Search skillsforcare.org.uk

Skills for Care
Top

Occupational therapy

Access resources and information for occupational therapists who are working in social care, with a particular focus on professional development. We work in partnership with the Royal College of Occupational Therapists (RCOT).

 

Identifying placements for occupational therapy learners in social care settings

We’ve produced a guide called ‘Optimising occupational therapy placements across social care’ that explores the benefits, opportunities and practicalities of occupational therapy practice-based learning in social care settings. 

If you’re an occupational therapy practitioner or a practice educator, it will help you to identify placement opportunities within the organisation and demonstrate how you and your team can plan, implement and sustain practice placement opportunities to support our future workforce. 

Find out more and download the guide

 

  

PDF - 393Kb

Occupational therapists can use this framework, developed in partnership with RCOT, to provide evidence of their learning and development for induction, employment, retention and appraisal processes. 

The framework is based on the four pillars of practice, which are widely used to guide the career and learning and development of occupational therapists. 

 

PDF - 194Kb
This guidance supports employers and managers to get the best out of the learning and development framework for occupational therapists.

 

Occupational therapist degree apprenticeship

The apprenticeship standard and assessment plan has been approved and published by the Institute for Apprenticeships (IfA). Learn more on the IfA website

Key points

  • The apprentice will complete a BSc (Hons) degree in occupational therapy or level 7 qualification approved by the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC) and accredited by the Royal College of Occupational Therapists (RCOT) where the apprentice already holds a level 6 degree.
  • A minimum of 20% of the apprentices paid working hours must be spent on off-the-job training.
  • The training will typically take 48 months.
  • Levy paying organisations will be able to use their apprenticeship levy to fund the occupational therapist degree apprenticeship training and end-point assessment cost.
  • Non-levy organisations will pay 10% of the agreed cost, with the Government paying the rest (as long as the total cost is no more than the government-assigned cap).
  • The apprentice will be assessed at the end of their training. The end-point tests will form the final point of their degree.