Application tips and work experience

Tips for your application

There are over 60 higher education institutions in the UK offering pre-registration programmes and degree apprenticeships, which you can find listed here. 

The courses can vary in duration and structure – for example, full-time or part-time, or different placement timings. All physiotherapy courses in the UK are accredited by us, the Chartered Society of Physiotherapy (CSP).

Personal statements

When applying for a physiotherapy programme you will be asked to write a personal statement.

Admissions tutors will be looking for you to show:

• A good understanding about the course and the university you are applying to
• Your understanding of the role of a physiotherapist and how you gained that knowledge
• How you can demonstrate the attributes and qualities of a physiotherapist 
• Evidence that you can communicate well with members of the public from all ages and sections of the community.

Further guidance on writing personal statements can be found on the NHS Careers website and UCAS website.

Work experience

Gaining relevant work experience will help your application because admissions tutors are looking for evidence that you have an understanding of the profession and can communicate well with people, of all ages or backgrounds. 

However, work experience can be difficult to organise because of current training pressures on practices and relevant hospital departments.

If you cannot work or volunteer directly with physios, work experience in any aspect of healthcare will be useful to you. Organisations you could approach include:

• your local hospital 
• sports clinics
• football clubs
• schools or units for children or adults with disabilities 
• nursing homes
• voluntary organisations (eg. Red Cross Association, St John’s Ambulance Society, MS Society)

Reflecting on work experience

When making your application, it's important to think about what impact your work experience had on you and your desire to be a physiotherapist. 

We recommend that you download and print out the Word document below. Once you have completed your work experience, filling in the form will help you reflect on what you have learnt and what to include in your application.

Careers videos

We have created five videos that will help to give you an insight into different areas of physiotherapy.

Although watching the videos is not a replacement for work experience, they will give you an idea of the breadth of roles within the profession and some of the different routes into them.

 If possible, we recommend that you download and fill in document below. It gives you room to write out your answers to these questions and to reflect on what you have learnt and what what to include in your application to a physiotherapy course.