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We are now part of City St George's, University of London. This website contains information relating to our Tooting campus. Please visit our new website to learn more about what we offer across all our campuses.
Duration

Three years, full-time

Application Deadline

30 April 2025 (2025 entry)

Location

City St George's Tooting campus

Accreditation

Health and Care Professions Council and Chartered Society of Physiotherapy

UCAS Code

B160, institution code S49

Start dates

September 2025

Apply via UCAS

Many people think they know what physiotherapists do – they treat sports injuries, provide exercises and make rehabilitation possible. While this is part of their role, they also care for people with conditions across the full spectrum of neurological, musculoskeletal, cardiovascular and respiratory speciality.

Perhaps you’ve been inspired by personal experience, or maybe you’re fascinated by the workings of the human body. Studying with us, you’ll learn to help people with a range of illnesses including chronic heart disease, multiple sclerosis, cystic fibrosis and arthritis.

Work with patients on placement

During your placements you'll be able to build therapeutic relationships with patients and work collaboratively with them to identify the most appropriate intervention based on each person's needs and circumstances. This could include prescribing walking aids, exercise prescription or using hoists or a hydrotherapy pool.

At the only UK university based on a hospital site, you’ll study in a clinical setting and work alongside different healthcare students and professionals. We’ve run this course for twenty years, so we know exactly what it takes to prepare students for this rewarding role.

When you complete the course, you’ll be eligible to apply to register with the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC) and Chartered Society of Physiotherapy (CSP). While St George’s programmes are recognised by many different countries, applicants are advised to check with their national authorities if they wish to practise in their chosen country. 

Physiotherapy MSc (pre-registration)

Recently graduated from an undergraduate course? You might be interested in our Physiotherapy MSc (pre-registration) instead, which will allow you to complete the course in an accelerated 2 years.  

Why St George's

  • Accredited by HCPC and CSP you’ll be eligible to register for professional practice when you complete the course.
  • 30 weeks on placement – treat patients under supervision both in hospital and community settings to apply your skills and prepare for your career as a physiotherapist.
  • Overseas experience – we offer the opportunity to complete one of your placements in a different country. Alternatively, you can source your own placement in a specific area of interest like sports physiotherapy.

Learn more about studying at City St George's

If you're looking to start your studies in 2025 or beyond, sign up for our free intro email series by clicking the button below.

Course info

On our HCPC and CSP accredited degree, learning is hands-on. Our teaching takes place in simulated environments, including our Physio Lab. Here you’ll find hospital beds, stairs and other equipment used in practice. You’ll also explore how the human body works through practical sessions in our Anatomy Suite.

To prepare you for placement, you’ll use equipment on other students and manikins. You’ll practise measuring range of movement and applying active cycle of breathing techniques as well as more advanced techniques, such as suctioning, use of non-invasive ventilation and joint mobilisation.

Boost your knowledge and confidence

You’ll develop expertise in anatomy, physiology and movement, as well as therapeutic exercise, manual techniques and health promotion. Carrying out your own research is part of your studies too. Past students have looked at everything from the reliability of worn technology to the effect of saddle height on cycling injury.

To help you go further in your career, we’ll also help you develop your professional skills such as communication. For example, you might be asked to prepare a presentation on a typical scenario such as the management of a child with cystic fibrosis. 

“Learning in one of the biggest teaching hospitals puts you at a huge advantage. You’re able to get an immediate feel for what working in a hospital environment is like. The lecturers are all experienced physiotherapists, working in different areas, so you receive a very high level of teaching in all aspects of physiotherapy. Tapping into their experience is a great way to learn.”

- Naomi

Physiotherapy BSc

Fees and funding

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Clubs, Societies and Community Projects at St George's

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Entry Criteria: 2025 Entry

To be eligible for the Physiotherapy BSc programme, you must meet the requirements outlined under Entry Qualifications, Other Academic Requirements, and Non-academic Requirements below.

Entry Qualifications

With the exception of GCSEs, all qualifications must have been completed within the previous five years, including the year of application.

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Other academic Requirements

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Non-academic Requirements

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Entry Criteria: 2026 Entry

To be eligible for the Physiotherapy BSc programme, you must meet the requirements outlined under Entry Qualifications, Other Academic Requirements, and Non-academic Requirements below.

Entry Qualifications

With the exception of GCSEs, all qualifications must have been completed within the previous five years, including the year of application.

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Other academic Requirements

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Non-academic Requirements

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Year 1

In year 1, your study will primarily be university-based, building a foundation of knowledge of anatomy and physiology, as well as learning the foundation skills necessary to undertake the assessment of a person, considering their function, activity and participation level. In simulated activities including, for example, assessment of functional movement, strength or lung function, you’ll start to develop a range of essential interpersonal and professional skills. These include maintaining dignity and confidentiality, developing effective observational and communication skills, learning to appreciate cultural and ethical issues, as well as health and safety, such as infection control procedures.

Our Essentials for Allied Health Professionals programme brings together students on other health courses to work together, so you can begin to appreciate the concept of multidisciplinary healthcare teams and the role of each of the professionals you will engage with – nurses, doctors, clinical physiologists, diagnostic and therapeutic radiographers, for example.

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Year 2

In Year 2, you will advance your knowledge, practical and research skills through your studies and on clinical placement, encouraging a holistic patient assessment that identifies risk factors, such as age, smoking status, obesity, and considers the influence of psychological, social and health behaviour. You look at more complex health issues, such as breathing pattern disorder, spinal cord injury and muscular dystrophy, and management of patients across different care pathways and settings, for example, rehabilitation, long-term management, acute and end-of-life care. You’ll appreciate the importance of considering the person at the centre of patient assessment, adopting a problem solving and evidence-based approach. You will also learn how to manage the assessment and management of patients with the help of our specialist clinicians.

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Year 3

In the final year, the focus is on integrating your knowledge, analytical and practice skills to select, justify and implement appropriate health promotion and management, exercise and rehabilitation strategies for a variety of service users. You will complete your final practice placement, working with greater autonomy and competency. You will also undertake a comprehensive research project. Students are able to choose their topic of research; examples of past research include experiences of students on placement, accuracy and reliability of worn technology, effect of saddle height on cycling injury, experiences of applicants to physiotherapy degree programmes and many more! Many, such as one group of students who worked with Crisis at Christmas to interview the homeless about their experiences of physiotherapy, get the opportunity to publish their work in international journals and present at major conferences, including Physio UK and the World Confederation for Physiotherapy.

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Placement

The variety and volume of placement opportunities we offer is what students tell us they like most about our course – practice placements are undertaken in a variety of health and social care environments, including acute NHS hospital trusts, community-based services, charitable organisations, elite sport and private practice.

The supervised, hands-on experience you get with service users on placement is the best way to consolidate your learning. You will gain experience of working as part of a team, demonstrating professional behaviour and 'putting learnt knowledge and skills into practice.

On placement, you are supervised by experienced clinicians and practice educators. You receive support from your visiting academic tutor who will visit you regularly.

Below is a list of hospitals that offer clinical placements:*

  • Central London Community Healthcare NHS Trust
  • Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust
  • King’s College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust
  • Kingston Hospital NHS Trust
  • St George’s University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
  • University College Hospitals NHS Trust

*This list is subject to change and should be used as a guide of where students may be able to go.

Teaching

We share our site with one of the UK’s largest teaching hospitals giving you the chance to learn in a busy healthcare environment. Most of our teaching staff hold clinical roles or have previously worked as a healthcare professional, so you will learn from academics with real on-the-job experience.

Studying at our Tooting site, we’ll get to know you and help you reach your potential. You’ll be part of interactive group sessions, and our academics are always on hand if you need extra support.

How our experts teach depends on the course content, but we recognise that our students have different learning styles. On this course, you can expect a diverse range of:

  • Clinical placements
  • Clinical skills sessions
  • Computer-based sessions
  • Guest lectures
  • Group work
  • Lab-based sessions
  • Lectures
  • Online learning
  • Patient interaction
  • Practical workshops
  • Seminars
  • Simulation
  • Tutorials

Assessment

The way we assess your learning will change depending on the module but we use a variety of assessment methods so every student has a chance to show their knowledge and strengths. You can expect a mixture of:

  • A clinical portfolio
  • Case reviews
  • Clinical practice assessments
  • Essays
  • Exams
  • Oral presentations
  • Poster presentations
  • Reports
  • Research projects

To prepare you for the practical challenges you’ll face, we design assessments that reflect real-world scenarios, such as case reviews and research projects.

Your assessments will be formative and summative. This means some won’t count towards your final grade and you’ll have the chance to improve based on our feedback.

Find out more on our programme specifications

Expertise

The majority of our team are highly experienced chartered physiotherapists and physio educators. We’ll also introduce you to staff with experience working as midwives, health visitors, speech therapists and occupational therapists. Surrounded by experts, you’ll hear the most up-to-date thinking in the field and learn from others’ experiences working in healthcare.

When we can, we also invite patients to share their stories with you directly. For example, you might hear from someone living with lung disease about their day-to-day experiences, both during periods of illness and in their everyday lives.

Placements

In your second and third year, you’ll spend 30 weeks on placement in and around London. This will give you experience working with a range of different people presenting with a variety of problems.

As well as acute hospitals and major trauma centres, such as St George’s Hospital, you might be placed within sports clubs, schools, charitable organisations, community health providers and general hospitals.

With an ageing population and more people living with long-term conditions and multiple health issues, physiotherapists are in demand. As a result, career prospects are excellent, with opportunities to progress within the NHS, private practice, charities and other organisations.

Physiotherapists work in a variety of settings, including patients’ own homes. You might care for people who suffer physical impairment as they recover in hospital. Or perhaps you’ll work within the community, helping patients with mental health needs, learning disabilities or serious medical conditions.

When you complete this degree, you’ll be eligible to apply for professional registration with the HCPC and become a member of the CSP. Employers in a range of areas are looking for physiotherapists including:

  • Acute health and social care
  • Armed forces
  • Community clinics
  • GP surgeries
  • Health clubs
  • Hospices
  • Hospitals
  • Housing departments
  • International services
  • Mental health services
  • Older people’s services
  • Private practice
  • Specialist clinics

There are many exciting opportunities for career advancement, further study or research, including further postgraduate study at St George’s, for example, on our MSc Advanced Clinical Practice programme.

 

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Facilities

St George’s is the only UK university based on a hospital site, St George’s Hospital, which is where the Channel 4 television series 24 hours in A&E is filmed. We offer a unique opportunity to study and work alongside the full range of clinical professionals and their patients. Based in the thriving multi-cultural hub of Tooting in South West London, our location has the added advantage of being just a short tube ride from Central London and all that the city lifestyle has to offer.

We enjoy close links with the Physiotherapy Department: staff contribute to the teaching and learning on our programme and also employ some of our graduates.

We also have a range of specialist health and academic facilities to support your learning, listed below.

Physiotherapy skills laboratory

The physio lab represents a realistic clinical environment featuring hospital beds, simulated stairs, mannequins, treatment plinths, walking aids and a treadmill. It provides a safe environment in which you can familiarise yourself with different techniques including assessment of lung function, gait and strength. The lab is staffed by dedicated lab technicians with a huge amount of knowledge and expertise.

Anatomy suite

The anatomy suite is where present and future healthcare professionals and scientists in the hospital and University learn or expand on their anatomy knowledge directly from the human body, through access to high quality anatomy resources. These include plastinated (preserved) specimens, osteological materials, anatomical models and digital/imaging resources such as Anatomage tables and Complete Anatomy.

Pathology museum

Our on-site museum houses a collection of over 2,000 pathological specimens, including a number of original specimens donated by Sir Benjamin Collins Brodie in 1843. This space is used for small group tutorials by students across all of our courses as an educational tool to help you understand the mechanisms of disease.

Library and learning technology

Our modern health sciences library offers a wide range of books, e-books, academic journals and other resources to support you. You will also have access to online resources, such as the Canvas virtual learning environment

and our Hunter discovery service to help you find the information you need. The library is open 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and comprises silent, quiet and group learning areas, as well as four group discussion rooms.

IT facilities

We have five computer suites housing 260 workstations. Three of these suites are accessible 24 hours a day. It’s easy to find a free space with our handy real-time computer locator. We also have 75 self-service laptops available. Free Wi-Fi covers the whole campus, including all accommodation. You can use these resources to access your course materials, discussion boards and feedback through Canvas.

Student support

Whether you are heading off to university straight from school or college, or returning to education after a break, we want to ensure your experience is positive from the outset. At St George’s, you’ll be welcomed by a multicultural student and staff body of different ages, ethnicities, nationalities and backgrounds, all with one thing in common – an interest in healthcare, science and medicine.

Students frequently tell us they greatly appreciate the diversity of our student and staff body, as well as the patients who access healthcare services in the borough of Tooting. The University attracts a substantial number – over two-thirds – of ‘mature’ students, aged 21 or over when they start; many of whom have family and caring responsibilities.

We offer a full range of academic support and student services across all institutes, departments and faculties, some of which are listed below. We take pride in offering a transformative educational experience underpinned by cooperation and collaboration between staff and students. Our innovative Student-Staff Partnership Grants (SSPGs) provide funding for small projects led jointly by students and staff, such as a project to train our students in British Sign Language.

Personal tutor

Once you arrive, you will be allocated a personal tutor – someone with whom you can have regular contact, who you ask questions and discuss problems with, both academic and personal. The main purpose of a personal tutor is to monitor your progress, pick up and help you resolve any problems, whether academic or welfare related. Even if they don’t have the answer they will point you in the right direction towards the best people to deal with specific problems.

Induction programme

Within your first week at St George’s, you’ll take part in an induction programme to help with your orientation and introduce you to various study skills, including interprofessional learning and use of the Anatomy Suite. Additional sessions provide advice and guidance about the Registry, Students’ Union, personal tutor system, safety, occupational health and sexual health awareness.

Academic staff support

You’ll have access to your lecturers, usually by arrangement via email.

Academic link tutor

The Academic Link Tutor provides you with support on placement, acting as your link with the University and monitoring your achievement and assessment.

Placement support

Placement in practice is formalised through a placement management agreement. You will receive preparation sessions before your placement and be supported by our practice educators during your placement. These individuals are HCPC registered clinicians who supervise you to ensure you receive the learning opportunities necessary to meet the required placement outcomes. They will also assess your competence throughout the placement, providing regular feedback to you about your progress and supporting you to obtain any additional development required. A halfway feedback session between the student and the Practice Educator is required for all placements, supported by the Academic Link Tutor. 

Student Life Centre

Our Student Centre team can help you with every aspect of student life: finances, accommodation, exams and assessment, academic procedures, admissions, international queries, disability and wellbeing, even finding your way around – whatever it takes to make you feel at home. Each course has a designated contact within the student centre to link to and your personal tutor can signpost you to relevant support, including a confidential counselling service.

Careers service

Our careers service works to support current students and recent graduates to find and maintain the career of their dreams. We work with careers tutors from each course area to ensure that careers activities specific to your programmes and future profession come to you.

Apply for this course through UCAS (the University and College Admissions Service) by the 30 April 2025 (for 2025 entry).

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Apply now

Duration

Three years, full-time

Application Deadline

30 April 2025 (2025 entry)

UCAS Code

B160, institution code S49

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