Learning and development standards

Why have the Standards been expanded to include early careers?

Early career occupational therapists are: newly registered practitioners; those returning to practice; and those transitioning from international settings. They require structured and high-quality support to thrive and continue their career in occupational therapy.

Introducing early career support standards aims to bridge the transition from education into professional practice. The standards recognise and build on the individual skills, experiences and learning achieved through pre-registration programmes.

When published, these standards will not have an associated quality assurance mechanism. But we do encourage employers of early career OTs to consider and implement these standards within their team/service/organisation. In time, a quality assurance mechanism will be established.

We believe that early career support should celebrate diversity, acknowledge each occupational therapist’s unique attributes and lived experience, and promote a sense of belonging, progression, and professional identity. It should offer consistent opportunities for supervision, continuing professional development, and structured reflection over the first three years of practice.

What is expected from employers?

Our new standards outline an expected level of quality that employers must achieve, as set by RCOT. They aim to foster excellence, encourage sustainability of the workforce, and promote retention by ensuring early career occupational therapists are recognised, nurtured, and given the tools to succeed. The standards focus on six themes:

1. Establishing a sense of belonging and inclusion
2. Structured supervision and support
3. Career development and lifelong learning
4. Sustaining personal health and wellbeing
5. Professional identity and networking
6. Developing professional capabilities

Supporting early career occupational therapists

Employers have a duty of care to support early career occupational therapists to consolidate their learning, safely develop their autonomy, and utilise HCPC’s Principles of Preceptorship (2023) alongside other relevant national policy and guidance on early career support. Early career support is not limited to clinical skill acquisition but encompasses professional identity development, wellbeing, leadership capacity, and contribution to the profession's future. Equally, it should provide opportunities to engage in a breadth of experiences across the four pillars of practice: clinical practice, leadership, education, and research.

Employers are expected to foster supportive organisational cultures that prioritise inclusion, wellbeing, professional growth, and the active engagement of early career occupational therapists in shaping their practice environments. Collaboration between employers and education providers is essential to ensure continuity of learning and professional growth beyond point of registration.

These standards reflect the voices of graduates and employers and are grounded in recent evidence. They shine a light on what works, champion what is valued, and set out what is essential to build a confident, capable, and inspired occupational therapy workforce for the future.