Pre registration course accreditation
The College of Occupational Therapists ensures the quality of UK pre-registration education
The College of Occupational Therapists has developed and regularly updates its pre-registration education standards that serve as dynamic quality indicators against which the College can judge an individual programme’s suitability for professional body accreditation.
College standards cover four main areas:
- programme management and resources standards
- curriculum standards
- learning, teaching and assessments standards
- quality assurance and enhancement and monitoring standards
Preparing graduates for international practice
Due to the requirements of its membership with the World Federation of Occupational Therapists (WFOT) and its position within the European Network of Occupational Therapy in Higher Education (ENOTHE), the standards make reference to the minimum standards of these organisations in addition to the UK national needs.
The standards therefore ensure that COT accredited programmes prepare graduates for international contemporary practice in the health, social care and other settings where occupational therapy values, beliefs and philosophy could be applied.
Download the College's Standards for Pre-Registration Education and Guidelines for Accreditation
The College monitors the quality of accredited programmes between accreditation and review events
The College has an annual monitoring process whereby professional programme directors are asked to provide their annual report together with their external examiners reports. These reports are scrutinised by the members of the College’s accreditation panel who draw attention to areas of good practice as well as areas that may fall short of the standards.
The College produces an annual qualitative and quantitative monitoring report that covers national student profiles, programme management and resources, and quality assurance and enhancement. The report enables universities to compare their annual performance against the national trends.
