[naomiele]

There wasn't a forum about Speech Therapy, entry in 2012 so I thought I would be the one to start it!

I am interested in studying Speech and Language Therapy in 2012. I am starting the UCAS application process and have been visiting some universities this summer. I will be applying to UEA, Reading, Manchester, Sheffield, City London University. I was wondering whether anyone could give me any advice on what the questions were like at the interviews, any advice on personal statements or what type of experience you have or any advice at all

I am volunteering with children with disabilities, children at primary schools, adults with learning difficulties and I have work experience next week. Is this enough??

Thank you, get posting! xxx

[mizzmash]

hey!
i am applying for unis in september! city is my number one option. its so nice to chat to people interested in SLT as i dont know anyone else who are xx

[PhoenixFortune]

I'm starting my second year of Speech and Language Therapy at UCP Marjon in September, so if anyone has any questions about the course/placements/personal statements etc., please feel free to ask.

[naomiele]

hey mizzmash, have you got a place at city? did you go to an interview??
I know, city university was excellent, the course looks great and there is a clinic!

PhoenixFortune, what are the placements like and what did you write in your personal statement?? I have heard good things about the course there.

Is there a league table for speech therapy courses??

Thanks for your help xxx

[Han265]

Hey, im starting my 3rd year at DMU in Sept.

Your volunteering sounds brilliant - the more you have the better and if you talk about that in your personal statement and what you have learned from it in relation to the importance of communication etc it should stand out for you.

You sound very prepared thinking about it all now - should put you in a good position when applying!

[PhoenixFortune]

(Original post by naomiele)
PhoenixFortune, what are the placements like and what did you write in your personal statement?? I have heard good things about the course there.

At Marjon, you get 3 placements in the first year (elderly/stroke, child and clinical), a term-long placement alongside lectures in second year (clinical), 2 term-long placements in third year (paediatric clinical and adult clinical), and a 3-month training placement in the last year (clinical swallowing), and we're the first university in the UK to do this training as part of the course.

I'm a PS helper, so if you want guidance on your personal statement then you can post it on the secure PS Help forum for reviewing.

Is there a league table for speech therapy courses?

There isn't, for the reason that practically all courses have the structure (some have no clinical placements in first year, some have no exams or no coursework etc.) and as there are only 12 universities in the UK that offer it, an employer wouldn't put you at an advantage for going to a specific university due to the small number of SLT graduates per year and they can't really be too picky!

I hope that makes sense.

[naomiele]

Thank you soo much for your help, I have just finished writing my personal statement today. I will post it to you, that would be very helpful.

A speech therapist I spoke to recently suggested that, if you study at some universities, you will have better employment opportunities. But you seem to suggest that this is not the case, which is reassuring!

The placements do sound good at Marjon, I think the 3 month training placement is particulary good, as it will gear you up for work.

Thanks again xx

[Georgiahoneybee]

Ooh I can't believe you're all at the beginning of the SLT "journey" haha. I've just graduated from the University of Reading, so if anyone is particularly interested in hearing about how we did things there, please ask. I've also just got my first job (woohoo), I'm working in an acute hospital, so any questions once I get going there too, I'd be happy to answer. I think it's a really good idea to have a chat on here, because I know when I applied, I knew absolutely no one who was even considering the course! Good luck with all the applications

[juliewho]

Hopefully this will turn into a big support/chat like last years did, not that I read through the whole thing or anything!
I'm applying to Manchester, Sheffield, Newcastle, UEA and Leeds met. Been to visit Sheffield and Newcastle and both were fantastic, i'm excited for next year already!

Is anybody else having trouble with teachers not having a clue what your course is? I had to explain it to my UCAS tutor, which isn't encouraging. Also a bit daunted about the tiny number of places, just 28 at Sheffield

[mizzmash]

(Original post by naomiele)
hey mizzmash, have you got a place at city? did you go to an interview??
I know, city university was excellent, the course looks great and there is a clinic!

PhoenixFortune, what are the placements like and what did you write in your personal statement?? I have heard good things about the course there.

Is there a league table for speech therapy courses??

Thanks for your help xxx

Hey, no i apply in september and i am going to the open day soon, i am still undecided about whether to take a gap year or not?x

have you applied yet?xx

[mizzmash]

(Original post by Georgiahoneybee)
Ooh I can't believe you're all at the beginning of the SLT "journey" haha. I've just graduated from the University of Reading, so if anyone is particularly interested in hearing about how we did things there, please ask. I've also just got my first job (woohoo), I'm working in an acute hospital, so any questions once I get going there too, I'd be happy to answer. I think it's a really good idea to have a chat on here, because I know when I applied, I knew absolutely no one who was even considering the course! Good luck with all the applications

hey, reading is one of my options and i am going to the open day soon, would you recommend it?xx

[mizzmash]

(Original post by juliewho)
Hopefully this will turn into a big support/chat like last years did, not that I read through the whole thing or anything!
I'm applying to Manchester, Sheffield, Newcastle, UEA and Leeds met. Been to visit Sheffield and Newcastle and both were fantastic, i'm excited for next year already!

Is anybody else having trouble with teachers not having a clue what your course is? I had to explain it to my UCAS tutor, which isn't encouraging. Also a bit daunted about the tiny number of places, just 28 at Sheffield

hey, having the same problem haha noone understands what the course is, im always having to explain!xx

[Georgiahoneybee]

(Original post by mizzmash)
hey, reading is one of my options and i am going to the open day soon, would you recommend it?xx

Oh brilliant, I used to do the open days sometimes! Yeah I would absolutely, I found the course fantastic. Obviously I can't compare to any of the other unis, but I would definitely recommend Reading. I think it used to be thought of as quite heavily linguistic, which suited me perfectly as I did History/Englishy subjects and so I found the medicine side of it a bit challenging at first, but I think the thing with SLT is that you have to cover certain things so the content probably doesn't differ that much between unis.
One of the plus points for Reading I think is that we have a clinic on campus. It's great when you first start doing observation clinics and everything. We also did weekly placements (so we'd go to placement every Weds for a whole term) rather than blocks, which meant you got a really diverse range of placements. I've found this has really helped me when applying for jobs as I have such a wide range of experience. Otherwise the tutors are really helpful and friendly and as we only had about 27 in our year, you get to know everyone really well. Oh and I loved going to a campus-based uni, Reading campus is actually really pretty with the lake and everying.
Outside of SLT, I really enjoyed living in Reading. I'm from a little village in the country so I always knew I didn't want to go to a massive city. What I liked about Reading was that it was big and busy enough to have fun, but not too big and scary to be daunting. Hope that helps a little!

[bright_eyes161]

hi, i'm also really interested in applying for speech therapy courses, but am worried about how 'sciency' the course is? I have naturally been more of a English or humanities or the arts person, and am worried that this may affect how well i do/how much I enjoy the course? Also, which is the best way to gain work experience? Thanks

[PhoenixFortune]

(Original post by bright_eyes161)
hi, i'm also really interested in applying for speech therapy courses, but am worried about how 'sciency' the course is? I have naturally been more of a English or humanities or the arts person, and am worried that this may affect how well i do/how much I enjoy the course? Also, which is the best way to gain work experience? Thanks

I don't know how other universities structure their courses, but at Marjon we have very heavy weighting towards Biology, which is usually a part of every lecture we go to. From speaking to people in the years above me, it gets more and more medically technical as you get more knowledge and experience.

[naomiele]

(Original post by Georgiahoneybee)
Oh brilliant, I used to do the open days sometimes! Yeah I would absolutely, I found the course fantastic. Obviously I can't compare to any of the other unis, but I would definitely recommend Reading. I think it used to be thought of as quite heavily linguistic, which suited me perfectly as I did History/Englishy subjects and so I found the medicine side of it a bit challenging at first, but I think the thing with SLT is that you have to cover certain things so the content probably doesn't differ that much between unis.
One of the plus points for Reading I think is that we have a clinic on campus. It's great when you first start doing observation clinics and everything. We also did weekly placements (so we'd go to placement every Weds for a whole term) rather than blocks, which meant you got a really diverse range of placements. I've found this has really helped me when applying for jobs as I have such a wide range of experience. Otherwise the tutors are really helpful and friendly and as we only had about 27 in our year, you get to know everyone really well. Oh and I loved going to a campus-based uni, Reading campus is actually really pretty with the lake and everying.
Outside of SLT, I really enjoyed living in Reading. I'm from a little village in the country so I always knew I didn't want to go to a massive city. What I liked about Reading was that it was big and busy enough to have fun, but not too big and scary to be daunting. Hope that helps a little!

Hello Georgia, I visited Reading University and I loved the clinic, the course and the atmosphere. Basically I REALLY want to go to Reading. But the talk suggested there are 400 applicants to 30 places. This really worrys me, do you have ANY tips other than to have ABB which might help someone get into the university??

Thanks,

[naomiele]

(Original post by mizzmash)
Hey, no i apply in september and i am going to the open day soon, i am still undecided about whether to take a gap year or not?x

have you applied yet?xx

No I will be applying in September too, just writing my personal statement now, which is very stressful haha.

Yeah, I was speaking to someone who suggested that taking a gap year and becoming a teaching assistant or a speech therapist assistant was a good idea, if you did not have much experience.

How much experience do you have?

I don't think I will be taking a gap year, but if I don't get accepted I will have to xx

[juliewho]

(Original post by mizzmash)
hey, having the same problem haha noone understands what the course is, im always having to explain!xx

Sorry for the late reply and yeah! Then when I told someone else, they got all interested and now i'm like "damn, I introduced more competition!" even though I know it's silly
Had a go at writing my personal statement today. Doing a paired reading scheme in september though, so I needed to leave space, but managed to go quite far over the character limit which is a pain really. I don't want to cut anything i've written though, so need some help from the UCAS tutor I still haven't met

[LaEstrella]

I am really interested in applying to this course but when I attended the open days it scared me due to the fact that with only around 27 places and with so many applicants and then with the chance that you may not get a job at the end of it, I am now really worried that if I apply I won't even be looked at :/
I am taking Biology, English Language, Spanish and Art and I am only predicted A,A,B, B at AS level :/
& then I've only got work experience working with people who need respite care and I have shadowed a speech and language therapist. I really don't think I stand a chance :/

[PhoenixFortune]

(Original post by LaEstrella)
I am really interested in applying to this course but when I attended the open days it scared me due to the fact that with only around 27 places and with so many applicants and then with the chance that you may not get a job at the end of it, I am now really worried that if I apply I won't even be looked at :/
I am taking Biology, English Language, Spanish and Art and I am only predicted A,A,B, B at AS level :/
& then I've only got work experience working with people who need respite care and I have shadowed a speech and language therapist. I really don't think I stand a chance :/

You sound like the perfect applicant for SLT! Don't give up, just keeping looking for work experience opportunities and apply to the unis you want to attend.