Option for Placement Year
Option for Study Abroad
Our Occupational Therapist Degree Apprenticeship is aimed at those
employed in occupational therapy support roles.Apprentices will learn about the philosophy and theoretical underpinnings of occupational therapy and occupational science, develop knowledge and skills in the workplace and engage with professional development requirements in order to successfully complete the degree Apprenticeship and be eligible for registration as an Occupational Therapist with the Health and Care Professions Council, enabling apprentices to develop a career across a range of settings in health, social care, education, research and beyond.
The Occupational Therapist Degree Apprenticeship is fully integrated with the EPA included within the 3 year (full time) programme. Apprentices with a first degree or substantial relevant experiences may be eligible to apply for recognition of prior learning enabling them to enter the programme at level 5.
Apprenticeship programmes at Northumbria University are designed to support apprentices in acquiring the appropriate knowledge, skills and behaviour and retain the integrity of the apprenticeship standard as defined by IFATE. For further details please consult the IFATE Apprenticeship standards / Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education website for the Occupational Therapist (Integrated Degree) Apprenticeship standard here.
Level of Study
Undergraduate
Mode of Study
3 years Full Time
Location
Coach Lane Campus, Northumbria University
City
Newcastle
Start
September 2025
Fees
Fee Information
Modules
Module Information
Explore our full range of Higher and Degree Apprenticeships within the following sectors:
Explore our full range of Higher and Degree Apprenticeships within the following sectors:
Applicants must be employed in a relevant role, such as an occupational therapy assistant, technical instructor or assistant practitioner with the opportunity to apply theoretical concepts directly to their personal and professional work experience.
Potential apprentices will need:
112 UCAS Tariff points
From a combination of acceptable Level 3 qualifications which may include: A-levels, BTEC Diplomas/Extended Diplomas, Scottish and Irish Highers, Access to HE Diplomas or the International Baccalaureate.
We may also consider applicants with non-standard qualifications, or a significant amount of relevant work-based experience evidenced through a portfolio of evidence mapped against the RCOT career development framework.
Entry to Level 5 of the programme will be possible with relevant qualifications and experience evidenced through a portfolio of evidence mapped against the learning outcomes of level 4 and the RCOT career development framework.
English Language Requirements:
International applicants should have a minimum overall IELTS (Academic) score of 7 with 6.5 in each component (or an approved equivalent).
GCSE requirements:
It is a requirement that all apprentices have acquired and can evidence level 2 Maths and English qualifications at GCSE grade C/4 or above before completion of the programme. For any applicants to a degree apprenticeship programme who cannot provide evidence of level 2 maths and English qualifications on entry, NU will work with a designated level 2 provider to facilitate both an initial diagnostic test and learning support and assessment leading to the required qualification.
Recognition of Prior Learning
Students can apply for exemption from studying individual modules or an entire stage of a programme on the basis of prior learning. The prior learning and experience of each applicant is mapped against the programme learning outcomes and apprenticeship standards in compliance with ESFA policy on initial skills assessment and the NU Process for Management of Degree Apprenticeship Students: Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL).
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Module information is indicative and is reviewed annually therefore may be subject to change. Applicants will be informed if there are any changes.
DA4024 -
Fundamentals Occupational Science (30 Credits)
By the end of this module, you understand the relationship between occupation (everyday activities that people find meaningful and purposeful), and health and wellbeing. You will develop knowledge from occupational science to develop your understanding of how engaging in occupation impacts on the health and wellbeing of individuals and learn about health promotion and community engagement from an occupational perspective. Through engagement with module staff and your work-based mentor you will be able to review how this is reflected in the workplace. You will also explore how health and environmental factors impact on an individual’s motivation and ability to engage with everyday activities.
More informationDA4025 -
Becoming a Professional Occupational Therapist (30 Credits)
By the end of this module, you will have built upon your foundation knowledge and understanding of the origins of occupational therapy, the contribution of Occupational Science and also the attributes, values and behaviours required as a professional and as part of registration with HCPC, including the standards expected from the RCOT Professional body. Within this learning you will also continue to develop and utilise the academic study skills required in higher education and your professional development as an occupational therapist. With a focus on topics pertinent to a career as an occupational therapist, you will have the opportunity to explore professional standards, codes of conduct, principles of reflective practice and the importance of evidence informed practice. You will begin your development as a professional lifelong learner using the RCOT Career Development Framework and reviewing the expectations of Continuing Professional Development (CPD) by HCPC. Knowledge and skills that you develop in this module will be transferable to all other level 4 modules and will be the foundation to support your development as a professional and your practice as an occupational therapist.
More informationDA4026 -
Occupational Therapy Skills 1 (40 Credits)
By the end of this module, you will have a clear understanding of the key knowledge and skills required for practice as an occupational therapist. You will explore underpinning Occupational Science, occupational and activity analysis in order to develop understanding of occupational disruption and the range of social and individual factors which impact on a person’s ability to engage in occupations linked to health and wellbeing. You will develop knowledge from occupational, physical, behavioural and social sciences to inform your understanding of a range of acute and chronic disease processes and the impact these may have on an individual’s capacity to engage in self-care, productivity and leisure pursuits. You will develop a foundation understanding of how social factors external to an individual may also impact on the health and wellbeing of individuals and communities and the subsequent impact on occupational engagement. Building on your understanding of human developmental theory you will explore occupational disruption and potential impact on health and wellbeing associated with each life stage.
More informationDA4027 -
Practice Placement 1 (20 Credits)
By the end of this module, you will experience Occupational Therapy practice, developing an understanding of the value of collaboration and team-working in health and care contexts and making a contribution to person-centred care. The module will help you to understand and demonstrate the professional conduct required as set out by the Royal College of Occupational Therapists Professional standards for occupational therapy practice, conduct and ethics (RCOT, 2021) and HCPC Standards of Conduct, Performance and Ethics (2016).
Through supervised practice, you will explore and experience human occupation and the benefits of therapeutic activity to health and wellbeing. You will also learn about, and demonstrate at a foundation level, the values, skills and professional requirements of a student Occupational Therapist.
Experts by experience have helped to identify the following core values as the most important elements of building relationships with service users and carers: respect, trust, compassion, empathy, listening and collaboration. Through a range of learning experiences you will be supported to examine these values and to think about how they demonstrate them in their professional practice.
Practice placement involves working in lots of different environments, including people’s homes, hospitals, clinic environments and also working in virtual environments. A particular theme of this module is ‘being a professional in practice environments’ to raise awareness of safety of self and others within practice environments and begin to consider your own impact within the environment.
DA5024 -
Evidence and Research underpinning Occupational Therapy Practice (30 Credits)
This module will enable you to develop critical reading skills which in turn will enable you to consider the quality and value of evidence to support occupational therapy practice and your own continuing professional development. In this module you will be reading and critically appraising published research and other forms of evidence that inform health and social care practices, with a particular focus on occupational therapy. You will develop your understanding of the meaning of knowledge and how knowledge is generated ethically. You will also focus on service user and carer involvement in healthcare research and how this can be facilitated in development of practice-based knowledge and evidence. Service users are recognised as equal partners and valued contributors will be considered as the key to the development and enhancement of service provision. You will develop knowledge and understanding of research terminology, methodologies and research methods by exploring relevant terminology, concepts and research processes. You will develop your critical appraisal skills to enable you to appreciate the value and limitations of a variety of approaches used in health and social care research.
More informationDA5025 -
Occupational Science and Public Health (30 Credits)
This module will develop your understanding of the public health agenda. You will critically explore regional, national and international public health issues and priorities and develop familiarity with policy and legislation that supports this agenda. You will consolidate your knowledge and understanding of theory and concepts from occupational science, including occupational justice, occupational marginalisation and occupational apartheid, applying an occupational perspective to contemporary public health policy and political discourses. You will develop an understanding of health promotion approaches and strategies to support behaviour change, with a focus on the occupational nature of human beings as a means for promoting and sustaining well societies.
More informationDA5026 -
Occupational Therapy Skills 2 (40 Credits)
Occupational Therapists use a wide range of practice skills to identify and assess occupational needs and to facilitate occupational engagement for those they work alongside. By the end of this module, you will have developed practice skills which enable Occupational Therapists to work with people with a range of needs and in a range of practice settings.
The core skills of an Occupational Therapist link to how they select, analyse, adapt and utilise occupations to promote occupational engagement, health and wellbeing. This module will focus on the occupational process and the development of professional clinical reasoning skills. You will be provided with opportunities to learn and practice these skills and apply them to a range of authentic case studies and practice contexts. This will include consideration of listening and interviewing skills in order to understand occupational needs and priorities; practical skills in planning and facilitating individual and group activities in a range of practice contexts while considering a range of variables including risk management that impact on safe and effective practice. Alongside these practical skills, professional reasoning and decision making skills will also be developed throughout the module. In addition, you will also have the opportunity to develop wider professional skills including skills in risk assessment, record keeping and collaborative working.
DA5027 -
Practice Placement 2 (20 Credits)
By the end of this module, you will have further developed your Occupational Therapy knowledge and skills by completing your second Occupational Therapy practice placement. This will build on the skills and experience gained during placement 1 and in your workplace.
Through supervised practice, you will actively participate in the Occupational Therapy process, learning to apply knowledge drawn from your work in modules completed so far, as well as developing core practice skills. You will reflect on the core values important to service users and carers and consider their application to practice. You will learn about, and experience, the importance of cultural intelligence, collaborative working and utilise opportunities to develop your professional and organisational skills and consider the role of the environment in creating an enabling/ disabling experience. You will be required to provide evidence that your statutory and mandatory training is up to date prior to the start of placement. The placement will encourage reflective learning supporting development as a reflective and evidence-based practitioner. Hours completed on this module contribute to the 1000 hours of supervised practice required to be eligible to register to practice on completion of the programme. Some of the pre and post placement university learning can be verified as placement hours.
DA6022 -
Occupational Therapy Dissertation (40 Credits)
In this module you will have the opportunity to conduct a literature review, research proposal or service improvement proposal on a self-selected topic, of personal and professional interest, in an area relevant to your occupational therapy practice. You will engage in the process of addressing real practice topics/issues through critical engagement with published literature. You will have the opportunity to access and apply research and other sources of evidence to a practice-based topic under the guidance of dissertation tutors and your work based mentor. You will have the opportunity to further enhance your knowledge and skills of information retrieval, and critical appraisal developed previously in your programme of studies. In addition, you will synthesise a body of evidence and consider in detail how the application of evidence can impact on the quality of service provision and your own professional development as a life-long learner.
More informationDA6023 -
Occupational Science and Communities (20 Credits)
This module will build on your existing knowledge of public health issues studied in year 2. It will enable you to explore the use of occupation to develop and promote health and wellbeing in groups and communities in a practical and applied way drawing on placement and work-based experiences. You will focus on an identified community and collaborate with that community to understand their occupational needs and assets. You will further your understanding of engaging with groups and communities and develop skills in presenting your ideas and facilitating dialogue with others by adopting a co-production approach. Through a practical and work based experience you will further develop core professional skills in collaborative goal setting, risk assessment, project planning, evaluation and feedback. You will revisit the sustainability agenda in occupational therapy practice and work with a community to develop a plan linked to sustainable occupations. Links will be made throughout the module to concepts of occupational science.
More informationDA6025 -
Practice Placement 3 (20 Credits)
By the end of this module, you will have consolidated your Occupational Therapy knowledge and skills by achieving a minimum of 1000 hours of assessed Occupational Therapy practice. This will build on the skills and experience gained during placement 1 and 2. through supervised practice, you will actively participate in the delivery of Occupational Therapy services, learning to apply knowledge drawn from your work in modules completed so far, as well as integrating core practice skills. You will reflect on the core values important to service users and carers and consider their application to practice. You will learn about, and experience, the importance of cultural intelligence, collaborative working and utilise opportunities to develop your professional and organisational skills and consider the role of the environment in creating an enabling/ disabling experience. You will apply this knowledge to taking an active and increasingly autonomous role within the delivery of safe and effective occupational therapy practice. The placement will continue to encourage your learning of the reflective process and support your development as a reflective and evidence-based practitioner and will make links to theoretical concepts from other Y1, Y2 and Y3 modules and your work based learning. As you will be guided by professional and regulatory body requirements for student occupational therapists, practice placement is a fundamental part of preparing you for your own future professional employment. Hours completed on this module contribute to the 1000 hours of supervised practice required to be eligible to register to practice on completion of the programme. Some of the pre and post placement university learning can be verified as placement hours. The placement preparation will revisit the professional conduct required in practice as set out by the Royal College of Occupational Therapists Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct (2015) and HCPC Standards of Conduct, Performance and Ethics (2016).
More informationDA6042 -
Professional Development, Lifelong Learning and Professional Practice in Occupational Therapy (40 Credits)
You will draw on your learning from previous modules, placement experiences and work-based experience to consolidate your knowledge skills and values (including democracy, the rule of law, individual liberty and mutual respect for and tolerance of those with different faiths and beliefs, and for those without faith) in preparation for practice and meeting the requirements for registration with HCPC as an Occupational Therapist. You will continue to develop your reflective skills and identify your own areas for development to focus your learning and support your transition to professional Occupational Therapist; learning to assess your own skills, take responsibility for own learning and continual professional development. This will be in line with the Royal College of Occupational Therapists (RC0T) Career development Framework (RCOT 2018). This module also considers employability and enables you to identify the next step in terms of applying for posts, professional use of social media and interview preparation. You will reflect on your learning journey in the context of a range of professional practice setting identifying key theoretical constructs alongside a range of research and evidence that supports contemporary occupational therapy practice in the UK. You will explore the concept of clinical and professional reasoning in order to demonstrate your professional knowledge, skills and behaviours in the context of an identified practice setting. You will engage in collaborative working including practice-based teams and experts by experience (service users and carers) to identify areas for service development and the importance of this within the arena of health and social care justifying the role of the occupational therapist. You will consider the value of diverse and cultural competence within your practice and the influence of the professional and regulatory bodies on the development and sustainability of the occupational therapy profession. Engagement with this module will provide you with mentoring skills to support learners in practice as preparation for supervising students as a qualified practitioner.
More informationTo start your application, simply select the month you would like to start your course.
Our Applicant Services team will be happy to help. They can be contacted on 0191 406 0901 or by using our Contact Form.
Full time Courses are primarily delivered via on-campus face to face learning but could include elements of online learning. Most courses run as planned and as promoted on our website and via our marketing materials, but if there are any substantial changes (as determined by the Competition and Markets Authority) to a course or there is the potential that course may be withdrawn, we will notify all affected applicants as soon as possible with advice and guidance regarding their options. It is also important to be aware that optional modules listed on course pages may be subject to change depending on uptake numbers each year.
Contact time is subject to increase or decrease in line with possible restrictions imposed by the government or the University in the interest of maintaining the health and safety and wellbeing of students, staff, and visitors if this is deemed necessary in future.
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At Northumbria University, our higher and degree apprenticeships are more than a learning programme; they are a partnership. We work with organisations to create courses that meet the demands of businesses.
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