Course summary

Join our two-year pre-registration Masters course in Physiotherapy, validated by the HCPC and accredited by the Chartered Society of Physiotherapy. Our full-time MSc Physiotherapy degree is an opportunity for life science graduates who wish to become physiotherapists. If you're a problem solver with natural empathy, a fascination with the human body and the ability tackle everything with a ‘can do’ attitude, it's the course for you. Physiotherapists are allied health professionals who help restore movement and function when someone is affected by injury, illness or disability. They do this through movement and exercise, education and advice. Key to their role is the promotion of prevention and individual self-wellbeing through a healthy lifestyle. At the core of the job is the patient’s involvement in their own care, through education, awareness, empowerment and participation in their treatment. As a student you’ll gain real-life experience working alongside clinicians to bring about positive change. We’ll teach you about different health conditions and how to recognise and manage them. As well as your course team of academics, you’ll hear from national and international experts at top of their clinical and research field. During your placements, you’ll be able to directly experience, apply and consolidate everything you have learned in class in a controlled and safe environment. Year 1 is when the majority of classroom teaching takes place, as we prepare you for placement. In Year 2 you’ll spend most of your time out on placement in NHS Trusts and with private providers. You’ll complete a total of 1,065 hours along with simulated and virtual placements. Read more about placements. As autonomous allied health professionals, physiotherapists are critical in delivering healthcare reform to reduce the pressure on the NHS. Our Masters degree has been designed by physiotherapists for physiotherapists, with collaboration from NHS Trusts, local authorities and service users, to support widening participation in the physiotherapy provision, so that it better suits the local population through representation. We’ll engage you in your learning through interactive lectures, workshops, small group activity and clinical skills activities. Your clinical skills will take place in a dedicated skills lab, as well as our Biomechanical Laboratory and ARU Anatomy Suite in Chelmsford. As a postgraduate student at ARU, you’ll join the School of Allied Health and Social Care and benefit from interprofessional learning opportunities, where resilience and wellbeing of students and patients are interwoven throughout the course. On graduation you’ll be eligible to apply for registration with the Health and Care Professions Council and membership of the Chartered Society of Physiotherapy. All eligible Physiotherapy students can apply for the NHS Learning Support Fund of at least £5,000 a year. Please note: we do not have places for international fee paying students.