Occupational therapy - does it matter which uni?

[crazycrofter]

Dd is looking at doing occupational therapy. Obviously it’s a vocational course, so I’m assuming the usual provisos about going for the best/RG uni you can get into don’t apply?

She’s at a grammar school where there’s a lot of focus on RG etc and she’s likely to be predicted 2xAs and 1 A*. She’s a little swayed by the RG snobbery, but that would leave only Southampton and Liverpool as options (Cardiff is probably out due to funding issues). She would really like to look at Plymouth and Oxford Brookes too. Should she just forget the academic league tables as they’re irrelevant?

I meant that’s 6!

I am not quite sure I see the attraction of being in Plymouth over all the other cities.

I am also wondering if, for this course, you get local people living at home and going to their local university. My relative already had a degree when she trained, so I am not sure all trainees will be 18 either. Is Plymouth the centre of training for the West Country? If so, does it have local students in the main? Would that be an issue?

Have you ever been to Plymouth? You seem to think it’s a tiny place! According to Wikipedia it’s the same size as Southampton and significantly bigger (by 100k) than Norwich and Oxford. It has a medical school and Dd says her previous selective school sent students there. One of her friends in the year above (from the midlands) has it as insurance. So I’m not too worried. I’m sure there will be local (and mature) students on the course at all unis. Dd will make friends in her accommodation, at societies, at church, friends of friends. Do you know something specific about Plymouth that puts you off the place? We went there on holiday a number of years in a row and liked it.

I knows it is not small but how great is the student experience? Depends what you want though I think. Churches are everywhere.

Southampton and Portsmouth combined (as they are very close) is 924,000 population. Plymouth is a bit marmite in my view and isolated but if your DD likes it, then that's all that counts. Being a student is not a holiday though. No one from DDs independent school went there. Not that that means anything at all regarding your DD. Oxford Brookes was far more popular due to proximity to London and being a dual university city.

I think it depends where you live. In Birmingham, Bristol, Exeter and Plymouth are popular as they’re just down the M5 but no one goes to Southampton or UEA for example. There’s 21k students in Plymouth so I don’t think she’ll be short of friends if she does go there

Let’s see what she thinks after we’ve visited them all!

Why would you not go to Southampton if the best course was there and you liked the university? Surely it is not all about ease of travel for parents? I'm not a huge fan of UEA but I know loads of people are. It is just finding a place where you like. Presumably 21,000 includes post grad too. I hope your DD is happy with wherever she chooses.

Thanks, I’m sure she’ll be happy wherever she goes.

Cost of travel back and forth to home is a key consideration. My parents gave us all a 2 hour radius of unis to consider. We came home regularly for weekends and wouldn’t have been able to afford to without being that close. And my parents wanted to be able to do the round trip in a day at the beginning and end of term and to visit us as they couldn’t afford to be staying over. I’m sure lots of people have similar concerns.

Ideally I’d like Dd closer as you never know what support they might need.

I have a friend who studied OT at oxford brookes a few years ago and loved it. Said it was a great city to be in and she did well.
My ds is currently at OB and although not doing OT he’s loving the city and has enjoyed uni style life as much as it’s been possible to this year.
As a first year student staying in halls he gets a free bus pass to travel between campuses.

Thanks @Lotsachocolateplease, first hand experience is really useful! We’ll definitely look at it as it’s so convenient and like you say, a great city to live in.

I studied physio at Southampton a million years ago alongside OTs.
Best 3 years of my life. Had an absolute ball.

I think coming home all the time really isn’t what you should expect her to do. The students who go home a lot miss out. I would never have said my DDs couldn’t study anywhere because of distance. It’s not school. One of mine got a place in NY to study. It was “no” to exorbitant cost (£250,000) but not distance. If they need support most students ask the university. Parents don’t tend to expect to be travelling to see dc all the time. We just went as a taxi service at start and end of term.

I think every student and every family is different. You never know when someone might need support due to mental or physical health issues. I certainly don’t expect her to come home all the time, but if she wanted to, it would be better for it to be cheaper and easier. But that’s for her to decide. We’re not doing the radius thing - that was my parents.

I get the impression you’re coming from a particular background and environment Percy, which is fine, but you have to understand that people’s circumstances are different and personalities are different too . Out of me and my four siblings, we all had different experiences because of environment and personality. One wasn’t really mature or independent enough to live away, two had a difficult time away and two of us really enjoyed it (whilst still coming home regularly). We’re all fully functioning adults now. There’s more than one way to skin a cat!

Dd will have a certain amount of money to live off - if travel costs more, that money won’t go so far.

Anyway, I’m not sure this is particularly relevant to the thread, which was to clarify whether it mattered to future career prospects which uni you choose for an OT degree. Everyone seems to agree that it doesn’t matter so she should choose based on course content and where she wants to live. That’s been really helpful.

Almost every NHS trust in the country is desperate for OTs so no one is going to struggle to get a job afterwards. I suggest looking at location as the deciding factor. Where would your DC like to live and possibly work afterwards? Oxford is a massively expensive city to live in for example. I wouldn’t get too fussed about being near a prestigious teaching hospital. Some of the best training and roles for OTs afterwards are in community trusts.

Thanks, yes I’ve seen lots of adverts for OTs. I’ve also noticed how expensive Oxford is.

As there aren’t that many unis offering OT, I’m sure they all offer a range of different placements and she would probably want to work in the community afterwards anyway.

I’m a student OT just coming up to finishing my second year. Happy to answer any questions

Thanks @breakingupslowly! Where are you studying? How has it been with covid restrictions?

I’m a current OT student (albeit msc) and some things I would consider

• How the placements are structured and how many do you get- some places will split your week between placement and learning, others do solid blocks of placement

• Does the uni have close links with practicing clinicians/how many of the lecturers are practicing OTs (there’s nothing wrong with being an academic but it can make the course feel a bit out of touch if none of the lecturers have actually worked as OTs in the last 30 years)

• How much of a focus does the course have on practical skills like manual handling and equipment use

• Can you do placements abroad and/or role emerging placements (if that’s something that interests your DD)

I’m at Huddersfield, which was ranked quite highly according to the league tables when I started (think it was 2nd). Covid restrictions haven’t affected my placements at all thankfully! My last placement was with CAMHS at a psychiatric hospital which I loved. And I’m currently on placement with social services in the community. The visits I do are for urgent referrals only due to covid restrictions - so mainly palliative, and paediatric cases. It’s been very varied so far, and a great mix of theory and practice. I really don’t think it matters which uni to be honest. Just see which one your DD gets a good feel for.

Thank you both, some more useful questions to ask, especially about practising OTs. I hadn’t realised placements abroad was a possibility.

I think Huddersfield is still high up in the league tables. What’s it like as a place? I wasn’t sure it would compete as a city with the other options, knowing my daughter but I’ve never actually been there! The placements sound great.

Huddersfield is quite small in itself compared to other uni cities but it’s still very popular with students. I can’t comment on nightlife as I’m a “mature”, single parent . But the younger ones on my course all seem to love it! It’s also quite close to Leeds and Manchester.

The tutors are all absolutely brilliant, and really know their stuff. They all come from different backgrounds too (mental health, paediatrics, cardio rehab, etc.) so we cover all the bases.

I went to Hudd on an Open Day. Very good PR . Nice buildings and facilities. Small feel. Accommodation not on site but very near , cheap and good standard.

Stunning countryside. Town itself a little run down physically but not compared to many I have visited - very close to campus for shops etc.

I am a practising OT and agree with others that the actual uni doesn’t matter at all. Where I work most people went to the two relatively local unis.

I have been involved in student recruitment. She will need to be able to clearly articulate what OT is and why she wants to be an OT. Shadowing or even just talking to an OT is a good start.

Thanks, yes, I’m trying to get her to ask the local hospital for OT shadowing. I’d better remind her again!

Another OT here. I trained years ago at York which at the time had the reputation for being one of the best. It a fantastic uni city and the campus is very central and maybe cheaper than somewhere like Oxford.

Do you mean YSJ?

It is surprisingly low in the league table, if that means anything.