Overview
Do you enjoy working with people? Want to make a difference in people’s lives? If you are keen to become a registered speech and language therapist and want to shape the future of communication, our BSc Speech and Language Therapy pre-registration course can help you achieve your goals.
There’s never been a better time to train as you can now apply for a £5000 grant that you won’t need to pay back! There is also an extra £3000 funding available depending on your personal circumstances. You can find more information about eligibility and how to apply on the HSC Scholarships and Funding page.
Speech and language therapists work with people of all ages who experience communication and swallowing difficulties, enabling them to maximise their independence in their social, academic and working lives. Successful completion of our BSc Speech and Language Therapy programme leads to eligibility to apply for registration with the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC) as a speech and language therapist.
This is a client-focused course which uses varied learning methods to integrate theory and clinical practice. You undertake day visits and blocks of practice education with speech and language therapists in the workplace. This practical experience helps prepare you for your future as a qualified therapist.
Our course is continuously developed to reflect contemporary health, education and social care practice. Clients, voluntary groups, other allied health professionals, speech and language therapy clinicians and service managers continue to be involved, in order to ensure that changes in speech and language therapy practice are incorporated, keeping your course up to date.
You share some learning experiences with other healthcare students on similar undergraduate courses. The learning includes inter-professional collaboration, especially during placements. Working alongside other health professionals means that you also have the opportunity to gain expert knowledge from them.
The cost of required uniform will be fully covered by the school.
DBS and Occupational Health Checks
This course requires a satisfactory Occupational Health Check and enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) Check (including child and adult barred list check) – both of these are organised by the University. Please contact our DBS team if you have any questions relating to getting your DBS check.
You will also be required to register for the DBS Update Service (information relating to this service can be found here). You will need to register for this within 30 days of your DBS certificate being issues. The Update Service costs £13 per year, which the University will reimburse. You will need to keep the subscription to this Service active for the duration of your course. If you do not register for the Update Service within 30 days, or your registration lapses, and you later attend placement where this is a requirement, you will have to pay for a new DBS check, which will enable you to sign up to the Update Service. Please contact our DBS team if you have any questions relating to this.
A satisfactory Overseas Criminal Record Check/Local Police Certificate is also required, in addition to a DBS Check, where you have lived outside of the UK in the last 5 years for 6 months or more. Further information about how to obtain an Overseas Criminal Record check can be found on the Gov.uk website.
Study abroad
Your education extends beyond the university campus. We support you in expanding your education through offering the opportunity to spend a year or a term studying abroad at one of our partner universities. This four-year version of our degree allows you to spend the third year abroad or employed on a placement abroad, while otherwise remaining identical to the three-year course.
Studying abroad allows you to experience other cultures and languages, to broaden your degree socially and academically, and to demonstrate to employers that you are mature, adaptable, and organised.
If you spend a full year abroad you’ll only pay 15% of your usual tuition fee to Essex for that year. You won’t pay any tuition fees to your host university
Placement year
Alternatively, this four year version of our degree allows you to spend your third year with an external organisation. This is an opportunity to further develop professional skills in the workplace by working in a field associated with Speech and Language Therapy practice, for example as a Teaching Assistant, a Speech and Language Therapy Assistant, a Care Assistant, etc.
Your HCPC and RCSLT pre-registration placement hour requirements are met within the standard three years of the BSc Speech and Language Therapy programme.
If you complete a placement year you’ll only pay 20% of your usual tuition fee to Essex for that year.
Specialist facilities
Our School of Health and Social Care is located at two sites:; in the Kimmy Eldridge Building at our Colchester Campus and in The Gateway Building at our Southend Campus. Our Speech and Language Therapy courses are delivered at our Colchester Campus.
Within our School of Health and Social Care, we have a range of specialist clinical laboratories and IT facilities to assist you with the effective learning and acquisition of new skills; for students of our BSc and MSc Speech and Language Therapy, we have two specialist labs with equipment for researching speech including a wide range of assessment and intervention planning materials.
We offer excellent physical and online resources in terms of libraries, computer labs, datasets, archives and other research materials. Take advantage of our links with the Institute of Social and Economic Research (ISER), which conducts large-scale survey projects, many for government, EU and other public agencies, and has its own library.
The UK Data Archive is also based at our Colchester Campus and stores national research data.
Your future
We currently have graduates working in clinical and management positions in local and national NHS trusts, hospitals, schools, local authorities, justice system, private and not for profit organisations, reflecting the range of locations in which speech and language therapists are employed.
97% of our School of Health and Social Care students are in employment or further study (Graduate Outcomes 2020).
Find out more careers in speech and language therapy from the Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists.
Why we’re great
- Grounded in social model approach to disability
- Consistently links theory to practice
- Opportunity to extend learning through year abroad or placement year
Structure
Course structure
These carefully selected modules will give you the chance to explore, question, and create powerful ideas. Picked to give you an extensive and in-depth education, they’ll equip you with the specialist knowledge, vital transferrable skills, and the confidence to make a genuine difference to the world around you.
We’re reactive, we’re pioneering, we never stand still, so modules might change from year to year in response to new developments and innovation. Those listed below show how a typical course might look, but more detail on course structure, including details of all optional modules, is available on our Programme Specification.
Teaching and learning disclaimer
Following the impact of the pandemic, we made changes to our teaching and assessment to ensure our current students could continue with their studies uninterrupted and safely. These changes included courses being taught through blended delivery, normally including some face-to-face teaching, online provision, or a combination of both across the year.
The teaching and assessment methods listed show what is currently approved for 2022 entry; changes may be necessary if, by the beginning of this course, we need to adapt the way we’re delivering them due to the external environment, and to allow you to continue to receive the best education possible safely and seamlessly.
