Physiotherapy student placements

Universities within catchment (in alphabetical order) include:

• Birmingham University
• Brighton University
• Brunel University
• Buckinghamshire New University
• Kings College London
• London Metropolitan University
• London Southbank University
• St George’s University
• St Mary’s University
• University of East London
• University of Greenwich
• University of Roehampton

We are no longer accepting elective placement requests.

Our placement catchment ensures that we continue to deliver high quality student placements and maintain strong partnerships with our university partners.

The GOSH Physiotherapy Student Coordinators liaise directly with university placement coordinators regarding placement offers for pre-registration physiotherapy placements (inclusive of BSc and MSc pre- registration courses).

If you are interested in a physiotherapy placement at GOSH, please contact your university placement coordinator directly to express your interest. We offer physiotherapy clinical placements for all years of study; however final year undergraduate or pre-registration master's level students will be prioritised.

Due to high demand and our priority commitments with university placements, we are unable to offer work experience to school leavers considering a career in physiotherapy. The trust facilitates work experience for school leavers through a separate pathway.

• If you are school leaver, find out more information about work experience.
• If you are a current school student, learn more about the GOSH Young Visitors Programme.

Placements may be available for postgraduate post-registration physiotherapy students on request. If you are a qualified physiotherapist seeking a short-term observational visit for research purposes or career development, clear learning objectives are required. To ensure an appropriate learning opportunity these requests are considered on an individual basis.

Currently we are unable to accept any overseas students seeking a physiotherapy placement at Great Ormond Street Hospital (GOSH).

Clinical placement capacity

Clinical placement capacity relates to the maximum number of students able to undertake their clinical placement within GOSH at any one time whilst maintaining the quality of the student learning experience and the safety of physiotherapy service delivery. As such, all clinical placements are subject to caseload availability and staffing capacity.

We aim to provide students with an opportunity to be clinically involved and gain hands-on practice in managing patients under the clinical supervision of a qualified physiotherapist. Due to the specialist nature of the work that is carried out at GOSH some clinical areas will be primarily observational. Clinical placements may also involve self-directed learning and virtual elements, which could require working from home or online.

Clinical educators will support learning, individualised to students needs and ensure objectives are met. Placement duration varies between four to six weeks. Due to fairness and capacity, we are unable to support any placements requiring a longer duration than six weeks.

Students undertaking clinical placements are expected to be professional, work within their scope of practice and adhere to organisational policies, procedures, and standards of care. Students should be aware that working with children in an acute hospital setting may expose them to emotionally demanding clinical experiences.

We are committed to being a diverse and inclusive clinical placement provider and fostering a culture where all students are valued, respected, and acknowledged. All staff will be treated fairly regardless of race, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, age, pregnancy, maternity, disability status.

We have policies and procedures in place to ensure that everyone is treated fairly and consistently. Discriminatory behaviour will not be tolerated within GOSH. We promote allyship to create a supportive working environment.

• Model Declaration Form
• Honorary Contract Application Form (providing two referees and three forms of identification)
• DBS (Disclosure and Barring Service) Check
  • Original copy of a valid enhanced DBS certificate (both adults and children’s) which is in date within three years of placement dates, or your DBS renewal service number if you pay for this service.

• Observer or Honorary Contract Application Form
• Relevant identification and DBS (Disclosure and Barring Service) Check
  • A copy of the original and valid enhanced DBS certificate (both adults and children’s) which is in date.

The Great Ormond Street Hospital (GOSH) Human Resources (HR) Department and the AHP (Allied Health Professions) Student Education Team are responsible for this paperwork. For any new university providers, a signed partnership agreement (SLA) between GOSH and the university needs to be in place before the application is accepted and placement dates are confirmed. A student placement contract cannot be issued before a student placement contract is issued.

You will not be able to commence your placement until all these items are completed. Your placement may be cancelled if any of the above checks are not satisfactory.

To ensure fairness we work directly with London and some South Eastern Universities within our catchment area to arrange all placements. Please discuss further with your University.

If we can offer you a placement you will receive an email from the GOSH HR/AHP Student Education Team with necessary paperwork attached.

Offers will not be finalised until relevant paperwork has been received by the GOSH HR/AHP Student Education Team.

Please ensure you fill in and return any necessary paperwork promptly as your pre-placement checks must be completed prior to commencing placement. You will need to provide a valid DBS (appropriate for working with children) prior to this process. Prior to placement, you may be required to attend an appointment with HR for identification verification purposes.

Hospital accommodation at Great Ormond Street Hospital is not available for physiotherapy students. Accommodation needs to be self-sourced.

Most of our clinical teams can offer student placements:

• Orthopaedics
• Neurosciences
• Neuromuscular including neuromuscular research
• Rheumatology
• Neurodisability
• Respiratory including:
  • paediatric and neonatal intensive care
  • cardiac intensive care unit
  • cystic fibrosis service

If your query is not physiotherapy-specific, we will not be able to respond to you. For any other allied health professions, please contact the relevant department that you are interested in directly.

• “One of the best learning experiences and most enjoyable placements I have experienced. Would not change a thing.”
• "I feel that this was ideal for an elective placement as I got a good all-round experience of paediatrics."
• "I enjoyed the wide variety of caseload, from PICU (Paediatric Intensive Care Unit), NICU, CF and transplants, as this gave me a wide experience of ventilated and non-ventilated patients."
• "All my learning needs were met. I was able to experience lots of different paediatric areas. I was able to spend time working with other multidisciplinary members which was useful."
• "I thoroughly enjoyed this placement. Clinical educators and other staff were friendly and approachable. I was given the opportunity to experience a wide area of paediatric physiotherapy and develop autonomy in assessing and treating patients – Thank you!"