Intro

This course (previously known as Health Through Occupation) gives you license to register and practice as an occupational therapist with the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC) and is also approved by the Royal College of Occupational Therapists and the World Federation of Occupational Therapists

It is ideal for graduates of any subject who wish to gain both a professional and academic qualification and start a career in this challenging and highly rewarding field.

You will explore occupational therapy through our innovative problem-based learning approach, with an emphasis on practical application of skills and knowledge. Through this balance of theory and practice experience you will graduate a capable and confident occupational therapist.

Our high quality teaching and research are renowned, and have an applied focus. We have established strong links with specialist practice educators to ensure the provision of support and guidance both within the university and in practice.

Successful completion of the professional elements of the programme leads to the award of a postgraduate diploma in Occupational Therapy.

Key facts

Location Eastbourne

Full-time 2 years (accelerated)

We are a top 10 university for world-leading research impact in allied health professions, nursing and pharmacy (REF 2014)

Accredited by the Health and Care Professions Council and approved by the Royal College of Occupational Therapists and the World Federation of Occupational Therapists

New Funding from 2020

The government has announced that from September 2020 new and continuing students studying nursing, midwifery and some allied health subjects will receive a non-repayable grant of at least £5,000. Find out more on the NHS website.

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

Apply now for your place

Course content

How this course is delivered

We've made some changes to the way our courses are taught to keep everyone safe, connected and involved in university life.

At the moment, students have a blend of on-campus and digitally enabled remote learning that provides lots of opportunities to interact and engage with lecturers and other students.

Find out what these changes mean for this course

Course structure

This intensive programme runs over 45 weeks per year, for two years. Your time on the course will be balanced between campus-based study and clinical practice.

Sessions are held in small groups, they are interactive, integrated, self-directed, and focus on problem-solving, to examine real-life situations. The use of problem-based learning is considered crucial to students' fast attainment of masters-level standards, and for critical evaluation.

Other learning experiences are arranged according to the need of the problem; these may be lectures, practical sessions, skills classes, debates or seminars. Most importantly, all subjects are integrated around the problems.

Our postgraduate programmes are taught by a wide variety of methods – small active learning groups, seminars, action learning sets, PBL, lectures, self-directed literature searches.

Understanding the relationship between occupation and human health and wellbeing is also explored through student participation in a variety of activities such as cooking, craft, horticulture, performing arts and pottery.

Assessments allow for individual feedback in essential professional skills including written critique, report writing, team working, presentation skills, and verbal/written presentation of intervention.

Areas of study

You will examine topics such as:

theories of occupation and occupational science (causes of occupational problems)
occupation related to population health
clinical reasoning
occupational therapy process (assessment, treatment, and evaluation)
occupational therapy skills (creative, productive, leisure and daily living)
research methods and professional issues.

Syllabus

Year 1 modules

Introduction to Human Occupation and Beginning Practice
Assessing Occupational Capacities
Novice Practice (placement)
Maximising Occupational Capacities
Intermediate Practice (placement)
Evaluating Occupational Therapy

Year 2 modules

Occupational Therapy: Diverse Settings
Diverse Practice (placement)
Occupational Therapy: Teams
Competent Student Practice (placement)
Achieving Best Practice
Research Project

Facilities

Practical skills rooms and Daily Living Suite

Practical skills rooms are equipped so that students can learn and practise practical skills with each other before working with patients and clients.

As an occupational therapy student, you will make full use of our Daily Living Suite. This room is furnished like a flat with kitchen, bedroom and bathroom facilities, allowing you to practice activities of daily living in a realistic environment. In addition the kitchen area is used for cookery skills and other specialist rooms are equipped for the creative arts and crafts taught as part of the occupational therapy curriculum with its focus on health through occupation.

Students practising their cooking skills

Students laughing while practising pottery

Students using gym equipment

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 courses 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 indeed 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.

Our philosophy

The pre-registration occupational therapy programmes incorporate the experience of doing and making, in order to engage 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 Brighton we believe that it is vital to retain these embodied learning experiences – which utterly link theory and practice - as they are indeed 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.

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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One of our students explains how she became interested in occupational therapy.

Practice placements

What are practice placements and why are they necessary?
You will undertake five placements of between two and 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 1000 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 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, than 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 half way through the placement to discuss your progress.

What is the role of the practice educator?
The practice educator decides if you meet the required competency level in order to pass the placement. Practice educators are experienced occupational therapists that are trained with specialist knowledge in order to prepare and provide a positive placement for our students.

What if a student fails a placement?
The majority pass their placements. Should you fail, we treat this as a development opportunity and we will provide a second opportunity for you to undergo the placement in a similar, but different setting. Should you fail the second attempt you can no longer proceed and will normally be required to leave the course. This is unusual but is possible, in this event we would endeavour to support you through this process and you may be able to leave with an academic award at a lower level than a degree depending on the modules completed.

Diverse practice placements

Occupational therapy in diverse settings placement

Our diverse placements include both non-traditional and role- emerging placements (those which occur at a site where there is not an established occupational therapy role (COT 2006)).

One of the placements you undertake is an eight-week placement in a non-traditional/ diverse setting. This can include collaborative projects with community organisations including homeless day centres and hostels; residential and nursing homes; physical disability charities and day centres; young people’s projects and schools; mental health hostels; sheltered housing facilities; a podiatry clinic; mother and baby services; a prison; an inter-generational dementia project; critical care unit; mainstream primary schools. Placements have also taken place in traditional hospital in-patient physical settings, focusing on promoting the use of meaningful activity to enhance health and well-being on the wards, for example breakfast clubs, Ipad internet shopping.

Research carried out at the university has identified that these placements are significant in helping you to develop your professional identity and confidence to practice and there is a national trend for this development in Occupational Therapy education (COT 2006). You normally go on these placement in pairs for seven weeks preceded by an induction day a week over five weeks. This provides the opportunity for you to complete your induction and negotiate your plan for the placement with your on-site supervisor. During this time you have the opportunity to attend university based action teaching groups to discuss assessment and intervention issues. You will receive an hour’s supervision each week from both an onsite supervisor and an Occupational Therapist who is normally a clinician, or a university Occupational Therapy tutor.

There has been much success with these placements; specific feedback from the placements has included a decrease in evictions and challenging behaviour in homeless projects and a decrease in falls in nursing homes. Since this placement has become compulsory students have received very positive feedback from their final traditional placements and when going for ‘traditional’ job interviews regarding their ability to articulate their professional skills and identity. In addition some students have been confident to apply for jobs in emerging role settings for their first post. Examples of this include a mental health hostel; a young people’s charity; a special school; an elderly carers’ project; a vocational service.

Staff profiles

Channine Clarke, academic lead

"I am the academic lead for our occupational therapy courses. As a University of Brighton Occupational Therapy graduate myself I can say that doing my training was the best thing I ever did. Occupational therapy is such a diverse career and there really is an area of practice for everyone, whether your interest lies in physical, mental health, learning disabilities, paediatrics or diverse settings.

"Once qualified (in 1998) I started my career in a forensic mental health team, helping to set up and run a rehabilitation hostel. I spent 10 years in the service, developing my career to become a Head Occupational Therapist before coming to the university in 2007 as part of the teaching team and taking on the role of practice placement tutor. I have also worked at the Royal College of Occupational Therapists helping to develop occupational therapists’ knowledge, understanding and practice related to clinical audit and effectiveness. I completed my PhD here at Brighton in 2013 and my areas of interest are occupational therapy in diverse settings, problem-based learning, practice-based education and professional development of our students.

"I know that the occupation focused and self-directed nature of my training enabled me to work passionately and autonomously from the start of my career and I use the knowledge, skills and attributes I learnt every day and am now able to share these with, and hopefully inspire, the next generation of therapists.

"Many of the staff team here are also Brighton graduates, which is a testament to what a great place it is to study and work. It is a very supportive team and a lovely campus where you get the opportunity to train alongside other health students with a variety of inter-professional learning events. We are all highly committed to working with you to ensure that you become the occupational therapist that you want to be."

You can read Channine's full academic profile.

Tania Wiseman, course leader

“I am the course leader for the two year accelerated MSc/PgDip Occupational Therapy (pre-registration). I am proud to be a University of Brighton MSc Occupational Therapy graduate myself. After graduation with a Postgraduate Diploma in Occupational Therapy in 1996 I worked in the fields of physical and mental health with adults of all ages, this was complemented by a Master’s degree in occupational therapy in 1999. I am currently completing a PhD about leisure in 21st century later life.

"I enjoy my role as course leader and also enjoy being a problem-based learning tutor. I teach the gardening skills option undertaken by course participants, and facilitate a small community gardening group on the university site. I have also created a community volunteering opportunity in partnership with Active Student.

"Research interests are focused on the occupation of gardening, and leisure in later life. I lead a leisure in later life research group, with several of our Masters students presenting at national conferences and some producing peer reviewed publications. I co-lead the health sciences Sustainability Specialist Interest group, which holds annual conferences attracting an international audience, and our own students.”

You can read Tania's full academic profile.

Meet the team

Dr Channine Clarke, academic lead
Paul Boyle, admissions tutor
Audrey Yong, placement tutor

Additional teaching team

Our latest news

Michael Rosen on his recovery from COVID-19

We were privileged to welcome Michael Rosen, children’s author and poet, to a virtual talk with our students.

Graduate presents at BACCN conference

Recent graduate and critical care nurse, Kat Evangelista-Lair, was invited to take part in this year’s British Association of Critical Care Nurses (BACCN) conference.

Fresh start for February 2021?

There’s still time to start your masters degree with us this academic year as a selection of our degrees are available to start in February 2021.

Postgraduate courses online Q&A event

Find out about our postgraduate health science courses at our online Q&A event: Tuesday 7 July 5pm to 7pm find out how we can support you in developing your professional career in health and social care ask staff about individual courses and studying with us at Brighton Find out more and book your place.

Careers

After professional registration with the HCPC graduates are eligible to take up opportunities in health and social care, in the NHS, social services, and the private 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 (Pre-Registration) MSc will also prepare you for further study at MPhil and PhD level if you wish to continue pursuing an academic path.

Entry criteria

Entry requirements

Degree and experience

Honours degree 2:2 or above in any subject, obtained in the last 10 years. You need to supply a copy of the original certificate.
Work experience in health or social care preferred but not essential.

Other

Two academic/professional references.
On entry to the programme, successful applicants will be also required to undertake basic life support training.
Incomplete applications without the additional entry criteria will not be considered.
One 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 should be in addition to the personal statement and uploaded as a separate document on the personal statement section of the admissions portal.

English language requirements
IELTS 7.0 overall with no element below 6.5 (to meet requirements of the Health and Care Professions Council).

International students whose language skills do not match the IELTS scores set out here should consider applying for this course through the Extended Masters programme at the university's Language Institute.

If you do not meet these entry requirements, you could apply for our Occupational Therapy BSc(Hons). It is ideal if you wish to start a career in this challenging and highly rewarding field.

Application and interviews
We currently welcome applications and are planning online interviews in December 2020, January, February, March, April and May 2021, for a September 2021 start. 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.

Men are under-represented in many nursing and allied health professions in the UK. We are committed to helping address the balance and particularly welcome applications from male applicants.

International requirements and visas

International requirements by country
Country name
Albania
Algeria
Argentina
Australia
Austria
Bahrain
Bangladesh
Belarus
Belgium
Bermuda
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Botswana
Brazil
Bulgaria
Burma (Myanmar)
Cameroon
Canada
Chile
China
Colombia
Croatia
Cyprus
Czech Republic
Denmark
Ecuador
Egypt
Estonia
Finland
France
Germany
Ghana
Greece
Guyana
Hong Kong
Hungary
Iceland
India
Indonesia
Iran
Iraq
Ireland
Israel
Italy
Jamaica
Japan
Jordan
Kazakhstan
Kenya
Kosovo
Kuwait
Latvia
Lebanon
Liechtenstein
Libya
Lithuania
Luxembourg
Macedonia
Malaysia
Malawi
Malta
Mexico
Moldova
Montenegro
Morocco
Namibia
Nepal
Netherlands
New Zealand
Nigeria
Norway
Oman
Pakistan
Palestinian National Authority
Philippines
Poland
Portugal
Qatar
Romania
Russian Federation
Saudi Arabia
Serbia
Sierra Leone
Singapore
Slovakia
Slovenia
South Africa
South Korea
Spain
Sri Lanka
Syria
Sweden
Switzerland
Taiwan
Tanzania
Thailand
Tunisia
Turkey
Uganda
Ukraine
United Arab Emirates
United States
Uzbekistan
Venezuela
Vietnam
Yemen
Zambia
Zimbabwe

We can help you meet our English language or academic entry requirements.

Visit our language centre

For English language preparation courses.

Visit our International College

For degree preparation courses.

Visas and immigration advice

Applying for a student visa

Check out our step-by-step guidance.

Other requirements and interview

Applicants will be interviewed to allow them to demonstrate their communication skills as these are so important both during the course, and for future practice. The interview is also an opportunity for applicants to find out more about the course from staff.

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 both 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/ other events and reading relevant material.

Fees

Course fees

UK (full-time)9,250 GBP

International (full-time)16,452 GBP

Funding information

This course is eligible for funding via the Student Loans Company under the same terms and conditions as undergraduate tuition fee and maintenance loans. Find out more.

Where your course includes a placement, 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. Additional financial support may available from the NHS. Find out more about the learning support fund.

What's included

You may have to pay additional costs during your studies. The cost of optional activities is not included in your tuition fee and you will need to meet this cost in addition to your fees. A summary of the costs that you may be expected to pay, and what is included in your fees, while studying a course in the School of Health Sciences are listed here.

Where your course includes a placement, 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. Paramedic Science students and overseas students are not covered by the NHS scheme and travel costs for this course will be your responsibility. Find out more about the NHS learning support fund.
Specialist clothing and uniforms, where required, are included in the course fees.
DBS checks, where required, are included in the fees.
Course books are available from the university but you may wish to budget up to £100 if buying your own copies.

You can chat with our enquiries team through the Stay in touch panel at the end of this page if you require further information. Or check our finance pages for advice about funding and scholarships as well as more information about fees and advice on international and island fee-paying status.

Info

The fees listed here are for full-time courses beginning in the academic year 2021–22.

Further tuition fees are payable for each subsequent year of study and are subject to an annual increase of no more than 5% or RPI (whichever is the greater). The annual increase for UK students, who are subject to regulated fees, will increase no more than the statutory maximum fee.

You can find out more about our fees in the university's student contract and tuition fee policy (pdf).

The tuition fee you have to pay depends on a number of factors including the kind of course you take, and whether you study full-time or part-time. If you are studying part-time you will normally be charged on a pro rata basis depending on the number of modules you take.

Location

Local area

Easy-going Eastbourne

The South Downs National Park, the bustling town centre and the beach with the pier, prom and bandstand are all within a 15-minute walk of our Eastbourne campus. Officially the sunniest place in the UK, Eastbourne has loads on offer: a year-round calendar of sporting events, the independent shops and cafes of Little Chelsea, music and arts festivals, theatres, galleries, great restaurants and high street shopping.

Every June, leading tennis players descend on Eastbourne for one of the main warm-up tournaments for Wimbledon. One of the UK's biggest free extreme sports festivals, Beach Life, takes place on the seafront in July, bringing hi-octane action on land and sea. The international airshow Airbourne is another summer highlight.

Every autumn our students and staff participate in and support the Beachy Head Marathon, one of the UK's largest off-road marathons with challenging climbs and descents along the Seven Sisters.

The beach and the South Downs provide sports opportunities including horse riding, mountain biking, paragliding, sailing, canoeing, body boarding, kayaking, windsurfing and kite surfing.

The Towner Art Gallery has world-class exhibitions of modern and contemporary art and entry is free. Eastbourne also has four theatres, two cinemas and hosts a varied programme of arts and music events throughout the year.

It's only 90 minutes by train from Eastbourne to central London and less than 40 minutes to Brighton. There are also daily direct trains to Ashford International and Gatwick Airport.

Map showing distance to London from Brighton

Campus where this course is taught

Eastbourne campus

Our campus is within 15 minutes' walk of the beach, South Downs National Park and the Eastbourne's busy town centre. There are excellent sport and exercise facilities, social sites and on-site halls of residence.

Sport and exercise, events, hospitality, journalism, nursing and midwifery, physical education, physiotherapy, podiatry and tourism students are all based here.

Specialist learning facilities include accredited exercise physiology laboratories, a newsroom, clinical simulation suites, culinary arts studio, and the Leaf Hospital podiatric clinic and occupational health studios. Campus learning facilities include the Queenwood library, computer rooms, a media centre and a learning and technology suite.

Sports facilities include a 25-metre swimming pool, sports hall and gym, artificial outdoor pitch, dance studio and climbing wall.

Eastbourne Student Centre provides services including careers, volunteering, counselling and wellbeing, student advice, disability and dyslexia support and chaplaincy.

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Accommodation

Eastbourne

We guarantee an offer of a place in halls of residence to all eligible students.

Welkin halls
Located in the Meads area of Eastbourne, right next to the Students' Union and Student Services, Welkin halls are a short walk or bike ride to other areas of the campus.

Ensuite halls with a choice of room and flat sizes.
All rooms are self-catered with access to shared, fully equipped kitchen facilities. If you prefer you can add in a food and drink plan.
Rent includes all utilities, 24/7 security and support, contents insurance and cleaning of communal areas.

Unihomes
A unihome is a student house which the university manages on behalf of a private landlord. This option can work particularly well when you’re balancing learning with placements and other life commitments.

Rent includes all utilities, broadband, contents insurance, cleaning of communal areas.
Generally shared bathroom with a variety of locations, room and house sizes. Some unihomes offer off-road parking.

Find out more about unihomes and university halls accommodation.

Private renting
Eastbourne offers good choice when it comes to student accommodation.

There’s a good supply of affordable, high quality private rented accommodation and plenty of support and advice from us if you choose this option. Your first stop should be our studenthomes database. This lists accommodation offered by landlords who have signed up to our code of standards.

Every summer we provide online events and resources, as well as other advice services, for students looking for a place to live and people to share with.

Student accommodation in Eastbourne

Student bedroom in Welkin halls

Modern kitchen in Welkin Halls

Maps

Eastbourne campus map

Student views

Luci Carnall-Moore

"I completed my Occupational Therapy (pre-registration) training at Brighton University and I could not have comprehended at the time how much this would change and enrich my life. I was engaged and motivated in the learning process through varied and stimulating placements, dynamic Problem-Based Learning sessions and inspiring Fixed Resource Sessions with people coming in to share their lived experiences.

"Upon graduating I immediately gained employment as the only OT in a Community Mental Health Team. The learning curve was steep, but I felt equipped and confident in consolidating my role due to the skills that I had developed on the course. These skills then took me beyond my traditional NHS OT role as I was able to apply and transfer them to Community Development. I was successful in securing funding to set up a Community hub which aims to promote social inclusion and cohesion. The funding proposal was based on OT evidence and research and the recognition of my skills, knowledge and experience.

"Four years on and the project continues to grow with the development of a regular Intergenerational Supper Club, the planting of a community orchard and sustaining strong links with other community projects. I am also a Placement Educator in this Diverse Setting, I deliver Fixed Resource Sessions at the university and facilitate problem Based Learning Sessions. I could not recommend this course at Brighton University more to begin an exciting journey into Occupational Therapy and beyond!"

Ariana Smith Rodríguez

"After a wonderful two years at the University of Brighton completing the MSc, I have recently begun my new job as an occupational therapist at the first public community therapeutic garden in Spain. I am currently developing and carrying out an occupational therapy service for older adults at Jardines Terapéuticos Palmlölf in Madrid. My work focuses on assessing and enabling the participation of service users in meaningful activities or occupations within the garden environment.

"The interventions mainly involve horticulture and nature related activities as a means of therapy, cognitive stimulation therapy, reminiscence therapy, and sensory stimulation using plants and elements from within the garden. The training I received at Brighton, through modules such as horticulture skills and diverse placement, was essential in providing me with the tools to successfully create and adapt gardening activities for service users, as well as independently develop and manage an occupational therapy service."

Jamie Liddell

"I loved training to be an occupational therapist at the University of Brighton! The MSc course strikes the perfect balance between practical and academic learning, and really promotes effective team-working.

"The problem-based learning approach really suited my learning style and the placements were invaluable in preparing me for clinical practice. I have since had the opportunity to take on students of my own and am even back studying part-time at Brighton to complete a clinical research Master’s degree.

"The tutors have been so supportive right through my occupational therapy journey. I would thoroughly recommend studying here!"

Alice McGarvie

“I really enjoyed the Occupational Therapy (pre-registration) MSc course at the University of Brighton. The mixture of problem-based learning, lectures, interactive sessions, patient expert sessions and placements gave a really broad understanding of the variety of applications for occupational therapy.

“I particularity enjoyed the Diverse Settings module, which enabled me to learn about the range of diverse roles in occupational therapy and experience a placement in a setting that did not have an occupational therapist. This enabled me to think about the occupational therapy process and how to apply it in a new setting. This experience and my learning from it has helped me to set up my occupational therapy and harp service ‘From the Harp’.”

Rachel Tobelem

"I obtained my MSc at the Eastbourne campus. I was so comfortable there because of the friendly atmosphere of the university itself and the town. The course was challenging in all the right ways – we experienced a mixture of theory-based learning in the campus and practical-based on a wide range of fieldwork placements. The course mainly centred on the problem-based learning (PBL) approach, which seemed to be a very modern way of learning. We were also well supported there. Without it, I wouldn't be where I am today.

"Having qualified, I lived in Dublin for a year in an adult psychiatric in-patient hospital and a psychiatric day hospital. I assessed and treated the needs of patients with acute to moderate mental health illnesses and specialised in anxiety management. This was a challenging and valued learning experience as a professional.

"After a couple of years working with children with special needs in Singapore, I decided to return home to Gibraltar. I am now the occupational therapist/strategy coordinator for the Gibraltar social services agency. I manage a staff of around 35 people but I try to be as hands on as possible and still work with service users in groups running sessions and in 1:1 sessions. I can be working with a kid with autism helping him manage his behaviour to an adult with profound developmental delay providing the appropriate stimulation, equipment etc. I also provide a consultation service to families and staff. The job is a huge challenge but, so far, I wouldn't change it for the world!"

Rosemary Leaver

"I'd heard great things about the course at Brighton from people who had already completed it, and I was really impressed with the tutors and facilities when I came for an interview. On the course, I really valued the opportunity to carry out an original research project, and the opportunity to do five placements was also extremely valuable for gaining experience in very different areas, from paediatric charity work to forensic mental health.

"After qualifying as an occupational therapist, I spent 2 months developing an occupational therapy service for a small charity in rural India. I worked in a residential school for children and young people with a range of physical and learning disabilities, many of whom had never had access to occupational therapy before. I was able to use skills I'd learnt on my occupational therapy degree, especially during a paediatric placement for a charity in London to run groups and 1:1 sessions at the school in India. The charity staff were very pleased with the work I did, and I'm now working with the charity to encourage more occupational therapists to volunteer. This included going back to the University of Brighton to give a lecture on cross cultural practice, which prompted two graduates to decide to volunteer at the same charity.

"The tutors on the course are all very knowledgeable and experienced, and having regular contact with a named personal tutor made me feel very supported throughout the course. This course allowed me to become a qualified occupational therapist with the opportunity to work across a huge range of health and social care settings in the world. If you're interested in a career in occupational therapy, this course will give you the skills, experience and confidence to make it happen."