The Occupational Therapy team would like to congratulate you on gaining your place at our university and welcome you to our Occupational Therapy course. The team look forward to meeting you for the start of what we hope will be a very interesting and rewarding time at university which will prepare you well for your future work as an occupational therapist.
Kelly Wilkinson
Course Director
Academic Calendar: Semesters with Professional Learning Block
View key dates for this Academic Calendar for 2024-25 including when teaching starts and finishes and when you break for holidays.
You will of course be keen to get as organised as possible before starting on the BSc Occupational Therapy course. The most important things at this stage are to ensure you have support and strategies in place to enable you to prepare for placement and university and you understand the commitment and flexibility required to do this successfully.
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.
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.
Please ensure you view and engage with your Welcome Schedule.
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).
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:
Follow us on our CCCU_Health Instagram account to keep up to date with what is happening for students.
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 during Welcome Week.
If you were an S23 Health Foundation Year student and you have passed and are proceeding onto your Year 1 with Occupational Therapy, you are not required to attend the occupational health vaccination appointment, as you already have your occupational health clearance. However, please attend the Occupational Therapy uniform appointment detailed below, thank you.
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.
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.
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.
I am sure you will be keen to get as organised as possible before starting on the occupational therapy course. The most important things at this stage are to ensure you have support and strategies in place to enable you to prepare for placement and university and you understand the commitment and flexibility required to do this successfully.
The team appreciates that this is a time of change for you. The prospect of university can be somewhat daunting as it is a big step up from your previous education. To assist with the transition, you will be assigned a personal academic tutor. Your Personal Academic Tutor will be available to answer questions that you have and support you to ‘find your feet’ within the University community.
Our Course has some really unique selling points that help us stand out:
We would encourage you to review the course structure and module options via your course page before you arrive.
There is no single textbook covering the whole of occupational therapy education. Texts are very specific, and you will consult numerous books and journals during your course. Our students come from a wide variety of educational backgrounds. Pre-arrival reading is always advised and there are many online resources available.
For example:
We do not require you to purchase any textbooks during your time with us, but certainly a range are useful and are recommended within each of our modules. You will develop critical reading skills and will consider the impact of your reading on your study.
If you are eager to start right away, the following texts are relatively easy and are certainly useful across the course and beyond:
Students receive a discount at the University Bookshop
In addition a great basic resource to support you would be to read the NHS Constitution. NHS England aim to build a Culture of Compassionate Care, which underpin what we do so having an understanding of the basic principles of the 6C’s will stand you in great stead. Before starting your course, it is essential that you access these links and read the information about the culture of care.
Podcasts can be a useful resource to discover more about the diverse roles in occupational therapy. You will be able to listen to interviews with our lecturers, our students and occupational therapists in practice on this podcast, developed by Farrah Money whilst she was a second-year occupational therapy student at Canterbury Christ Church University: OT ~ What's your focus? | Podcast on Spotify.
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.
CourseSupport-health@canterbury.ac.uk