Overview

The Royal College of Occupational Therapists (RCOT) Education Enhancement Service supports the delivery of our Workforce Strategy (RCOT 2024). We maximise engagement with providers of pre-registration education, ensuring a high-quality education and introduction to the occupational therapy workforce. We deliver this through sustainable, data-driven decisions and ongoing investment in the future quality and growth of the profession. 

Underpinning principles  

• Our quality assurance processes support a partnership approach with education providers, seeking to enhance the education provided to occupational therapy learners.  

• Building and maintaining relationships between all stakeholders involved in pre-registration education and RCOT is key to supporting the provision of quality learning experiences for those learners preparing to enter the profession and graduates transitioning into practice. 

• All processes/systems within the service are proportional, transparent, robust and proactive, with flexibility to meet the different needs of education providers at different stages of their pre-registration education provision. 

• The criteria for accreditation maps to the Learning and development standards for pre-registration education (RCOT 2019), complementing the standards and approval process of the regulator of the profession, HCPC. RCOT accreditation also confers approval of the World Federation of Occupational Therapists (WFOT). 

• The Service will be evaluated and reviewed regularly to ensure it offers a contemporary approach to sector changes and stakeholder needs.  

Key features 

• Facilitative 

Each education provider will have a named link Advisor from the RCOT Education team. The Advisor’s role is to work with the education provider offering ongoing advice, guidance and support within the quality assurance cycle of the Service and be the voice of a critical friend during the process of accreditation (supporting curriculum review, design and development).  

• Consistent 

We will deliver a robust quality assurance cycle, with key touch points between the Advisor, education provider, programme team and wider stakeholders. Within the cycle, a range of pathways and requirements leading to accreditation have been established recognising the context of the education provider, the programme being developed and the amount of change being undertaken. The accreditation of programmes will predominantly be achieved through documentation review, with accreditation decisions passing through the Education Enhancement Panel.  

• Proportionate 

The processes within the Service will recognise the differing needs of providers. New providers will have different support needs as they establish occupational therapy provision and transition to ongoing quality monitoring processes, compared to established recognised providers who will be maintaining and renewing the accreditation status of their provision. 

• Supportive