Occupational Therapy Apprenticeship

This information specifically relates to the Occupational Therapy Degree Apprenticeship programme. If you are supporting an Occupational Therapy student on the full-time programme please visit our Occupational Therapy information.

As with full time undergraduate students, during their four-year programme our apprentices need to complete 1,000 hours of practice placement outside of their usual place of work and supervised by a Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC) registered occupational therapist, the Practice Educator (PE).

Academic year 2026/27

• Monday 14 September to Friday 27 November 2026
  Cohort 2023 are on Occupational Therapy Practice 3 (OTP3) for 11 weeks.
• Monday 14 September to Friday 13 November 2026
  Cohort 2025 are on Occupational Therapy Practice 1 (OTP1) for nine weeks.
• Monday 11 January to Friday 26 March 2027
  Cohort 2024 are on Occupational Therapy Practice 2 (OTP2) for ten weeks.
• Monday 26 April to Friday 18 June 2027
  Cohort 2026 are on Occupational Therapy Practice 1 (OTP1) for eight weeks.

Offering a placement

Our partner employers will be seeking and offering placement opportunities for their apprentices in reciprocal arrangements. Providers and allocations will be quality assured and confirmed by the UWE Bristol Placement Team. If you have any questions or can offer a placement, please contact the Practice Placement Office (PPO) at PPOallocations@uwe.ac.uk.

Practice Educator briefings

The Practice Educator briefings will equip practice educators to support students on placements. As a minimum requirement, all practice educators are expected to attend a briefing prior to taking a student.

Briefing dates:

• Thursday 2 April 2026 09:00–12:00
• Tuesday 26 May 2026 13:00–16:00

Practice Educator briefing booking form

For all enquiries about educator training sessions, please email hscpsl@uwe.ac.uk

Also see information about the Practice Learning and Student Support professional course and find out more about supporting, supervising and assessing students in practice.

Key resources

• Recording of PE briefing: All PEs are asked to view this recorded PE briefing or attend the online PE briefing before taking a UWE Bristol Occupational Therapy Apprentice. You can also view the accompanying slides (PDF).
• Nominate an apprentice for the Certificate of Excellence: If you feel your apprentice has excelled in three or more areas of the placement competencies, you can nominate them for a certificate of excellence. This can support their personal profile, and evidence towards their Knowledge, Skills and Behaviours. To nominate your apprentice, complete the nomination form and please give a brief explanation of how the apprentice has excelled during their placement. The deadline to submit your nomination is two weeks after the end of the placement.
• Practice Educator brief guide to the UWE Bristol Occupational Therapy Apprentice curriculum 2021 (PDF): Essential information for practice educators.
• Apprenticeship Professional Practice Portfolio (PDF): Detailed information about all aspects of placement.
• Occupational Therapy Apprenticeship placement competencies – all levels (PDF): The learning outcomes students will need to achieve on each placement.
• Placement tutorial support information (PDF): Support available for students and practice educators during placements.
• Failure protocol (PDF): Information about what to do if you have concerns about your student's performance on placement.
• Guidance for PEs supporting students with specific learning differences (PDF): Advice for students and practice educators about managing dyslexia and other specific learning differences (SpLDs) whilst on practice placement.

Useful templates

• Learning contract for curriculum 2021 (DOC)
• Final report template for curriculum 2021 (DOC)
• Placement hours record (DOC)
• Placement supervision preparation and recording pro forma (DOC)

• Visit the BSc(Hons) Occupational Therapy degree apprenticeship course listing for an overview of the programme and learning outcomes.
• For an outline of the quality assurance apprenticeship placement process providing monitoring and service enhancement on practice placements, download the Apprenticeship Placement Process Document.

If you have any queries or questions about the Occupational Therapy programme or require support, please contact a member of the programme support team.

Programme team

Alice Hortop

• UWE Bristol Occupational Therapy Apprenticeship Programme Co-Lead
• Email: Alice.Hortop@uwe.ac.uk
• Tel: +44(0)117 32 88588

Becky Barnes

• UWE Bristol Occupational Therapy Apprenticeship Programme Co-Lead
• Email: Becky.Barnes@uwe.ac.uk
• Tel: +44 (0)117 32 81217

Lydia Rossiter

• UWE Bristol Occupational Therapy Apprenticeship Placement Co-Lead
• Email: Lydia.Rossiter@uwe.ac.uk
• Tel: +44 (0)117 32 81931

Helen Shallcross

• UWE Bristol Occupational Therapy Apprenticeship Placement Co-Lead
• Email: Helen.shallcross@uwe.ac.uk

Placement team

• Email: ppoallocations@uwe.ac.uk

Find out more about supporting, supervising and assessing students in practice.