, each for 13 weeks from February to May and from September to November. You are on placement in these services from Monday to Wednesday, attend the university on Thursdays and normally have some personal study time on Fridays. Your practice in the service is assessed to meet professional requirements.
In the second year, you are on placement part-time for 13 weeks from February to May in a service where they may be no direct occupational therapy involvement but where there is potential for occupational therapy. This may be in the voluntary, independent or private sector. Again your academic study features alongside your practice-based learning. The remainder of the academic year is spent in full-time study and research and you usually attend university for one or two days a week.
Finally you complete an eight-week full-time placement in the early part of your third year as you finish the course.
All students are given a mentor from practice for the duration of the course. This experienced occupational therapist is there for professional guidance and support to help you develop your knowledge of the profession and your own journey through it.
CPD online
CPD Online, part of our CPD Anywhere™ framework, is being offered free to new graduates of this course for 12 months, as part of our commitment to support your lifelong learning.
CPD Online is an online learning environment which provides information to help your transition into the workplace. It can enhance your employability and provide opportunities to take part in and evidence continuing professional development to help meet professional body and statutory requirements.
For further information, visit the CPD Anywhere™ website at www.shu.ac.uk/faculties/hwb/cpd/anywhere
One of our staff members won a major teaching award from the Higher Education Academy Subject Centre for Health Sciences and Practice in 2010.
Find out more about MSc Occupational Therapy (pre-registration)
Related courses
Full-time for 28 months
Starts January
Complete the application form available at www.shu.ac.uk/study/form
2013/14 academic year
The Department of Health funds this course. If you are a home or EU resident, you have your full tuition fees paid and you can normally apply for a means tested NHS-funded bursary to help with your living expenses. Further information is available on the NHS student bursaries website at www.nhsbsa.nhs.uk/students
To qualify as a home student, you must have been living in the UK for over three years and have indefinite leave to remain or refugee status.
It is also possible to self fund the course. If you are a self-funding student, the fee is typically £32,000 for the course.
Your clinical placements may not be in Sheffield, so you may need to pay for separate accommodation while on placement. NHS bursary students may be able to claim the cost of this back.
The course fee may be subject to annual inflationary increase. For further information on fees and funding see www.shu.ac.uk/funding
2013/14 academic year
Typically £16,000 a year
Your clinical placements may not be in Sheffield, so you may need to pay for separate accommodation while on placement.
2014/15 academic year
Typically £13,650 a year, plus an additional mandatory placement fee of £2,500 a year
Your clinical placements may not be in Sheffield, so you may need to pay for separate accommodation while on placement.
The course fee may be subject to annual inflationary increase. For further information on fees, scholarships and bursaries see www.shu.ac.uk/international/fees
We assess your practice learning to meet professional requirements and your academic modules through coursework.
For further information contact admissions, Sheffield Hallam University, City Campus, Howard Street, Sheffield S1 1WB. Phone +44 (0)114 225 5533, fax +44 (0)114 225 2167, e-mail admissions@shu.ac.uk
This course is accredited by the British Association of Occupational Therapists and College of Occupational Therapists.
Graduates can apply for registration with the UK Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC). You must be registered with the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC) in order to practise as an occupational therapist.
You can also become full members of the British Association of Occupational Therapists and College of Occupational Therapists.
Home environment room
The home environment room in our Robert Winston Building gives our students realistic workplace training.
Claire Craig receives the highest honour from the College of Occupational Therapists
Claire Craig, fellow of the College of Occupational Therapists
A Sheffield Hallam researcher and lecturer in occupational therapy has completed a rare double by achieving the highest honour awarded by her professional body.
Claire Craig has become one of only 86 people to become a fellow of the College of Occupational Therapists, the highest honour the organisation can give.
It follows Claire becoming a National Teaching Fellow in last year's National Teaching Fellowship Scheme awards, and success in the University's own Inspirational Teaching Awards in which she was nominated by students for her approach to learning.
Claire is actually the second Sheffield Hallam lecturer to receive the fellowship, following Dr Sarah Cook, a fellow reader in occupational therapy, in 2010.
Claire, originally from Royston, Barnsley and now living in Hoylandswaine, said: "This really is an exceptional honour for me and it is great to be recognised by my peers. It also shows the strength of the occupational therapy provision at Sheffield Hallam as I am the second person to receive the fellowship, and there are only 86 in total across the UK."
Naomi Hankinson, Chairman of Council, British Association and College of Occupational Therapists said “It gives us great pleasure to award this Fellowship to Claire in recognition of her outstanding work.
"Claire is a talented and inspirational educator who generates and implements innovative ideas in education and practice.
"Much of her work centres on the important role that occupational therapy plays in the well-being of older people and people with dementia. She is a wonderful ambassador for the profession both here and abroad.”
Last year, Claire was one of just 55 winning lecturers and learning staff chosen from hundreds of teaching fellow nominations made by Higher Education Institutions across England, Northern Ireland and Wales.
The awards scheme, run by the Higher Education Academy (HEA), recognises and rewards excellent learning and teaching.
Claire is a researcher in Lab4living within the Art and Design Research Centre as well as teaching in Health and Wellbeing. The focus of her research and teaching is around active ageing and people with dementia.
This led to previous external recognition in 2010, when she received two awards from her professional body.
Staff profiles
Visit the Department of Allied Health Professions website to view profiles of the staff who teach in this subject area.
