Postgrad Speech & Language Therapy 2016 Entry (PG Dip/MSc)

Scroll to see replies

Hi everyone :smile:

I've not been on here for a while as I just started a new job and moved house so things have been a little crazy! I have an interview at Greenwich on October 13th - does anyone else? I have no idea how to prepare! And I have just started doing my UCL application, has anyone else made a start on it?

moak11 - any advice you can offer would be much appreciated! I know it's early days but how are you finding the course so far?

Hi I'm at Greenwich, the interview will be fine, quite a relaxed day to be honest. Just be clear about what you've learnt from your SLT experiences and get that across. Good luck 😀

Posted from TSR Mobile

Reply 21

Sharxxx

Original post by funkymama

Hi how are you finding the course at greenwich? How many days a week are you in uni? I would be commuting from london so im unsure at the moment.. how many work placements do you have? Iv got an interview on 13th October.

Reply 22

Sharxxx

Hi guys, can anyone reccomend a good all round book to read about speech and language therapy?

Reply 23

funkymama

Original post by Sharxxx

I've really enjoyed it but it is very intensive. I live in south London and I either drive (there's plenty of parking) or take the inter campus bus from the avery hill site.

How many days you're in varies throughout the two years, the first two weeks you're in every day, then it's four days. Lectures usually start at 10am and finish 3pm or 4pm. When the conversation partner visits start you will be in three days with a day for your CP visits.

There are three clinical placements in total during which you attended four days of the week with the first year being a six week paediatric placement. Year two you will have eight weeks adult placement and the last placement (which I'm on now) is ten weeks and you pick the client area.

There are a few of us who commute from London in my cohort though I think only one girl takes the train.

Good luck for next week 😀

Posted from TSR Mobile

Reply 24

Chezsa

Hey guys!
I'm planning on applying for the 2016 intake as well. For almost three years now, I've been looking at other SLT Postgrad forums and I can't believe that I'll be the one applying this year! My aim is City and UCL but understand UCL wants you to hold a degree by the time you apply, correct me if I'm wrong?
I've got experience but not sure whether it's enough or whether they would want more. Knowing that this is an immensely competitive course makes me really anxious because I'm left with the one question- how on earth do I stand out?

Reply 25

Sharxxx

Hi do you know how long we'll be there tomorrow? I'm wanting to book my train back but not sure what time to book it for!

Reply 26

funkymama

Original post by Sharxxx

Hi do you know how long we'll be there tomorrow? I'm wanting to book my train back but not sure what time to book it for!

Was this question for me? It's half a day minimum. Don't forget to bring a picture of yourself as if you forget it it's a complete pain to go out of campus to get one😕 Get there before 9 if you can!

Posted from TSR Mobile

Reply 27

calafair

Hi everyone,

Wanted to get an idea of how tough it would be to get a job after graduation? I'm thinking to apply as an international non-funded student to get some experience living and working in the UK. I'd like to be able to work for a couple years at least before I head home.

But if the job situation isn't looking good, then I suppose there's no point. Any thoughts? Is it impossible or dependant on location?

Thanks!

Reply 28

smileyx123x

Hi - Moak11!

Thanks for your post on here
Am really interested in attending at City !! It's my first choice :smile:

the course looks great...

Would love to know what kind of experience you have gained along your journey? Also, what is the course like there? is it like what you had expected and built your experience for?

Many thanks!!!
x

Reply 29

moak11

Original post by smileyx123x

Hi - Moak11!

Thanks for your post on here
Am really interested in attending at City !! It's my first choice :smile:

Hey

You're welcome. Oh fab that it's your first choice! You will really love it here if you got on, as the course is really great! I'm really loving it and still to this day thank my blessings for getting on the course.

Okay so I had some depth to my experience children wise. I mainly worked with a child with Autism (on a 1 to 1 basis) in a mainstream school for a year, I have also worked in a special school with an SLT (a separate year), I had some shadowing experience, I was a Conversation Partner with an elderly man, I worked in a college and a secondary school with SEN children. I also worked in a summer camp last summer in America. So my experience was quite varied over ages. But the main reason I got on was not how much experience I had, but how I reflected on these experiences. The experience varies greatly between candidates. I actually found it quite difficult to get direct experience with SLTs, but that it usually taken into consideration in interviews.

The course is intense, but keeping my head above water for now!! But really enjoying it. Come to an open day/evening and I will probably be there to chat :smile:

Reply 30

moak11

Original post by gracie2509

Hi everyone :smile:

Sorry I hadn't realised you had wrote to me :smile:

Advice I would offer would just to be reflective on experiences :smile:

The course is absolutely fab, and very hard work! We have done lots of theory so far, so I'm looking forward to getting stuck into placements!

Reply 31

Curly :)

Hi,

I'm new to this forum and also looking to apply to SLT for 2016 intake. I will probably be applying to all of the postgrad courses available as they seem so difficult to get onto!
At the moment, I'm trying to finalise my personal statement for Reading. Can anybody just confirm that the word limit is 500 words? I am just worried that I have missed something on the University website, although this is what it states on the general postgrad application form.
Does anybody know whether the Unis would accept acronyms for things such as SLT, RCSLT, SLCN, without initially stating the words in full?

Thanks !

Reply 32

Laice

Original post by Curly :)

I have a vague memory of someone in a previous year's thread calling Reading about this. If I remember correctly, the 500 word limit was only for general postgrad applications, and the SLT department was happy to accept longer personal statements than this? Not 100% sure though, worth calling/emailing to double check!

Reply 33

Laice

Original post by calafair

The job situation isn't too bad for NQTs at the moment - it appears to be all the specialist Band 7s/8s that are suffering most from all the NHS cuts :frown:

That said I think the NHS has to give priority to applicants from within the EU and can only hire international SLTs if they can prove that no suitable home candidate could be found. Might be better in the private sector which is growing by the year or in the north of England where SLTs are in much shorter supply.

Reply 34

eve1293

I'm currently on the MMedSci at Sheffield and I love it. Feel free to ask me any questions :smile:

To reassure you, there are people from all backgrounds on my course! A girl with a degree in history, another with a degree in sociology. A couple who were slt assistants and some with just a few days experience! So I really wouldn't get hung up over getting more and more experience. In fact the slt assistants aren't at an advantage because they've only really worked with one client group so being an assistant is by no means a guarantee that you'll get a place.

Look for opportunities that you're interested in, rather than what you think will get you on to the course, because they're looking for enthusiasm and an ability to learn from your experiences.
Hope that helps :smile:

Reply 35

Snikle

Original post by eve1293

I'm currently on the MMedSci at Sheffield and I love it. Feel free to ask me any questions :smile:

You got in? Yay!

I'm currently in first year of PGDip/MSc at Queen Margaret University for SLT. The only bad thing about this course is that the NHS don't pay for it, which makes it a difficult choice.

Having said that, it's such a wonderful little place. There's 16 of us on the course, from a variety of backgrounds, and we all started a month before the other students to give us a solid grounding in linguistics and basic SLT stuff first. We also have this delightful little thing where lecturers keep offering to arrange further, untimetabled lectures to go over things we didn't understand. It makes you realise that QMU isn't just treating us like a source of income, they actually want us to succeed.

Would I go to an English uni if I could? Five months ago I would have said yes. The ones I applied to rejected me. Now? I'm not sure I would reject QMU. Yes, it's an extortionate amount of money, but the sheer amount of effort coming from the teaching staff seems to make it worth it. If anyone is thinking of applying and wants to know more about the uni and the way the course is run (their website is stupidly vague compared to what we actually do), then quote me here or fling me a PM :smile:

Also: Social life on campus is a bit naff but Edinburgh is on your doorstep and what postgraduate students really cares about clubbing every night anyway?

Reply 36

smileyx123x

Original post by eve1293

I'm currently on the MMedSci at Sheffield and I love it. Feel free to ask me any questions :smile:

Wow! thanks for your input :smile:

That's really interesting - I would've thought the first degree holds more of an importance? but that's cool! Was your experience very varied?
I think you're 100% right - it's the enthusiasm and people skills most unis are looking for !!

Reply 37

Huma_S

Original post by eve1293

I'm currently on the MMedSci at Sheffield and I love it. Feel free to ask me any questions :smile:

Hello!

I'm currently in the process of applying to Sheffield for the MMedSci course. Is there any tips you could give me regarding the write-up for the personal statement? I'm currently doing my MSc at Sheffield, and I have varied experience in speech therapy (paediatric and adult-based).
I really want to get onto the course and I'm hoping my MSc will give me a bit of an upper-hand!

Thank you :smile:

Reply 38

eve1293

Original post by smileyx123x

Wow! thanks for your input :smile:

I did have quite varied previous experiences, with children and adults, in a nursery, support group, school and a clinic. But most people have had more experience with one client group than another. I don't think it's necessary to have experience in everything, but you have to show that you're aware of the different client groups/settings and how that would affect the role of the slt

Reply 39

eve1293

Original post by Huma_S

Hello!

There's a girl on my course who did the Msc in the department too :smile:

In terms of the personal statement, I'm by no means an expert but my main advice would be don't just list your experiences. Make sure you reflect on each experience and what you learned about slt or what skills you learned and why they are useful for slt. It's a fine balance of talking about all your experiences but also leaving room to reflect!
Also get everyone and anyone to read over it!