R1417- Occupational Therapist Assessors

Job details

Salary
£22/£26 per hour (student/ qualified OT's)

Job type
Part time, fixed term

2.5-10 days of assessment in Oct. 2025

2.5-10 days of assessment in Jan/Feb 2026

0.5 days of training Jul/Aug 2025

Location
London

Closes on 27 June 2025

Job description

Occupational Therapist Assessors needed

Exciting opportunity to contribute to an evaluation of a handwriting intervention commissioned by the Education Endowment Foundation and delivered by the National Centre for Social Research (NatCen). 

Position: We need occupational therapists (OTs) to carry out assessments with Year 1 pupils (aged 5-6) as part of the evaluation of The OTTO Club, a programme designed to improve postural control, fine motor skills and handwriting. The results from this evaluation will help inform whether training teachers using this approach supports handwriting development. Assessments will be carried out in primary school settings across England. 

Duties 

• Attend one online briefing event (Jul-Aug 2025)
• Schedule assessments with individual primary schools 
• Administer a combination of assessments 
• You will visit between 1 and 3 primary schools at each period; baseline: October 2025, endline: January - February 2026
• Materials will be sent to your home address 
• Input children’s scores at the end of each assessment day

Pay and travel 

We will:

• engage you on a freelance worker basis
• work with you on a PAYE basis (NatCen will process tax and National Insurance)
• ask you to submit a timesheet to capture time and for us to process fees and expenses
• pay you at an hourly rate of £22/26 per hour (£22 for MSc students, £26 for qualified OTs). Note that you will not be paid for time spent travelling to/from primary schools
• pay travel expenses/costs at 35p per mile for travel 

Experience and availability

Essential criteria

For registered professionals:

• HCPC-registered Occupational Therapist
• Accredited first or Master’s degree in Occupational Therapy

Or, for students:

• Master’s degree in Occupational Therapy, or working towards one

All:

• Experience of working with young children and carrying out assessments with 5-6-year-olds
• Be willing to undergo a DBS check
• Availability in October 2025 and January-February 2026

Desirable criteria

• Experience of carrying out assessments using the DASH-2; the MABC-3; and the COMPS-2. 

Availability

• At least 2.5 days during each testing period. It may be that multiple visits are required for each setting.
• Attend one online half day briefing session (paid) in Jul-Aug 2025

If you would like to be involved, please register your interest by emailing ottoevaluation@natcen.ac.uk or calling 0808 178 3298 as soon as possible, by Friday 27th June 2025 at the latest. Please indicate the number of days (more than 2.5) you would be available during each testing period.

About the National Centre for Social Research (NatCen)
For over 50 years, the National Centre for Social Research (NatCen) has been generating evidence that uncovers the reality of people’s lives in the UK. Part of our work contributes to the public’s understanding of key issues for children and families including early years, education and parenting. Find out more at natcen.ac.uk.