Program Overview

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Physiotherapy BSc (Hons)

Course Description

Study with us to develop the expertise, knowledge, and skills to practice as a physiotherapist. Our expert team at the University of Derby prepare you to be part of a multidisciplinary health and social care team with the clinical, leadership, digital and research skills for the future. Our approach is practice based and you learn in a stimulating environment with a focus on efficacy and the holistic well-being of the patient.

A Course with Professional Credibility

We are now Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC) and Chartered Society of Physiotherapy (CSP) approved. This means you will be eligible to apply for registration as a physiotherapist with the HCPC and membership of the CSP once you graduate.

What You Will Study

• Year 1
• Year 2
• Year 3

Core modules:

• Fundamentals of Physiotherapy Practice
• Professional Skills and Practice 1
• Introduction to primary and community care
• Introduction to Secondary Care
• Practice Placement 1

Fundamentals of Physiotherapy Practice

Physiotherapists need to be adaptable to all health care conditions, in all age groups and across all sectors of the population. You must provide contemporaneous management of health care problems and be able to critically review the latest evidence and guidelines to inform your practice. You must be sensitive to the needs of the individual regardless of age, gender, religion, ethnicity, race, disability, sexual orientation, or socioeconomic status, practicing in a non-discriminatory manner. To achieve this there are some fundamental aspects of Physiotherapy practice that you must learn to be able to provide a meaningful and appropriate assessment and management plan for the individual.

This module will cover the fundamentals of anatomy, physiology and handling skills required to be able to assess any patient, in any setting within the health care system. This will be delivered using patient cases, covering the most common patient presentations in clinical practice. Each week will be triggered by a case taken from one of the three main clinical areas in Physiotherapy practice (MSK, Respiratory and Neurology). The cases will range from cradle to grave.

Each case will explore the key anatomical underpinning knowledge, physiology related to that condition, key assessment skills for that case, key handling skills for that case and consideration of both the short term and long-term rehabilitation required.

You will be expected to utilise the latest research evidence and clinical guidelines relevant to the case, reviewing these critically to inform your management.

You will physically practice the interviewing, physical examination and basic treatment skills required for each case during your off the job and on the job time. In this module you will be expected to work in small pre-determined groups, called learning sets, to work on the cases provided.

You will be expected to share your learning with your peers through discussion and presentation.

You will be formatively assessed regularly and provided with feedback on your performance both individually and as a group.

Develop@Derby resources will be utilised providing students the opportunity to develop their learning and academic skills from the outset of the programme.

Module Learning Outcomes

On successful completion of the module, you will be able to:

1. Describe the anatomy and physiology relevant to each case
2. Demonstrate assessment and treatment techniques appropriate to each case
3. Work collaboratively to decide upon the best assessment and treatment in the management of the cases presented
4. Demonstrate understanding of the individual needs of the person in each case including equality, diversity and inclusivity issues that may affect their care

Module Content

• Anatomy of the neurological, respiratory, and musculoskeletal systems
• Physiology of nerve conduction, respiration, muscle contraction, response to exercise, inflammation, healing, and pain (acute and chronic)
• Basics of pathological changes due to ischaemia, nerve damage, respiratory illness, developmental disorders, degenerative change, rheumatological disorders for the most commonly occurring health conditions
• Impacts of posture, biomechanics, overload, and underload on normal physiology
• Principles of analysis of movement, assessment skills and therapeutic handling skills e.g. massage, manual therapy, percussion, vibration, normal movement restoration
• Principles of short term and long-term rehabilitation
• Principles of presenting a patient (e.g. SBAR)

How You Will Learn

Hone Your Skills Through Practice-Based Learning

Almost half of the course is taken up with exciting opportunities to enhance your skills in real-world settings. There are five periods of practice-based learning, which you usually undertake full time, for a set number of weeks during each year of study.

Primarily in the East Midlands, the settings for practice-based learning range from the NHS, private and voluntary sectors. You’ll experience how Physiotherapists work with people in different age groups and with different physical and mental health concerns. This builds the optimum range of skills for becoming a qualified practitioner and helps you make more informed decisions about your future career direction.

We organise all placements for you so we can ensure you’ll be supported by qualified occupational therapists who are trained to assess and develop your practical skills.

Placement hours are subject to change.

An Inspiring Learning Environment

We offer superb training facilities for practical sessions in realistic settings. They include an NHS standard six-bed hospital ward, a onsite house and a rehabilitation kitchen.
We have also invested in latest technology so that you can benefit from a variety of virtual and immersive environments which will enrich your learning experience.

Expertise, Commitment and Enthusiasm

You’ll be inspired by a dedicated and highly skilled teaching team. They are all registered and experienced Physiotherapists who can give you insights into the many different aspects of the profession. Throughout your studies you’ll benefit from the support of a personal tutor too.

Our team is also research active so will keep you informed about latest thinking and trends. We are involved in national special interest groups and have expertise in areas such as first contact physiotherapy, ITU and long-term condition management.

In Tune with New Developments

This course is closely mapped against the needs of employers to ensure your learning is meaningful and relevant. In delivering the programme, we respond to national changes such as latest government policies. As a result, some of the information about the course may change.

As health care is increasingly delivered by multi professional teams, we offer inter-professional learning opportunities at each stage of the course so that you learn with, and from, students from other disciplines. This is really important in helping you understand how physiotherapists work in partnership with other professionals in different settings. By learning to work together, you can help achieve the best outcomes for patients and clients.

The course entails a mixture of theory and practical elements to give you an excellent preparation for starting work when you graduate. You will be taught through experiential learning, group activities, lectures, online learning, seminars, tutorials and workshops. Your learning will integrate theory and practice, including developing practical skills essential for your practice based learning modules and future career. You may be in a large group for learning activities such as lectures, but will work in smaller groups for activities such as workshops and practical sessions.

Practice-Based Learning

The course includes five periods of practice-based learning where you will work full time in practice for a set number of weeks. You will work in separate areas of practice to ensure you build the optimum range of skills for becoming a qualified practitioner.

How You’re Assessed

You’ll be assessed through a range of methods including assignments, case study work, written and practical exams, practice-based learning assessments, and presentations. We support you to prepare for these assessments in various ways including assignment tutorials and Internet-based resources. You also will receive feedback on one assessment in time for you to learn and develop from this to input into your next assessment.

If you have additional needs, support is available within the university.

Who You'll Meet

Our teaching team is made up of registered physiotherapists who have worked in a variety of settings. Practitioners from specialist areas in physiotherapy, ‘experts by experience’, patients and carer's will also come into the University to share their insights with you.

Helping You Reach Your Full Potential

Our Personal Academic Tutoring programme supports your academic journey, helping you achieve your goals and unlock your potential.

Careers

Physiotherapy offers a stimulating and rewarding career where you will develop the skills to maintain and restore movement and function in people affected by injury, illness or disability. You will take a holistic and person-centred approach to therapy and rehabilitation whilst building an excellent understanding of wellbeing, ageing and the impact of disease. You will develop the skills to promote, maintain and restore both physical and mental wellbeing.

Getting You Career Ready

Your degree is only part of your story.

We're here to help prepare you for life after university.

Entry Requirements

2025 Entry

These are the typical qualification requirements for September 2025 entry.

Contextual offers may apply to students who meet certain criteria.

Contextual Admissions

At the University of Derby, we aim to attract the very best students to join us and to support their progression to university to ensure they reach their full potential and achieve their ambitions. We believe the very best students come from all backgrounds and we want to build a community that reflects our society.

What is a Contextual Offer?

Contextual offers are used by universities and colleges to take account of a student’s individual circumstances. Employing contextual offers at the University Derby will allow our admissions team to identify applicants with the greatest potential to succeed in higher education and be an exceptional Derby student. This makes the application process fairer and builds confidence in students about their ability to be part of our academic community.

We will use the information in an application form and may either reduce grade requirements or give extra consideration when deciding whether to give a contextual offer. We will also support these students through information, advice and guidance, outreach activities and on-campus visits before and during the application process.

What is the Criteria?

Typical criteria may include one or more of the following:

• Students who are care experienced
• Students who are estranged from their families
• Students who are refugees or asylum seekers
• Students whose parents/carers are in the UK armed forces

*Please note students need to declare they meet one of these criteria on their application.

Requirements

Requirement	What We're Looking For
UCAS points	128
A Level	ABB (including at least 40 points from either Biology, Human Biology, Physics, Chemistry, Physical Education or Social Science e.g. Health & Social Care, Psychology)
T Level	Merit
BTEC	DDM - BTEC National Extended Diploma in Sport and Exercise Science (excluding General Studies, Critical Thinking and Extended Project)
GCSE	GCSE Maths and English Grade 4/Grade C (or above) or equivalent qualification
Access to HE	Pass Access to HE Diploma with 60 credits: 45 at Level 3 with the equivalent of 128 UCAS points. This must include 24 Level 3 credits in a Science related subject in either Biology, Human Biology, Physics, Chemistry, Psychology or Health and Social Care
English language requirements	N/A

If you have previously studied any Health Professional Education Programme a self-declaration is required to confirm no previous concerns regarding fitness to practice.

A satisfactory reference from an education establishment, a previous employer or a person of standing that should demonstrate personal suitability for the profession.

Applicants should also:

• Have a range of skills and experience that demonstrates commitment, enthusiasm and suitability to become a Physiotherapist
• Be familiar with at least two areas of physiotherapy. This can be through reading, internet-based research, personal experience, work experience or shadowing experience with a physiotherapist
• Note that offers are subject to an occupational health clearance
• International applicants should also note that the IELTs requirement for Health Care Professions Council (HCPC) is 7.0 and therefore, prior to application or registration with the Health and Care Professions Council, you will need to have achieved English language level equivalency to IELTS 7.0, if entering the programme with an IELTS score lower than this level

Additional Entry Requirements

• Interview: Yes
• An Enhanced Disclosure & Barring Service certificate cleared by the University is required for this course. We will contact you with information on how to complete this once you have applied

Fees and Funding

2025/26

	Full-time	Part-time
UK	Full-time £9,535 per year	Part-time N/A
International	Full-time £16,900 per year	Part-time N/A

Further information about our fees and support you may be entitled to.

Additional Costs and Optional Extras

We're committed to providing you with an outstanding learning experience. Our expert teaching, excellent facilities and great employability prepare you for your future career. As part of our commitment to you we aim to keep any additional study costs to a minimum. However, there are occasions where students may incur some additional costs.

Included in Your Fees

• Uniforms
• Name badges and ID holders
• DBS Check
• Health screening and vaccinations

Mandatory Costs Not Included in Your Fees

• For eligible students, costs associated with practice placement may be reimbursed through the NHS learning support fund. Costs related to placement include accommodation, travel, car parking
• Suitable footwear for skills sessions and placements approx. £40

Optional Costs Not Included in Your Fees

• Local travel in order to access community facilities approx. £30
• Materials required for student-facilitated group activities, approx. £15
• Branded polo shirt for practical class and placement £15 – Navy or white is recommended
• Branded hoodies for practical classes £31.50 – dark blue recommended
• Textbooks to supplement anything available through the library - various prices depending on content approx £80
• Printing costs of course materials if a hard copy is desired approx. 5p per sheet
• Student CSP membership approx. £46.20 per year – strongly advised
• Professional HCPC membership is required to practice. More details can be found at The Health and Care Professions Council website (not required until the course is completed)

Please note: Our courses are refreshed and updated on a regular basis. If you are thinking about transferring to this course (into the second year for example), you should contact the programme leader for the relevant course information as modules may vary from those shown on this page.

How to Apply

Please look at our application deadlines before you apply.

Our undergraduate and postgraduate course pages will show the intakes that are available and open to applications. It's best to apply early so you can secure your place and beat the rush.

Once we have received your application and supporting documents (such as qualifications or references), we will review it and contact you within 4 weeks to let you know if you have been successful or not.

Our aim is to support all students to have the best possible opportunities to succeed and so our application and enrolment deadlines are in place to ensure you stand the best chance of doing so.

Joining the programme later may harm your chances of success on your course. It is therefore vital that you take note of the dates and ensure you submit your completed application and subsequent enrolment in time.

Undergraduate and Postgraduate Taught Deadlines

Please note some courses may have an earlier induction, teaching and enrolment deadline date.

If your course operates a gathered field or pooled admissions process there may be an earlier application date. Please check your individual course page for further details.

This course is now closed for applications for September 2025. Register your interest to be the first to hear if places become available.

Register Your Interest

• Indicates a required field

Please note that we are operating a gathered field for our interviews for this programme which will mean that you will receive your interview outcome at one of two stages; either at the end of January or at the end of March, when all interviews have taken place. The same criteria will be applied to all candidates irrespective of whether you are interviewed in the first gathered field or the second gathered field.

For more information about gathered field, please visit our webpages - Admission by gathered field

Additional Information About Your Studies

Teaching Hours

Like most universities, we operate extended teaching hours at the University of Derby, so contact time with your lecturers and tutors could be anytime between 9am and 9pm. Your timetable will usually be available on the website 24 hours after enrolment on to your course.

Course Updates

The information provided on this page is correct at the time of publication but course content, costs and other individual course details do change from time to time and are updated as often as possible, so please do check these pages again when making your final decision to apply for a course. Any updated course details will also be confirmed to you at application, enrolment and in your offer letter.

If you are thinking about transferring onto this course (into the second year for example), you should contact the programme leader for the relevant course information as modules may vary from those shown on this page.

Minimum Numbers

Please note that this course is subject to minimum numbers in order to run.

Discover Uni

This is a new course so the data displayed via Discover Uni is for students studying in another subject area.

Full-time

83%say staff value students views and opinions about the course

Data for courses in Allied health at University of Derby

91%of students say teaching staff have supported their learning well.

Data for courses in Allied health at University of Derby

95%in work or doing further study 15 months after the course.

Data for courses in Allied health at University of Derby

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