Who is this apprenticeship for?
This apprenticeship is right for NHS trusts and other professional practice settings. As an employer, your motive is to secure your pipeline of occupational therapists. You can do this by developing apprentices with the skills, knowledge and behaviours they need to become confident, HCPC-registered Occupational Therapists.
The course is directly mapped to the:
- Skills for Health’s Apprenticeship Standard
- Royal College of Occupational Therapists (RCOT) standards
- HCPC Standards of Proficiency – Occupational Therapist
This apprenticeship develops not only professional competencies, but also the critical thinking and reflective practice needed for lifelong development and growth.
Capabilities to better your business
- Strengthen and develop existing staff, emerging talent or new recruits into competent professional Occupational Therapists
- Apprentices learn from expert academics and industry professionals, equipping them with the full range of knowledge, skills and behaviours relevant to your organisation
- You’ll have the opportunity to instil your organisation’s culture, procedures, systems and working style from an early stage
- Reinvest Apprenticeship Levy funds to cover the cost of training or part fund through government funding
A cost-effective way to develop and retain talent
Degree apprenticeships are a smart investment. You can reinvest Apprenticeship Levy funds to cover the cost of the apprenticeship or receive funding support from the government.
If you operate in England and your annual payroll is over £3 million, you pay a levy of 0.5% of your payroll into a levy account.
The cost of the Occupational Therapy programme for levy paying employers is £24,000 and this can be covered in full using the non-refundable funds in your levy account. If you exhaust the funds in your levy account, then the government will pay 95% of the outstanding fees and you will need to pay the remaining 5%.
If you are an SME, not required to pay the levy, you will pay only 5% of the cost of the apprenticeship programme while the government pays the remaining 95%. The cost of the of the Occupational Therapy programme for non-levy paying employers is just £1,200.
For more about the Apprenticeship Levy, and to find out about any additional incentive payments for hiring a new apprentice from the government, please visit the key information section on our Degree apprenticeships for employers page.
Our team of dedicated consultants can talk you through the detail.
Don't just take our word for it..
Tony Bottiglieri
“Our experience of ARU healthcare apprenticeships is that staff exit with the quality and diversity of skills and knowledge required for contemporary healthcare practice.”
Tony Bottiglieri
Royal Papworth NHS Foundation Trust
David Wherrett
“We value and advocate apprenticeships as they offer an excellent opportunity to earn whilst you learn and enables us to develop, grow and nurture a skilled workforce.”
David Wherrett
Director of Workforce, Cambridge University Hospitals
Industry recognised professional accreditation
Health & Care Professions Council
Our Occupational Therapy MSc is validated by the Health & Care Professions Council, allowing the apprentice to register with the HCPC when they graduate and work as a professional occupational therapist.
Delivered by experts, blending online and face-to-face learning
As part of the Occupational Therapy Degree Apprenticeship, your apprentice will spend at least 20% of their contracted working hours on off-the-job training. This protected time is essential for developing the skills and knowledge required by the apprenticeship standard and the HCPC.
Training delivery
Off-the-job learning is delivered through a mix of:
- Face-to-face workshops
- Online, lecturer-led sessions and guided activities
- Practical learning in your workplace
Each trimester starts with a 3-day teaching block, followed by one day a week allocated to study.
This model minimizes disruption to your service while ensuring apprentices are supported in their academic and professional development.
Placement requirements
To meet the standards for HCPC registration, apprentices must complete 1,000 hours of supervised practice placements in a range of settings.
- These placements are part of the course and count towards off-the-job training
- Apprentices are required to attend placements on a full-time basis
- Travel may be necessary to ensure a breadth of clinical experience
All placements and off-the-job training are planned into the apprenticeship schedule, giving you clarity from the start and helping you manage workforce planning.
What are the entry requirements?
As an employer your authority sets out the person specifications for the role, but the apprentice will need to meet our entry requirements to be accepted onto the course. You can view the full entry requirements on our apprentice course page.
Our team of dedicated consultants can talk you through the detail.
