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Apprentices CAN have placements within their own organisation but not the setting they currently work in or where there may be a conflict of interest. Apprentices CAN also go outside of their own organisation for placements and where possible reciprocal agreements across regions can help to facilitate this.
Placement blocks are part of off-the-job learning and apprentices should be treated as 'student learners', which means that this should be 'new learning' for the apprentice and different than their employed (on-the-job) role. Apprentices will need a named and suitable (professionally) qualified placement educator to support and assess their learning. Placement blocks should allow apprentices to gain a breadth of experiences across a range of settings and specialities and which addresses all 4 pillars of practice: Clinical, Leadership, Education and Research. Clinical placements may include a range of settings, specialities and pathways such as mental health, physical health, acute, community and outpatients settings. On some courses (occupational therapy and dietetics) you may also complete an extended scope or project placement.
You will be asked by the placement team at the start of the course to complete a form that collects information about your current employed role and location, home address, working hours and pattern, carer responsibilities, additional needs, driving status and any placement areas that you would prefer to have a placement in. This is to help guide allocation and so is vital that it is completed and is accurate. Your details can and should be updated throughout the course in light of any changes.
The placement team will take account of your preferences where possible, but this cannot be guaranteed.
Apprentices will need to gain a breadth of placement experience as outlined by their professional body (PSRB). Please see more detail below for each profession.
Occupational Therapy Placements
Occupational Therapy Placements
Occupational Therapy Placements:
Your placements will take place across a variety of settings: hospitals, community, extended scope, leadership, research and education. These could be working with clients with physical, mental health or a combination of conditions.
The clients will have a range of needs and abilities and you will have opportunities with work with them and learn from their experiences.
Whilst on placement you are a learner, not a member of staff. You are there to learn as an occupational therapy apprentice and under supervision, have opportunities to engage with the different elements of the Occupational Therapy process (assessment, goal setting, interventions etc).
Further information about the extended scope placement can be found on the Occupational Therapy placements page of this website.
You may be offered leadership, research or education placements.
These meet RCOT’s four pillars of practice in the Career Development Framework and give students a rounded placement experience which prepares them for different aspects of practice.
We work closely with providers offer this type of placement, and you will work on a specific project.
You may have a long-arm practice-educator (a qualified Occupational Therapist) who will support you via supervision, and complete your placement assessment.
Physiotherapy
Physiotherapy
We are required to provide each apprentice with a breadth of placement experience. There are NO formal requirements to have Neuro/CVR/MSK split of placements. We attempt to provide an inpatients, outpatients and community placement opportunity. We also suggest that one placement is from other pillars of practice - so either leadership, research or education. These placements are hugely valuable for achieving wider range of KSBs. The focus of the placement experience is too achieve the learning outcomes opposed to any specific/set competencies.
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