About the course and qualification
Our Physiotherapy Degree Apprenticeship supports apprentices to make the most of their unique opportunities and develop enquiring minds through the combination of practice and research lead learning.
Our apprenticeship programme is suitable for existing staff such as therapy assistants and support workers and people new to the health and social care sector.
It usually takes 39 months to complete the programme (41 including the EPA period) which has been designed to be progressively demanding, professionally and academically, so that by the end apprentices can demonstrate mastery of the knowledge and skills specified in the level 6 national apprenticeship standard and those required to apply for Health and Care Professions Council registration and full membership of the Chartered Society of Physiotherapy.
How to Apply
Employer nominations for October 2023 can be made via apprenticeships@essex.ac.uk. The deadline for nominations is 10 April 2023.
Course content and delivery
Apprentices will spend approximately 60% of their time in their work-place completing tasks set out in their job descriptions by their employer, and 40% either attending university teaching, developing practice skills, completing personal study tasks or attending placements.
Spread across years 2,3 and 4 apprentices complete four practice placements in health and social care services outside of their employing team. These learning opportunities are identified collaboratively to meet the specific development needs of the apprentice. They are essential experiences that enable apprentices to apply their evolving expertise, develop their scope of practice and appreciate the diverse carer options Physiotherapy has to offer.
Course modules
The modules have been designed around 4 themes: development of self and others, professional craft skills, propositional skills and preparation for qualified practice.
| First Year |
| Applied Anatomy and Pathophysiology | This module will allow apprentices to develop their knowledge and understanding of the pathophysiology and anatomy of the human body. This will allow apprentices to consider the impact of pathophysiology on structure, function and wellbeing of the individual. |
| Practice Based Decision Making | This module will give apprentices knowledge and understanding of the academic skills required for life-long learning. This will include critical thinking and academic skills such as searching, retrieving, appraising and reporting evidence to allow to apprentices to begin to engage with evidence-based practice. |
Understanding Self and Others
| Apprentices will consider their own lived experiences, along with those of others through the contexts in which they live. Apprentices will discuss and develop their understanding of being a Physiotherapist, focusing on what this means in contemporary and evolving UK practice. They will also, and consider their own development as a student healthcare professional. |
| Physiotherapy Led Assessment | This module will allow apprentices to develop holistic assessment skills for a range of patient presentations. The module will focus on the common approaches to physiotherapy led assessment, whilst highlighting and exploring the variations required when assessing different patient groups. |
| Second Year |
| Developing Self and Others | This module will draw upon learning and understanding from the module Understanding Self and Others, to enable apprentices to apply, evaluate and analyse various approaches to developing themselves as professionals, and others such as service users and peers in a variety of contexts. This module will consider the opportunities and challenges of upcoming placement experiences, with a view to the ongoing development of the self, and others. |
| Physiotherapy Led Interventions | Apprentices will develop holistic intervention skills for a range of patient presentations across different medical specialities. The module will focus on the common approaches to physiotherapy led intervention, whilst highlighting and discussing the any variations required when managing different patient groups, thus preparing apprentices for some of the multi-faceted clinical presentations seen in practice. |
| Promoting Health and Activity | This module sets out to allow apprentices to explore the expanding role of physiotherapy in the wider context, by promoting healthy choices and activity throughout the lifespan (infancy, childhood, adolescence, adulthood, old age, end of life). Apprentices will explore the links between lifestyle choices and the effects on well-being, and will learn skills in promoting the use of activity and healthy behaviours. This knowledge and skills will be discussed in relation to physical, mental and social health of individuals, families, communities and societies. |
| Research Methods | Apprentices on this module will develop an understanding and appreciation of research and evidence informed practice, building on the Level 4 module (Practice based decision making) where the paradigms and basic literature search skills have been introduced. This is a more advanced module where the apprentices will provide clear rationale for the evidence they have chosen based on the critique of the literature. Apprentices are expected to select a topic relevant to their own profession and inter-professional specific interest. |
| Placement 1 |
| Third Year |
| Leadership of Self and Others | Apprentices will consider their own development as future leaders, recognising how the contexts in which they will practice, are constantly evolving. Apprentices will learn about the concepts and theories of leadership, and will begin to develop skills to enable them to lead their own develop and that of others, in preparation for qualified practice. |
| Research Project | Apprentices will be provided with experiences relating to how social researchers go about applying their skills and knowledge in an empirical investigation. Apprentices will be supported to identify a topic they find interesting, and wish to learn more about. Apprentices will then be facilitated to plan the organisation and timing of their work with a high degree of independence and self-motivation. |
| Placement 2 |
| Placement 3 |
| Fourth Year |
| Preparation for Professional Practice | Apprentices on this module will be facilitated to be proactive in identifying their current scope of practice. Reflecting upon this, apprentices will then identify and develop strategies to expand knowledge and skills in their own chosen areas. Based upon these areas, apprentices will be able to select sessions to attend in order to proactively develop their current scope of practice. |
| Placement 4 |
Course structure
As part of the assessment plan you will complete a variety of assessment methods, including:
- Essays
- Presentations
- Short answer written papers
- Viva
- Research Project/Dissertation
- Portfolio Development
- Video analysis
- Blog writing
Entry requirements
To be eligible to be an Apprentice you must be employed within a suitable setting, normally for a minimum of 30 hours a week.
Our usual entry requirements for this course are:
- English and Maths at Level 2. For example: GCSE grade A-C/4-9, or a Level 2 Functional Skill in English and Maths, or Level 2 Adult Literacy and Adult Numeracy. If you have any other English and Maths qualifications at Level 2 please contact the Apprenticeship Hub at apprenticeships@essex.ac.uk and we can confirm if these are acceptable.
- Level 3 qualification with a natural science focus. For example A Levels/BTEC (115 UCAS Points)
There are no tuition fees to pay as your employer pays these for you. That means you will earn while you learn.
For our Full Time Option (non-apprenticeship route) please see: Physiotherapy | Subject area | University of Essex
