MSc Occupational Therapy (February Start)

Degree Classification

Bachelors (Hons) degree - 2.1 or equivalent from a recognised Higher Education institution. Applicants with a 2.2 or equivalent may be considered if they have strong relevant work experience.

GCSE

Applicants will be required to have a minimum of GCSE Maths, Science and English at Grade 4 / C or equivalent.

English Foreign Language

We welcome applications from students whose first language is not English or those whose degree was not taught in English.

To ensure such students benefit fully from postgraduate study, we require evidence of proficiency in English.

Our minimum entry requirements are as follows:

• IELTS: 7.0 overall with a minimum of 6.5 in all components

• Pearson (PTE): 76 overall with a minimum of 67 in all components.

All test scores must be less than two years old.

Other tests, including Cambridge English exams and the Trinity Integrated Skills in English are also accepted by the university. The full list of accepted tests can be found here: Accepted English Language Tests.

INTO UEA also run pre-sessional courses which can be taken prior to the start of your course. For further information and to see if you qualify please visit:

• Pre-sessional English at INTO UEA
• Academic English at INTO UEA

Interviews

The strongest applicants will be invited to interview. Please note that meeting the minimum academic entry requirements will not guarantee that you will be selected for interview. Interview invitations will be sent by email. Please keep a close eye on all emails from UEA after you submit your application.

Interview format

Our interviews for 2024 will take place on our campus. You will be invited to a morning or afternoon session by email. The email will include the arrival time and building location. We use a variety of the buildings on our campus for interviews, but they will either be on our Main Campus or on our West Campus (which is around a 20-minute walk from the centre of the Main Campus, near the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital). The session will last no longer than 3 hours in total. 

As part of the session, you will take part in ‘multiple mini-interviews’ with academic members of staff from the School of Health Sciences at UEA, clinicians from the profession, service users* and/or current UEA students from the course.

*A ‘service user’ is someone who has access to use health or social care services or could be affected by the services of health and social care professionals.

You will undertake your ‘multiple mini-interview’ alongside 1 or 2 other applicants for the course. Together, you will be taken to your interview room, which will be furnished with three interview stations. You will attend each interview station in turn, rotating with the other applicants you have been grouped with.

Before you visit each interview station, you will be given time to read some information. The information will include the interview questions or topics that you will be asked about. You will then be given a set amount of time with the interviewer(s), who will ask you the questions verbally.

The other applicants who you have been grouped together with will be following the same process as you at the same time. They will be speaking to alternate interviewer(s) to you simultaneously. You will all continue the process above until you have been interviewed at all three interview stations.

As part of your interview day, you will also have an opportunity to join some other sessions, for which you will not be assessed. The sessions are an opportunity for you to learn more about the course, the university, the students that study here, and for you to ask questions of current students and teaching staff. There may be an opportunity to undertake some practical skills during some of these sessions, if possible. There may also be an opportunity to tour the teaching facilities. These parts of your interview day are not compulsory, and do not form part of the assessment.

Applicants who are based outside of the UK at the point of applying will be offered an online interview. The format will match the process outlined above as closely as possible.

Interview questions

At each interview station you will be asked questions that focus on a particular domain. The order in which you are asked about these domains will be variable. The domains are:

• Your knowledge of the professional field for which you are applying.
• Your personal qualities and suitability for the profession. To help with discussion around this domain, you may be asked to consider a scenario and asked questions about how you would respond to it. You will be given time to read the scenario before you approach the interview station, and it will also be read to you by the interviewer(s).
• Your understanding of and suitability for the course at UEA.

On all interview stations, interviewers will also consider your understanding of the values that are required of a healthcare professional. This will include your understanding of moral and ethical values, competence, commitment to improve and personal accountability. You won’t necessarily be asked specific questions about these areas, but the information you include in your answers to all questions will be considered when the interviewer(s) assess you.

Experience of Healthcare

We are aware that it is a difficult time to try to gain relevant experience in healthcare. First time applicants to Nursing, Midwifery and the Allied Health Professions will all be in a similar situation.

Clinical work experience will not generally be a requirement for applying to train in healthcare. We will be looking for you to show that you are able to work with people, that you appreciate the health and social care setting, and that you understand what a career in health will involve. While we will expect you to show some understanding of what it is like to be the professional of your choice, part of this involves demonstrating that you know what it is like to work in a responsible role, particularly with the public.

Note that your experiences are only as valuable as the way you talk about them and what understanding you take from them. It is important that you think about how you might be able to demonstrate your understanding of healthcare, that you can relate this to experience or research, and that you can explain what you have learned.

What type of experience or research do you need?

Any activity, life experience or research that helps you to prepare for training to be a healthcare professional will help. This means any activity that allows you to demonstrate that you have:

• Had people-focused experience of providing a service, care, support or help to others, and that you understand the realities of working in a caring profession.
• Developed some of the values, attitudes and behaviours essential to being a Nurse, Midwife or Allied Health professional such as conscientiousness, effective communication and the ability to interact with a wide variety of people. The values that we are looking for are set out in the NHS Constitution.
• A realistic understanding of Health and Social Care and in particular the physical, organisational and emotional demands of the career.

Practical ways to gain experience

Keep a reflective diary on what is happening in the news and online. Listen to what healthcare professionals have to say and reflect on this. All healthcare professionals can be a valuable source of information and experience, not just those that work in the specific profession that you are applying for. Demonstrating that you have a sense of all healthcare professions (and how they work together) will help you in both your personal statement and interview.

Volunteer in your spare time if you can, all forms of voluntary work can provide helpful work experience. If volunteer work in the NHS isn’t something that is available to you, think about what else you could explore i.e. working with other people in a caring or service role. Voluntary commitments to community groups (for example groups related to the work of churches, mosques and temples, or other groups such as Scouts or Guides) and online community support groups may also provide valuable experience of taking on responsibility, dealing with people and communicating effectively.

Remember: what is important is what you learn about yourself and about other people, and what you learn about how effective care is delivered and received. How you learn these things is only a small part of the story; it is how you communicate what you learnt that matters.

Intakes

The annual intake for this course is in February each year.

Additional Information or Requirements

We welcome applications from students whose first language is not English or those whose degree was not taught in English.

To ensure such students benefit fully from postgraduate study, we require evidence of proficiency in English.

Our minimum entry requirements are as follows:

• IELTS: 7.0 overall with a minimum of 6.5 in all components

• Pearson (PTE): 76 overall with a minimum of 67 in all components.

All test scores must be less than two years old.

Other tests, including Cambridge English exams and the Trinity Integrated Skills in English are also accepted by the university. The full list of accepted tests can be found here: Accepted English Language Tests.

INTO UEA also run pre-sessional courses which can be taken prior to the start of your course. For further information and to see if you qualify please visit:

• Pre-sessional English at INTO UEA
• Academic English at INTO UEA

After the Course

Careers