BSc (Hons) Physiotherapy

Core units

• Science for Physiotherapy: You'll establish core knowledge of human and behavioural sciences needed for therapeutic practice.
• Communication for Physiotherapy Practice: This unit aims to establish foundation communication skills which are at the heart of everything as a Physiotherapist. 
• Foundations for Professional Practice and Research: This unit will set a foundation of professionalism required for working as a life-long, professional learner. In addition foundation research skills will be developed to facilitate the retrieval and interpretation of information.
• Physiotherapy Management of the Inpatient: The aim of this unit is to prepare you to work within the inpatient setting. This unit covers assessment processes and basic management approaches including working with elderly patients and in respiratory and orthopaedic environments.
• Exercise, Movement and Rehabilitation: Here you’ll develop knowledge of normal human movement, biomechanics and movement analysis. This knowledge will be applied to the use of exercise therapy across a variety of rehabilitation areas.
• Physiotherapy Portfolio Units – Orientation and 1: These practice placements cover Continuing Professional Development (CPD) and the use of critical reflective practice.

Core units

• Research for Professional Practice: This unit aims to raise your awareness of a range of evidence and you will be able to demonstrate an understanding of how different forms of evidence can guide practice.
• Acute Rehabilitation: In this unit you will acquire the skills necessary for the management of patients in the acute setting. This includes formulating respiratory and neurology management plans and using appropriate physiotherapy skills.
• Community Rehabilitation: In this unit you will learn to manage patients within the community setting with a variety of problems; including cardiorespiratory, neurological and long term conditions. A problem-solving approach will help you investigate the implications for patients and the required holistic approach to their conditions.
• Outpatient Rehabilitation: The aim of this unit is to develop your reasoning skills of neuromusculoskeletal assessment and management. It will build on the knowledge of anatomy, biomechanics, physiology and pathology. It will provide you with the skills to deliver safe and effective neuromusculoskeletal treatments.
• Physiotherapy Portfolio Units 2 and 3: These units contain your two placements where your practice skills are developed. The unit also progresses your use of critical reflection to develop important lifelong learning skills.

Core units

• Team Working for Service Improvement: The purpose of this unit is to provide you with the opportunity to undertake interprofessional project work and develop your skills in team working. Collaborative working is considered an essential skill in physiotherapy practice.
• Progressing Physiotherapy Practice: The aim of this unit is for you to revise, build upon and integrate physiotherapy knowledge and skills in order to manage complex case scenarios in a variety of settings.
• Research for Physiotherapy Practice: This unit develops understanding of the research process and ability to undertake a critical literature review. The format of this unit will primarily be through independent study in which you will have the opportunity to undertake an in-depth study of a professional practice topic of your choice.
• Innovations in Physiotherapy: In this unit you will explore the complexity of physiotherapy practice and develop your use of evidence informed practice and leadership skills. Innovative examples of physiotherapy practice will be explored and applied to UK and international practice.
• Physiotherapy Portfolio Units 4 and 5: These practical units aim to facilitate your progression towards qualifying as a confident and proficient professional, capable of high-quality, autonomous practice within the interprofessional provision of care.

Programme specifications provide definitive records of the University's taught degrees in line with Quality Assurance Agency requirements. Every taught course leading to a BU Award has a programme specification which describes its aims, structure, content and learning outcomes, plus the teaching, learning and assessment methods used.

Whilst every effort is made to ensure the accuracy of the programme specification, the information is liable to change to take advantage of exciting new approaches to teaching and learning as well as developments in industry.

If you have been unable to locate the programme specification for the course you are interested in, it will be available as soon as the latest version is ready. Alternatively please contact us for assistance.

You will be assessed by coursework and exams. The assessment methods for each unit can be found on the programme profile in the programme specification for your course.

As an indication, around 80% of the most popular units on this course in 2016/17 were assessed by coursework.

With practical learning being integral to your degree, we provide practice simulation facilities, including a plinth suite, to mirror both clinical and community workplace settings and provide a safe environment.

We’re continuing to enhance our state-of-the-art facilities too – with a brand new, £48 million building currently under development, that will house our Health & Social Care courses.

Visit our facilities page to find out more – you can also take a 360° tour to get a feel for where you’ll be studying while you’re based on our Lansdowne Campus.

In the first year you will experience an introductory placement, followed by the first six-week clinical placement. There are two six-week placements in the second year and two six-week placements in the third year to ensure you gain a minimum of 1,000 hours practice experience.

You'll be supported by practice placement educator (PPE) during your practice placements.

This course contains a significant amount of placement experience, with this often being undertaken in outlying areas rather than solely in towns/cities. You need to consider this when making your application and be clear about what you will be undertaking.

Your placement travel expenses may be reimbursed from the NHS Learning Support Fund. 

Although your term time address and method of transport are taken into consideration when allocating your placements there is an expectation that all students will have to travel up to 40 miles to reach their placements.

Due to the more rural nature of some of the placements you may be required to travel further. When on placement you will experience shift patterns that might include 12-13 hour shifts and weekends.

You can find out more about our placement locations here.

AccessBU: AccessBU provides you with the opportunity to tell us about your circumstances that are not always evident in your UCAS application. This widening access initiative also considers relevant criteria such as being in care or if you live in an area with a low participation rate in Higher Education - if you are eligible, your offer could be up to 16 UCAS tariff points below the published tariff.

Apprenticeships: We recognise the transferable knowledge and skills gained through apprenticeships and welcome applications from students with a Level 3 Advanced Apprenticeship recognised by the Institute for Apprenticeships. Each application will be considered on a case-by-case basis.

Deferred entry: We are happy to consider eligible applicants for deferred entry. If you have already submitted your application, please submit your deferral request through our website.

Direct entry: We welcome applications from students who have previously studied at degree level at other institutions and wish to transfer onto a BU course. Our Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) procedure enables credit awarded from one institution to contribute to a BU award, subject to an application process. Please visit our RPL webpage for more information.

Mature applicants: We recognise that mature applicants may have a wealth of experience rather than formal qualifications, so we’ll consider your application on these merits if included in your application. You’ll need to apply to BU in the usual way through UCAS and you may be invited to an interview to discuss your suitability for the course based on the experience you tell us about in your application.

We would normally expect you to have some paid or voluntary experience or shadowing Physiotherapists (PT’s) or clear insight in the field of work being applied for. The longer and more varied that experience, the better. Examples of the sort of experience that candidates often have in a variety of environments such as:

• Hospital wards, physiotherapy departments, community settings, domiciliary care, schools or private practices.

If you’re struggling to achieve the above, we can also consider experience in the following areas:

• A healthcare environment such as nursing home, elderly care home, special needs school, working as a healthcare assistant, supporting individuals with disabilities or supporting vulnerable people in the community.

We may also be able to consider observations such as:

• Your experience when receiving treatment from a PT (or where a relative has).
• Watching documentaries with relation to Physiotherapy and Allied Health Professionals.

We want you to learn from your work experience, so it doesn’t matter how long it was. Use your UCAS application to reflect on your experience:

• What you learnt about the role of the PT from the experience you’ve gained.
• The attributes you identified in PTs.
• How the PT gets patients to follow exercise plans.
• Your understanding of the diversity of the role.

We'll use this information to shortlist applicants so this information must be evidenced clearly on your UCAS application form in the employment history section and in your personal statement. 

Occupational Health (OH) Checks

This course is physically and mentally demanding and you will  need to be mentally and physically able to undertake your chosen course. Places are offered subject to passing an OH check, and this will be carried out by the Dorset Healthcare University NHS Foundation Trust.

Health conditions need to be dealt with on an individual basis e.g. deafness, blindness, eczema (or other dermatological allergic reactions) on exposed areas, epilepsy, back problems, or mental health conditions, eating disorders and other disabilities.

These do not automatically exclude you but please ensure that you fully disclose your condition  to OH. The University can then consider the recommendations made by OH and whether reasonable adjustments can be made to support you on your chosen course. If you require more guidance please contact us for more information.

You will be required to provide a record of your immunity status or be vaccinated or have the required blood tests. You may need to ask your GP or current OH department or find your childhood vaccination record for details of your past immunisation records. You should be aware that there may be charges made (for which you will be liable) relating to your gaining the appropriate immunity required prior to starting your training programme.

Refusing Immunisations

The University has an expectation that all students will comply with the vaccination programme as it is Public Health England requirement for health care workers to have certain immunisations. This ensures that you will be able to undertake the wide range of training placements that your course will require and aims to keep you, as well as the people in your care as safe as possible. Please note that at this time Covid-19 vaccinations are not a mandatory requirement for healthcare workers and so are therefore not a mandatory requirement for healthcare students either. Occasionally some vaccinations are contraindicated in certain medical conditions. Occupational Health (OH) will advise the University in these cases. The University will consider students on an individual basis. Refusal to have immunisations may result in the student not being allowed to attend practice placement and being withdrawn from the course. There is no opportunity to appeal against the requirements of the immunisation policy.

Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) Check (previously known as CRB)

All successful applicants will be subject to an Enhanced Disclosure and Barred List check; this will be a condition of offer and will need to be completed prior to commencing the course. Please see the Government website for the most up to date information.

Background and experience

Students on this course will typically have an enthusiasm for and insight into the role of a Physiotherapist. Ideally applicants would have some experience shadowing Physiotherapists (PT’s). This could be in a variety of environments such as hospital wards, physiotherapy departments, community settings, domiciliary care, schools or private practices.

We want you to learn from your work experience, so it doesn’t matter how long it was. Use your UCAS application to tell us what you learnt about the role of the PT, their attributes, how the PT gets patients to follow exercise plans, your understanding of the diversity of the job.

If you’re struggling to achieve the above, we also consider experience in a healthcare environment e.g. nursing home, elderly care home, HCA, special needs school, voluntary work as a support worker with individuals with disabilities.

If you do not have any relevant experience, you will be required to demonstrate that you have a clear insight into the nature of the profession that you will be training to enter.

For Physiotherapy, we are looking for applicants who:

• Have an interest in Physiotherapy as well as the motivation and commitment to undertake the course
• Have insight into the role of a Physiotherapist in the health & social care setting from independent research of the profession or relevant work experience
• Have an appreciation of the diversity of the profession
• Are caring, empathetic and friendly
• Can work in a team
• Have developed independent learning and study skills.

Physiotherapists work with people all the time and must therefore have excellent communication skills to be able to interact with people from a wide range of backgrounds in different situations.

Good written communication skills are very important for completing course work, creating patient records, sharing information with other professionals and developing an on-going record of professional development. You should be able to be comprehensive yet succinct, use correct grammar and present work neatly.

Our courses are built around the NHS’ constitution values, and when assessing your application we will take these values into consideration:

• Working together for patients
• Respect and dignity
• Commitment to quality of care
• Compassion
• Improving lives
• Everyone counts.

Find out more about the NHS Constitution principles.

In the healthcare sector, IT is now a vital tool for accessing and maintaining patient records, accessing literature to client care and conducting clinically-related research. As a student you will receive an introduction to IT near the beginning of your course and you will be provided with computer access and your own email address.

During the course you will be expected to use your developing IT skills to produce assignments, to conduct literature searches, and to use client-related record systems in the clinical setting. Following instruction some of your study will be undertaken through web-based learning tools, for example by participating in online discussions.

We select candidates for this course by looking at your application. For that reason, make sure your application really stands out from the crowd, and leave us in no doubt as to why you should be joining BU.
 
For our health and social care courses our admissions team use the DRIVE criteria to assess your application and evidence of this must be show in your personal statement. You can also find some handy hints about filling in your UCAS form on our how to apply web pages.

Additional reference

In addition to the reference on your UCAS form, once we’ve received your application we may contact you to ask for a second reference; depending on the course you’ve applied for, this may be an academic reference, or from an employer or person who knows you in a professional capacity.

Our offer-making will typically be based on your most recent qualifications, including any required subjects where applicable. We'll consider all qualifications when assessing your application, although these may not be part of our offer.

If you do not meet the criteria of your original offer, we may still offer you a place. We will review your whole application and consider all academic qualifications (including those not in the offer) to see if you have the academic potential to succeed on the course. If we feel the answer is yes, we will confirm your place.

We look at individual applications and make a tailored offer based on your potential to succeed on the course considering a range of factors, including your academic achievements, work and other experience, reference and personal statement, and in some cases, your performance at an interview or a portfolio review. Typically, we make an offer at the bottom of the tariff range.

AccessBU gives you the chance to tell us more about you and your life experiences if you haven’t had the same educational opportunities as other applicants. If you are eligible for AccessBU, your offer could be up to 16 UCAS Tariff Points below the published tariff.

On graduating, you can feel confident to apply for jobs in the NHS or the private sector, or may choose to move into education rather than practice. Among the roles you can apply for are:

• Basic grade – band 5
• Specialisation – band 6
• Specialist practitioner – band 7
• Consultant therapist – band 8
• Lecturer – practitioner.

On successful graduation, you can apply to become a registered physiotherapist with the Health & Care Professions Council (HCPC) and you can become a professional member of the Chartered Society of Physiotherapy (CSP). These accreditations can be vital when it comes to securing work as a physiotherapist overseas.

Industries worked in

• Healthcare
• Sport
• Education
• Therapy.

Once you have completed an undergraduate Honours degree, you can further develop your education by studying for a postgraduate degree. Please visit our postgraduate section for further details about our range of Master’s degrees.

What’s included in your tuition fee?

Your tuition fee covers expenses associated with your course including tuition materials, access to facilities, mandatory field trips and the following:

• Materials for laboratory and mandatory field-based teaching activity.
• Support for finding placements (UK or abroad) and/or fieldwork and non-financial support whilst on placement.
• A range of student services – advisors, help desks, counsellors, placement support and careers service.
• Access to Brightspace, our virtual learning environment, which offers a responsive and personalised learning experience with powerful learning analytics capabilities, integrated social media and advanced video features.
• The Library – access to a wide range of electronic resources (databases, e-journals and e-books), print and multimedia collections, subject librarians and study spaces.
• IT labs (some open 24/7), wireless network, AV equipment to borrow.
• Disability and additional learning support, according to individual circumstances.
• The BU Language Centre to help you develop/improve foreign or English language skills.
• 24 hours a day, 365 days a year security team.
• Professional body accreditation of the course.
• Occupational Health Services and checks are included but you will be charged if you do not attend Occupational Health appointments without giving appropriate notice. You are also responsible for travel costs to Occupational Health appointments.
• We will provide you with one standard set of uniform. Additional uniform items must be ordered by students, and this will incur an additional cost. Students will need to purchase their own appropriate footwear.

Additional costs

We are committed to offering you value for money and ensuring there are no hidden costs while you are studying with us, therefore we have listed below any additional costs you may incur that are not covered by your tuition fee:

• Laptops, tablets and mobile devices and any software used on personal devices. Access to a personal computer is strongly recommended for your study. If you are experiencing financial difficulty, visit our website for information regarding hardship funds.
• Textbooks, general stationery and other supplies. Our award-winning library is stocked with a large range of textbooks and online resources, free of charge. The Students’ Union shops stock a wide range of stationery supplies on both campuses.
• You will need to meet the cost of an Enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check as a condition of enrolment, including any Post Office verification charges. You will be required to pay the fee of £54.22 in full at the Post Office when they are verifying your ID.
• Accommodation and living costs. Please visit our website for more information.
• Travel costs to and from the university campus, and to Occupational Health appointments. An annual bus pass can be purchased alongside your rent if you are living in halls of residence/Unilet accommodation or may be purchased separately.
• Your placement could be in Dorset, Somerset, Wiltshire and/or Hampshire. You must pay for any secondary accommodation and travel costs (including car parking charges and car insurance). International students pay these costs in addition to course fees.
• You may claim NHS reimbursement for placement travel and secondary accommodation. Visit the NHS Business Services Authority website for details: 
• There may be an additional charge for replacement uniforms.
• SportBU membership.
• You may need to pay for immunisations if they are not covered by your GP, and you will be charged for missed immunisation appointments.

While all aspects of the programme, including required field trips, are included in the fee, additional, optional or extra curricula activities may be available for which a student contribution is required

If you need to repeat one or more units during your studies (with or without attendance) the pricing will be pro-rata of the full-time fee.

Physiotherapy students may be eligible for a government training grant of at least £5,000 a year, which you will not need to pay back. The funding will be given to all new and continuing degree-level nursing, midwifery and many allied health students.

Students starting in September 2020 received at least £5,000 a year, with further funding available for eligible students, including:

• Parental Support allowance of £1,000, on top of the £1,000 already on offer. 
• Up to £1,000 specialist subject payment for subjects such as mental health nursing. 
• A regional incentive payment in areas of the country which have seen a decrease in people accepted on some nursing, midwifery and allied health courses.

Students will not need to apply for specialist subject or incentive payments as they will be automatically added to their account, if eligible. 

This means that some students could be eligible for up to £8,000 per year, with everyone getting at least £5,000. 

Kathryn graduated as a physiotherapist in 2003 from The Sage Colleges in Troy, New York, USA and then worked as a physiotherapist for nine years in Chicago, USA, specialising in neurology. During this time she enjoyed being a clinical supervisor to physiotherapy students and became interested in research. Kathryn worked on a research trial with stroke survivors; this experience further sparked her interest in pursuing research, which led her to England in 2012 to undertake a PhD. Kathryn graduated with a PhD in Health Sciences from the University of East Anglia in 2016. After finishing her PhD she worked as a researcher and grant writer before joining Bournemouth University in 2017 as a Physiotherapy Lecturer.

Louise joined BU in November 2006. She is Programme Lead and Senior Lecturer in Physiotherapy. Louise is also a part time PhD student. Her current PhD research is looking at a home based physiotherapist led intervention using the Nintendo Wii to facilitate people with early stage Multiple Sclerosis to exercise. 

Vikram completed his Bachelor and Master’s degree in Physiotherapy from Annamalai University, India and a PhD in Biomedical Sciences from Chiang Mai University, Thailand. His PhD focused on Respiratory Characteristics of Individuals with Nonspecific Low Back Pain and the Effect of Therapeutic Exercise.

He worked in a range of physiotherapy settings and locations in India, Malaysia and United Kingdom as a clinician and as a teaching faculty.

He served as a World Confederation of Physical Therapy (WCPT) Accreditation Committee Member for Bachelor Degree at Universiti Teknologi Mara (UiTM), Malaysia. Since 2008, he also reviewed cardio-respiratory physiotherapy units as a part of the curriculum review in UiTM. In addition, he was also appointed as a sub-committee member for Malaysian Research Assessment Instrument (MYRA) at the faculty level (2016-2017).

His research interest includes Pain and Breathing, work-related musculoskeletal disorders, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) & musculoskeletal disorders and COPD & pulmonary rehabilitation.

Dr Williams received training both in the UK and Australia and has emerged as a prominent researcher in the field of Physiotherapy and Biomechanics. He enjoys the challenge of experimental measurement and is passionate about the fusion of Physiotherapy with Engineering.

Jon has a keen interest in the use of engineering principles to solve biomechanical and clinical problems. This has been applied to create novel measurement solutions for motion analysis which has been applied to many body regions. Such methods have also been applied to investigate the mechanisms behind movement alterations evident in low back pain sufferers, with a special focus on pain.

This work has led to international conference presentations, publications and being commissioned by an engineering company to work on novel clinical applications for their technology.

Dr Judith Chapman's area of interest is education and she have conducted studies in undergraduate learning and client education, particularly readability of health education literature.

She graduated from Kings College Hospital, London and worked there for two years before moving to Canada. There she worked in Barrie, Ontario and Toronto followed by 18 years at McMaster University Health Science Centre, Hamilton specialising in the management of Rheumatological conditions.

Judith undertook an MSc at McMaster University researching the Effectiveness of a Patient Education Programme for Clients with Rheumatoid Arthritis (RCT) and subsequently joined the academic staff in the Undergraduate BSc programme.

Alex Dunford is an experienced physiotherapist specialising in musculoskeletal physiotherapy. Before starting a full-time role at Bournemouth University, she worked as a senior musculoskeletal physiotherapist in Wiltshire. As a physiotherapist Alex’s experience includes working in private practice, acute and community hospitals, GP practices and private schools.

Alex has been working as a part-time lecturer at Bournemouth University since 2018 and in July 2019, took a full-time position as a Physiotherapy lecturer.

Alex interests include lower limb pathologies and persistent pain. Alex is currently working on her PhD in knee pain.

Rachael qualified as a chartered physiotherapist with BSc (Hons) in 1999 and worked extensively in London at basic and senior grade, with a special interest in rehabilitation and intensive care. MSc studies in Rehabilitation at Oxford Brookes University developed advanced skills in all aspects of the rehabilitative process and she completed primary research into the assessment of the unstable shoulder. These studies were integrated with neuromusculoskeletal specialist physiotherapy role within Oxfordshire NHS community Trust. Rachael has completed post graduate studies in advancing practice: specialist manipulative physiotherapy at Birmingham University and qualified as a member of the Manipulative Association of Chartered Physiotherapist in 2008. She has worked in private practice in Bournemouth and Southampton since 2007, joining Bournemouth University as a lecturer on the undergraduate BSc(Hons) physiotherapy programme in 2008. She taught widely on the Physiotherapy undergraduate programme, participating in three curriculum reviews. Rchael is currently completing doctoral studies into the role of sensorimotor control in the shoulder.

Andy joined Bournemouth University in 2020 to complete a Masters by Research, developing innovative measurement techniques for spinal stiffness. In 2022 he converted this to study towards a PhD in the same topic and joined the Department of Rehabilitation and Sport Sciences at BU as a Lecturer in Sport Therapy and Physiotherapy. With a background in mechanical engineering before retraining as a physiotherapist, Andy’s research focuses on integrating engineering principles into the field of musculoskeletal therapy.