Physiotherapy Placements

You will undertake placements in the following areas: musculoskeletal, critical care, neurology rehabilitation and specialist client groups (e.g. paediatrics, cancer care or mental wellness).

You will be supervised by a practice educator from the organisation for which you work. If you have a problem you should first go to your educator, then their immediate supervisor. If you do not get satisfaction from either of these, please contact your academic tutor or the University placement team.

Throughout your placements you will have to work successfully for 1,000 hours and demonstrate competencies in a range of areas to the satisfaction of your practice educator. As and when you are successful your practice supervisor will officially ‘sign off' each competency on a form that is then sent back to the University.

Your six placements (five six-week placements and a one-week observational placement) are pre-planned by us according to what our partner Trusts are able to provide, and depending on your circumstances. That means we will always take into account where you live, whether you have children under 12 years old or dependent relatives, and whether you have access to a car. You'll be given a form to disclose all the relevant factors.

Yes, you can. However, you will need to formally request any change. Whether or not you will be allowed to change your placement will be decided by us. Please be aware that changes to placements are not always possible as there are only a certain number available.

You will be expected to work the normal shift pattern of the Practice Educator with whom you are working This is likely to include weekends, evenings and shifts.

It is your responsibility to get to and from your placements. Having a car is a useful option, especially for community placements, otherwise public transport can be used, and the ferry if on the on the Isle of Wight. If your placement is some distance from Southampton which makes daily commuting difficult, you may choose to find accommodation in that area, and we will support you to do so.

If you cannot get to your placement on any given day you must contact your place of work as soon as possible and email your academic tutor to inform him or her about your absence.

This all depends on how many hours you have missed. It may be possible to make up the hours by simply working a bit longer for the remainder of your placement. If this is not possible, then you should work with your programme lead to find an appropriate way to make up the time.