Career opportunities

Thinking about becoming a physiotherapist? Wondering how to apply? Then read on.

A career in physiotherapy involves working with people to make positive changes to their health and lifestyles.
Physiotherapists work in health promotion, preventative healthcare, treatment and rehabilitation, with patients ranging from children to the elderly, with a variety of conditions from sports injuries to mental health issues.

What is physiotherapy? What do physiotherapists do? Is physiotherapy the right career for me? Can work experience help? What qualifications are needed to apply? What study modes are available?

For the answers to these questions and more, take a look at our comprehensive list of career frequently asked questions.

Physiotherapy – present and future

Physiotherapy is vital to the modern NHS, making it an innovative and pioneering career. There's going to be increasing demand for physios to help improve the quality of people's lives by providing specialist advice, and by promoting healthy, active lifestyles.

The Government has been reviewing the NHS to identify the best way to make safe and effective healthcare more personalised and closer to home, and speed up access to treatment.

Modern lifestyles are making problems like obesity and heart disease worse and the UK population is getting older, so a key aim of the review is to focus on working with patients to prevent illness and help them take personal responsibility for staying healthy. This will offer enormous opportunities for physiotherapists to take a lead in providing excellent patient care. Now is an exciting time to work in healthcare.

Graduate case study

Nick Southorn, 26, lets us know about his experiences of studying physiotherapy:

“While I was thinking about what to study I researched plenty of health careers, like medicine, optometry, pharmacy and nursing. I wanted to join a profession that reflected the active and independent sides of my personality, and physiotherapy fitted that perfectly.

“I was attracted by the prospect of new challenges and never having two days the same, and by the chance to form cooperative relationships with patients. The massive range of career prospects for physios amazed me, and the opportunities to progress to a hospital specialist or consultant appealed too.

"Words fail to describe the feeling of first seeing a patient make improvements because of my time with them" “The majority of my course was based around a problem solving model and was taught by really experienced and down-to-earth people. The most important lesson I learnt was how to find factual answers based on research and evidence. A lot of it was self-directed and that gave me a sense of control over my study. Some subjects like anatomy, physiology, and biomechanics were taught theoretically in a lecture theatre, and we also had practical lessons that were fantastic for getting to grips with the hands-on stuff.

2008 graduate Nick Southorn

 

“Every student has to complete 1,000 hours of clinical education, usually made up of five or six different placements giving a real appreciation of the scope of physiotherapy practice, and a chance to see how physios fit into medical teams.

“Whatever your background is, studying physiotherapy is an exhilarating experience. It’s often hard work but that makes it all the more worthwhile. I graduated with a new group of close and loyal friends, and words fail to describe the feeling of first seeing a patient make improvements because of my time with them. No matter what area of physiotherapy you decide to work in, you can be proud in the knowledge that you’re making a real difference to people’s lives.”

Where can I study physiotherapy?

The CSP currently approves programmes from 34 different providers throughout the UK: see our list for further details. Please note that CSP approval for a qualifying physiotherapy will affect how you can progress to becoming a chartered physiotherapist when you graduate.