Selection and recruitment of pre-registration occupational therapy students in the United Kingdom: exploring entry criteria across education providers
Selection and recruitment of pre-registration occupational therapy students in the United Kingdom: exploring entry criteria across education providers
Introduction: since widening access to higher education became a United Kingdom (UK) governmental priority in the 1990’s, occupational therapy has made little progress in diversifying student and workforce populations that mirror increasingly diverse service user populations. This research aims to, for the first time, map entry criteria across UK pre-registration programmes, while considering fair access and exploring who might be missing at the point of enquiry and entry.
Method: a cross-sectional quantitative content analysis was conducted of all UK university websites, identifying programme type, academic, professional and alternative entry criteria for 2021/2022.
Findings: five entry routes via undergraduate and post-graduate programmes (n = 73) offer limited part-time opportunities (n = 11). Visible academic entry criteria appear weighted towards ‘traditional’ qualifications, while assessment of professional skills at application and selection is explicit for over 75% of programmes. 86% (n = 63) utilise interviews at selection, with 33% (n = 24) not publicly acknowledging alternative access routes into the profession.
Conclusion: if the profession is to avoid continued stagnation in diversity amongst student populations and successfully reflect service user diversity in the workforce, it is essential UK universities increase parity across academic entry criteria, ensure the visibility of acceptable skills for alternative access and substantially improve flexibility for part-time study.
Admission, inclusive practices, occupational therapy, participation, widening
385-393
Mcginley, Sarah Louise
1e7b484a-b327-4c19-8f7b-cfa0d31418b5
Hamilton, Sukhbinder
af21d584-76b9-4398-858f-f599739ad055
Bradley, Alexander
79b6be70-cf9d-4bc2-918e-d165c506ac31
May 2023
Mcginley, Sarah Louise
1e7b484a-b327-4c19-8f7b-cfa0d31418b5
Hamilton, Sukhbinder
af21d584-76b9-4398-858f-f599739ad055
Bradley, Alexander
79b6be70-cf9d-4bc2-918e-d165c506ac31
Mcginley, Sarah Louise, Hamilton, Sukhbinder and Bradley, Alexander
(2023)
Selection and recruitment of pre-registration occupational therapy students in the United Kingdom: exploring entry criteria across education providers.
British Journal of Occupational Therapy, 86 (5), .
(doi:10.1177/03080226221148412).
Abstract
Introduction: since widening access to higher education became a United Kingdom (UK) governmental priority in the 1990’s, occupational therapy has made little progress in diversifying student and workforce populations that mirror increasingly diverse service user populations. This research aims to, for the first time, map entry criteria across UK pre-registration programmes, while considering fair access and exploring who might be missing at the point of enquiry and entry.
Method: a cross-sectional quantitative content analysis was conducted of all UK university websites, identifying programme type, academic, professional and alternative entry criteria for 2021/2022.
Findings: five entry routes via undergraduate and post-graduate programmes (n = 73) offer limited part-time opportunities (n = 11). Visible academic entry criteria appear weighted towards ‘traditional’ qualifications, while assessment of professional skills at application and selection is explicit for over 75% of programmes. 86% (n = 63) utilise interviews at selection, with 33% (n = 24) not publicly acknowledging alternative access routes into the profession.
Conclusion: if the profession is to avoid continued stagnation in diversity amongst student populations and successfully reflect service user diversity in the workforce, it is essential UK universities increase parity across academic entry criteria, ensure the visibility of acceptable skills for alternative access and substantially improve flexibility for part-time study.
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Selection and recruitment of pre-registration occupational therapy students ...
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03080226221148412
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Accepted/In Press date: 12 December 2022
e-pub ahead of print date: 11 January 2023
Published date: May 2023
Additional Information:
Funding Information:
The author(s) disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: This research received funding from the Elizabeth Casson Trust in support of SM EdD
Publisher Copyright:
© The Author(s) 2023.
Keywords:
Admission, inclusive practices, occupational therapy, participation, widening
Identifiers
Local EPrints ID: 474927
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/474927
ISSN: 0308-0226
PURE UUID: 47e9f512-bcb1-40c6-8d60-570d7b1e0753
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Date deposited: 07 Mar 2023 17:34
Last modified: 17 Mar 2024 03:30
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Author:
Sukhbinder Hamilton
Author:
Alexander Bradley
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