Occupational Therapy (Apprenticeship)

Welcome to the Occupational Therapy Apprenticeship Programme, and congratulations on taking the first steps towards what I am sure will be a rewarding career. Occupational Therapy is a diverse profession, and each of you will be joining us with your own unique experiences, viewpoints and skills. You will have the opportunity to explore and examine these alongside your theoretical learning, as you develop into an Occupational Therapist. We encourage lively debate, sharing of practices, and examination of your real-world work experience to inform your academic learning.
Rebecca O'Brien
Course Director

Key dates

Academic Calendar: 12-week Trimesters (long break)

View key dates for this Academic Calendar for 2024-25 including when teaching starts and finishes and when you break for holidays.

Welcome

As you take your first steps on the road to becoming an Occupational Therapist you will no doubt have a mixture of excitement and nerves. We will be here to support you every step of the way and hope it will be a rewarding experience, that will challenge and stretch your thinking as you move towards your new role as a qualified health professional.

Our Course provides the following:

An Innovative curriculum that covers occupational justice, and innovation & entrepreneurship that will help you understand and lead on service development and global issues, as well as local priorities.
Outstanding support for you and your mentor. You will both receive informal newsletters to keep you in touch with our occupational therapy student community and university opportunities. We provide your mentor with training, regular meetings, access to our virtual learning platform and portfolio tools to support learning.
Robust employer communication and feedback strategies with your employers, you will have regular tripartite meetings to review your learning outcomes and provide ongoing support. We work closely with your employers to support your overall academic progress via consortium meetings and contract review meetings.

Getting started

You will of course be keen to get as organised as possible before starting your studies. The most important things at this stage are to ensure you have support strategies in place to prepare for balancing work and study. If possible, find out who your workplace mentor is going to be and introduce yourself. When you arrive at University you will also be allocated a Personal Academic Tutor, known as your PAT, who will be there to support you with any personal or general academic matters you might have throughout your time at University. They will also be the University representative at your tripartite meetings, this is a regular meeting between you, your mentor and the University to discuss your experience, learning, and progress.

We are proud to be an inclusive University that supports a diverse community of students. Please note that if you have a disability or would like to learn more about the support that we can offer to students, please visit the Disability and Mental Health website.

Occupational Therapy is a dynamic, diverse and evolving profession. Our course will enable you to become a qualified occupational therapist who is able to help create solutions to everyday problems experienced by the people or communities who access your services.
This designed course has been developed so that you are able to meet all the professional requirements to register with the Health Care Professions Council. You will engage in series of theoretical and practice modules throughout the course, this includes classroom-based learning and practice learning on placement.

Pre-arrival Course Related Tasks or Resources

Please ensure that you engage with occupational health clearance and DBS processes required by the Admissions Team. Failure to complete this by the time you register on the course may result in you not being able to proceed with your studies. Please also ensure you engage with the Placement Planning Form FoMHSC 2024/2025.

Welcome and Induction, Uniform and Occupational Health

If you are part of the Kent cohort, click the button below labelled Kent , and if you are part of the Surrey cohort click the button labelled Surrey , for information that is specific to your particular cohort.

Welcome and induction

Your Welcome Week is an essential introduction to your course and student life at CCCU, helping you to feel confident and prepared for your studies right from the very start.

It is important to check your Welcome Schedule for all the activities you are required to attend during the week.

If any of your welcome activities are in groups, your course team will contact you before your arrival to let you know which group you will be in.

Your teaching timetable 

UniTimetables provides an overview of all teaching activities on a course. Your individual timetable will be available via MyTimetable and is personalised to show you what modules and groups you are expected to attend.

Your individual student timetable can only be produced once you have engaged with online registration and created your computing account. It is essential you complete these tasks when invited, so that your course team can assign you to your teaching activities and publish your individual timetable.

Find out more about all aspects of timetabling for new students including user guides.

Please note that timings given in your Welcome Schedule for uniform measure and issue events and occupational health vaccinations are indicative timings only. Please check below for the exact time of your appointment, which will be dependent on your surname (A-Z).

Visit us in the Health Hub to get your questions answered and have a soft drink and biscuit on us!

In addition to your course welcome activities, you can also join us at our Health Hub, timings below, where we can help you with any questions you may have or direct you to the most appropriate service.

You are now on your own exciting journey, but you are also part of our community where we support each other to grow and flourish at university and beyond. Drop in and stay connected, meet new friends and your peers. Meet and chat to our placements team, academic course administration team and existing students.

Drop in on the 2nd floor of the Verena Holmes building in VH 2.60 during any of the times below:

Monday 16 September, 12:30pm to 5pm
Tuesday 17 September, 9am to 5pm
Wednesday 18 September, 9am to 5pm

Occupational Health Clearance & Uniform

As part of starting your studies here at Canterbury Christ Church University, you will need to attend an occupational health vaccination appointment and a uniform measure & issue appointment in Welcome Week.

Occupational Health Clearance

Students need to obtain occupational health clearance to ensure they are fit to practice. You will be prompted via your ‘MyRecord’ to complete a clearance check and directed to an online health questionnaire.

Once you have submitted your questionnaire, you are required to attend an occupational health vaccination appointment appropriate to your placement requirements. We use an external company called OH Works for this. Ahead of your appointment, please gather any vaccination documentation (paper or electronic) from your GP or workplace to take to your occupational health appointment.

Click here for your occupational health appointment location and time.

For enquiries about your occupational health clearance please email cccustudents@ohworks.co.uk or phone 01227 286288.

Uniform

At your measure & issue appointment, you will be welcomed by the CCCU Uniform Team and our uniform suppliers, Alexandra. Once your sizing requirements have been determined, you will be able to collect your uniform which is expected to last the duration of your course. Your uniform is provided to you free of charge.

Click here for your uniform appointment location and time.

Important information regarding your uniform can be found on the uniform policy.

Placement Badge

On placement you will be required to wear a placement badge, which will have your course title and preferred first name. This placement badge is provided to you free of charge. You will be supplied with your placement badge once you have started your course. Please note, this is not your student ID card.

You will receive an email from the Uniform Team regarding important tasks that you will need to action prior to your Welcome Week. If you have any questions about your uniform or placement badge, please email health.uniform@canterbury.ac.uk.

Pre-course reading

We would encourage you to review the course structure and module options via your course page before you arrive.

There are also a number of resources you can look at including RCOT and HCPC.

If you would like some introductory reading you can try:

Dancza, K. (2018) Implementing occupation-centred practice : a practical guide for occupational therapy practice learning. London : Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group.

Bassot, B (2020) The Reflective Journal. London: Red Globe Press

If you need to brush up on your study skills, this 1 hour guide is available as an ebook through the CCCU library:

Potter, M. (2011) Study Skills. Richmond: Trotman

International student success programme

International students: don't miss out! Make sure you register for our international student success programme which provides practical advice on preparing to live and study in the UK.

Contact details

CourseSupport-health@canterbury.ac.uk