BSc (Hons) Occupational Therapy
- Study Mode: Full Time
- Location: High Wycombe
- Duration: Three or Four Years
- Start Date: September 2026
You can also study this course:
Are you passionate about empowering people of all different abilities to live their best lives? Do you want to make a real impact? Then our HCPC (Health and Care Professions Council) and RCOT (Royal College of Occupational Therapists) accredited BSc (Hons) Occupational Therapy degree course might be the right one for you! You’ll learn how to take a holistic approach to supporting people across the lifespan by unlocking their potential to engage in those everyday ‘occupations’ that matter most to them. By ‘occupations’, we mean all the activities that people do that occupy their time, are meaningful to them, and contribute to their overall health and wellbeing (or not).
Through our expert-led, creative and interactive teaching strategies, real-world placements, and a blend of theory to inform practice, we’ll train you to take a client-centred and evidence-based approach to this critical Allied Health Professional role. You’ll gain the knowledge and skills needed to work with people and communities in their everyday environments and create tailored interventions to make that real impact.
* Please note the Foundation Year of this course is Subject to Validation.
Working as an Occupational Therapist is deeply rewarding, and Occupational Therapy is an incredibly dynamic profession. What sets Occupational Therapy apart is its broad scope of practice and flexibility. As an Occupational Therapist, you can choose from a wide range of speciality areas that align with your passions and career aspirations. For example, speciality areas include acute and emergency care, children, young people and families, learning disabilities, long-term conditions, healthy ageing, mental health, neurological practice, oncology, rehabilitation, social care, dementia care, frailty, or palliative and end of life care, and inclusive built environments.
Whether someone is recovering from an illness or injury, living with long-term condition, or facing emotional and social challenges, Occupational Therapists support people to overcome many barriers to living and participating fully in life. The vast scope of practice ensures that you can develop a role that is both personally meaningful and professionally fulfilling.
Occupational Therapists have an important role to play in interprofessional teams across different sectors, including hospitals, schools, community services, mental health settings, care homes, and even the criminal justice system. The resourcefulness of this career means you're not confined to one setting, you have great opportunity to branch out, specialise, and shape a career that truly resonates with your values and goals.
This course has been designed by industry-experts and developed in partnership with local employers, ensuring you gain the most current, real-world skills needed to thrive in today’s health and social care landscape, and beyond.
By integrating hands-on experience and professional insight, our course prepares you to step confidently into a wide range of practice settings, including the NHS, social care, voluntary sector, and private practice. You'll graduate with the knowledge, practical skills, and professional networks that industry employers look for in this competitive job market.
As well as this, we pride ourselves on keeping up to date with the changing landscape of Occupational Therapy both in the UK and globally, meaning the opportunities open to you after graduating from this internationally relevant degree are endless.
Practice-based learning (placements) is a vital part of the course, giving you the hands-on experience needed to grow your skills and confidence. Throughout the degree, you’ll typically complete three practice placements across Buckinghamshire, Berkshire, Oxfordshire, London, and surrounding areas. These full-time 10-week placement blocks will give you the chance to put your learnt knowledge and skills into practice whilst gaining a feel for a real-world experience in a variety of settings. These placements are not only integral to your learning but also help you build strong professional networks that often lead directly to employment.
On placement you’ll have the support and guidance of a BNU link tutor and a practice educator, as well as the team and management of the placement you’re in.
To successfully complete the degree programme, you'll need to complete and pass a minimum of 1,000 hours of practice placement, meet the professional standards set by the HCPC and RCOT, and pass all academic and practical assessments. These placements are key to preparing you for a successful, rewarding career as a qualified Occupational Therapist.
We work in close partnership with NHS Trusts, local authorities and a wide range of health, social care and education providers, giving you a strong foundation to pursue local and regional opportunities immediately after graduation.
You’ll benefit from interprofessional learning opportunities that allow you to work with other students and professionals from a range of health and care backgrounds. This experience will help you build a strong understanding of how Occupational Therapists work as part of a team, while also developing your knowledge of specialist equipment and approaches to client-centred care.
Using our state-of-the-art facilities, including simulation labs and industry-standard clinical equipment, you’ll have the chance to practise and refine your knowledge and skills in a safe, supportive environment. Regular simulation sessions will immerse you in replicated real-life scenarios, helping you build confidence, problem-solving abilities, and technical skills essential for practice.
If you have an interest in health and care and are looking for a rewarding and fulfilling professional role with great purpose, a career in Occupational Therapy may be a perfect fit for you. To support you in becoming an Occupational Therapist, the UK Government is continuing to provide financial support to Occupational Therapy students with a payment of at least £5,000 a year, which will not need to be paid back. Find out if you are eligible on the NHS Learning Support Fund website.
What will I study?
Occupational Therapy involves working with everyday people with a range of physical, mental health and social needs. As an Occupational Therapist, you’ll work with people of all ages to improve their wellbeing and quality of life.
Our Occupational Therapy degree will equip you with the knowledge and skills to practise as a competent Occupational Therapist in a wide variety of health, social care, community and alternative environments. Your studies will cover the theory and practical aspects of this exciting and varied role.
Working with a range of people who all have different requirements, you’ll need to understand a client’s lifestyle so that you can work with them to set goals and create an intervention plan. We help you take a holistic approach to a client’s physical and mental wellbeing and assess their specific needs.
You’ll delve into a range of degree modules that will teach you the knowledge and skills to assess, plan, implement and evaluate assessment and intervention plans in a range of settings, including hospitals, community settings and schools, while establishing realistic goals with clients, or know when to refer them to other professionals when needed.
Service users in need of support from an Occupational Therapist play a central role in your learning, as will their family and friends. So, you’ll learn how to organise rehabilitation and support groups for clients and their carers and how to contribute to the design, planning, analysis, audit, development and evaluation of services.
We recognise that training to become an Occupational Therapist is not only a great profession to work in, but also one that comes with emotional and personal challenges. That’s why we place your wellbeing and development at the heart of our degree programme, equipping you with the support and guidance needed to grow into a confident, capable Occupational Therapist.
Some days may be emotionally demanding, which makes having a safe and supportive environment essential. At BNU, we foster a close-knit, encouraging community where you can turn to both your peers and our dedicated teaching staff for support and reassurance through shared and individual challenges. We take pride in truly getting to know our students. Throughout your degree course, you’ll benefit from personalised, one-to-one support from your tutors and the wider academic team.
How will I be taught and assessed?
All our degree modules will include online activities, and we’ll engage in positive and formative feedback on your work. Types of formative feedback include peer feedback, discussions, and in-class (face-to-face) interactions. Feedback from coursework and exams will be provided within the 3-week turnaround as per the University guidelines for feedback.
The following assessment activities are used on this degree programme:
- viva exams with a focus on the evaluation and application of theoretical knowledge
- practical exams (OSCE) with a focus on skills and theory
- multiple-choice exam
- written coursework with a focus on critical evaluation and analytical writing
- online portfolios with a focus on critical analysis, reflective practice, and professional development
- clinical case studies
- research literacies are assessed sequentially in the 2nd year in the evidence-based practice and final project module.
What are the course entry requirements?
A typical offer will require a UCAS tariff score of: 112 - 136 (Full-time) or 48 - 88 (Foundation Year)
UCAS points can be obtained through qualifications such as A levels, T levels, BTEC or an Access to Higher Education course in a relevant subject. Please list all your qualifications on the application form as you will be asked to provide copies when we receive your application.
The University’s general entry requirements will apply to admission to this course. Meeting one or more of the following requirements are acceptable methods of entry to the course:
- Five GCSEs or equivalent at grade 4 (C) or above, including English language or literature, mathematics, and a science subject in addition to the 112 UCAS tariff points.
- 112 UCAS tariff points (e.g. 3 A Levels at grades BBB or above) or a BTEC Level 3 extended diploma in a science or health-related subject.
- Foundation degree
- International Baccalaureate (30 points)
- Access to Higher Education course in Science, Health, Social Care or similar.
- We generally require experience relating to occupational therapy, such as shadowing, work experience, access to virtual placements or healthcare experience in addition to one of the requirements above. However each application is considered on an individual basis.
- For learners, whose first language is not English, there is a requirement to achieve an IELTS tariff of 7 with no individual component below 6.5. This is in line with the recommendations of the HCPC.
Applicants who do not fit the typical entry requirements will be considered on an individual basis. In this situation evidence of recent study (within 3 years) to A level standard (level 3) alongside a profile of relevant healthcare or social care experience will be advantageous. Applicants with a previous degree will be considered on an individual basis.
Professional checks
Professional checks (DBS, Occupational Health, and character and suitability) are not required when you join the Foundation Year. They are only required when you move into Year 1, and you must pass these checks to progress.
This programme is subject to the University’s Fitness to Practise Procedures. All successful applicants must agree to and sign our rules of professional conduct, which reflect the professional and regulatory body standards of practice and include consent to practical classes.
Applicants who have previously been enrolled in an occupational therapy pre-registration programme or any other health professional education programme must submit a self-declaration confirming no previous fitness to practise concerns.
All successful applicants are required to have an Occupational Health screening. A satisfactory occupational health clearance and immunisations are required by all applicants prior to acceptance on the course. Our admissions team will send a medical questionnaire alongside an offer letter. The questionnaire would be completed by you and returned to the admissions team, who then forward all the forms to an external occupational health adviser who will contact you for further screening if needed. Candidates who fail the occupational health assessment will not be given entry onto the course.
You will need to show evidence of completed immunisations for Hepatitis B, BCG, Varicella, and Influenza, where applicable, before starting your practice placement. These immunisations can be received from most GP surgeries in England. There is up-to-date information on NHS Choices on how to obtain these.
Admission to the occupational therapy degree programme is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (1994) section 4 (2) Exemption Order 1975 and DHSS HC 88 (9) guidelines regarding child protection and police checks. All applicants are required, as a condition of acceptance, to satisfactorily complete a criminal record disclaimer form and give their permission for us to obtain an enhanced police check with the Disclosure and Barring Screening Service (DBS). Each year after that, you are required to self-declare any police cautions or convictions before each practice education module.
The DBS in the United Kingdom does not currently conduct overseas criminal record checks. Therefore, international applicants, those without British Citizenship and British Citizens with a significant period of overseas residency, require a criminal record check or certificate of good conduct from their home/overseas country prior to entry onto the course. International applicants need to obtain a recent criminal record certificate from their home country and ensure that this is still valid by the date of enrolment in addition to the DBS requirements detailed above. A list of admissible certificates can be found on the UK Government website; https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/criminal-records-checks-for-overseas-applicants. Where an equivalent check is provided, applicants are required to complete an enhanced police check with the DBS a year later.
If you are an international student, you must have the following minimum International English Language Test Score (IELTS) results at the time of applying:
- 7.0 overall or equivalent
- 7.0 in the listening and reading
- 7.0 in the writing and speaking
English and Mathematics GCSE (grade A–C or 4-9) or equivalent.
For further details of our international English entry requirements, please visit our international pages.
Modules
This provides a guide of the modules that make up your course. You can find more information about how your course is structured on our Academic Advice section.
What are the tuition fees
Home
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Home Foundation Year, Academic Year 2026 - 2027: £9,790 *
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Home, Academic Year 2026 - 2027: £9,790 per year *
International
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Overseas/International Foundation Year, Academic Year 2026 - 2027: £15,910 *
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Overseas/International, Academic Year 2026 - 2027: £15,910 per year *
Please note all of the 2026/27 fees stated are subject to parliamentary procedure. Tuition fees are expected to increase each academic year in line with the maximum permitted value set by the Government for that academic year. The expected rise for Home undergraduate students (including those on a foundation year course), may impact both new and continuing students.
Additional costs
Your tuition fees cover most course costs, but you may need to budget for additional expenses. These can include specialist equipment, project materials, professional memberships, field trips or placements, as well as everyday student costs like printing, books and stationery.
Contact us
If you have any questions about the fees above, contact our enquiries team by completing this form.
What are my career prospects?
When you graduate from BNU, you’ll be well equipped with the knowledge, values and professional skills you need to register as a qualified Occupational Therapist.
We encourage you to seek employment opportunities at the organisations where you undertook your placement while studying at BNU, as our courses are developed in line with local employer’s skill shortages and needs for this purpose.
Registered Occupational Therapists work in a variety of different areas, including the
- NHS
- local authorities (councils)
- schools
- prisons
- independent organisations, such as voluntary or community organisations, charities, and other settings.
You can choose to specialise in areas of Occupational Therapy, or take a more generalised approach. Specialised areas include:
- mental health
- paediatrics (children & young people)
- older adults
- physical / neurological rehabilitation
- hand therapy / upper limb rehabilitation
- sensory integration
- vocational rehabilitation
- housing and adaptations / environmental design
- forensic / criminal justice
- Public health and community-centred development
You could also pursue consultancy, academic, research and leadership routes. These pathways allow you to make a meaningful impact in the areas you're most passionate about. Gaining experience and a well-rounded, professionally recognised degree provides the strong foundation needed to confidently take those next steps when you're ready.
Course leader
- Associate Professor
- Discipline Lead
- Programme Lead
