physiotherapy choices

Hello I am an international student who wanna study physiotherapy and fortunately now i received two offers from the university of salford and the university of bradford. I am considering which school is better for me.

Reply 1

normaw

Volunteer Section Leader, Clearing and Applications Advisor

Original post by Yuennice

In terms of course content, they should be equal as they are approved by the HCPC. It is worth comparing the locations and timings of placements to see how far you have to travel and if they are held in uni holidays (this is common for healthcare courses). Then compare fees and accommodation costs and availability.

Salford gives you easy access to Manchester, which is a much bigger city than Bradford and has an international airport, but it depends on what you are looking for from the location.

Reply 2

University of Salford

Official Rep

Original post by Yuennice

Hello there,

It is so exciting to see that you are interested in our physiotherapy course, it is a course that we are very proud of so I would love to tell you more about it. Just to note, whatever is 'better for you' is only something that you can decide and if I were to give some general advice I would say follow your gut and listen to yourself.

There is also a lot more to look at when it comes to deciding what institution is right for you, for example you could look at; location, teaching style, accomodation, extra curricular activities and so much more. I would say to have a look at all of these factors when making your mind up. I will focus on our course in this post.

Firstly, our course is accredited by the Chartered Society of Physiotherapy (CSP) and approved by the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC). This equips you with the knowledge and skills required by physiotherapists to provide evidence-based health care.

We have a large community of physiotherapy students but that doesn’t mean you’ll feel one of many. Our cohorts are close-knit, and our students often say that the sense of community and support are the best things about Salford. You can virtually meet some of our students via our student community.

We have had some great achievements with our Physiotherapy course that we are very proud of.

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Sixth in the UK for physiotherapy, top 5 in England, and first in the North of England in the Guardian University guide 2025.

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Fourth in the UK for student satisfaction and first in the North West, according to the Complete University Guide 2025.

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96% on the ‘Teaching on my Course’ category in the National Student Survey 2024.

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94.4% of our Physiotherapy 2021/2022 graduates are in highly skilled employment

These are all great achievements that we are proud of, but again the decision is yours as to what is the best institution for you. I would recommend taking a look back at our course page and reading more detail about what the course entails. I will link the course page here. Do also have a look at other areas that I mentioned above as this could help with your decision and what institution is better for your personal preference.

Best of luck with your choice and if we can help in any other way do let our team know.
Matt ~ Uni of Salford Rep

Reply 3

University of Bradford

Official Rep

Original post by Yuennice

Hey @Yuennice how are you? 🤗

Congratulations on both offers!

I'd say to just research both ours and Salford's universities and compare the modules, teaching methods, placement opportunities, facilities, support services available, see what careers the graduates have gone on to do. I'd recommend taking a look at the website and watching virtual tours of campus so you can get a bit of a feel for it, and check out the social media accounts too, definitely Instagram and TikTok to get a look at what the student life is like. I know a lot of students share day in the life videos and insights into their course so you might find that helpful. A lot of student profiles and blogs will be on the uni website so hopefully you'd find some for Physiotherapy just for another insight into the course and what it's like studying it at that particular university :smile:

If you've got any specific questions you could reach out to the uni's admissions team or international student support services, or see whether there's any virtual open days coming up that you can book onto to find out more information about the uni and course.

If you'd like any more information about studying Physiotherapy here at Bradford, then do just let me know and I'd be more than happy to help with any questions you have, or whether you'd like me to send over any of our Physiotherapy student videos/profiles for you to check out :smile:

I'm sure you'll make the right decision for you, wishing you all the best with it and hope you have a great university journey!

Becky

Reply 4

UCLan_Siobhan

Official Rep

Original post by Yuennice

Hey there,

Nice to meet you, my name is Siobhan and I'm a third-year physiotherapy student at the University of Central Lancashire. First of all, congratulations on your offers, you should be really proud of yourself for getting this far! I can see that both uni reps have replied which is great, but here’s some things I would consider when choosing what uni is best for you:

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Modules – Have a look at the modules you will be covering over the years and see if there are any differences between the unis. For example, my uni covered international healthcare in year three and that really intrigued me so that was a factor that led me to choose one uni over the other.

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Teaching style – Have a good idea of what teaching style best suits you and if this is reflected in the uni. Physio is a very hands-on job, and so practical sessions are key, so I would see how much practical work the uni does. Do they do simulation-based learning or is the theoretical content quite heavy?

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Cohort size – Is it going to be a large cohort or a smaller one? Smaller ones are much more competitive to get into, but they are better for one-to-one opportunities with lecturers and are more optimal for placement choices. My uni has a cohort of about 40 people per year and at the end of year 3 we all know each other so much better which has made all the difference.

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Placements – See what years you would go out for placements and how long they are. In any uni, you need to make up 1000 hours to be registered by the HCPC, so check how the uni spaces this out. Also have a look at how far they might send you and if there are many trusts near the uni. Travel is a big thing on placements so I would deffo contrast and compare.

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Campus/city - Go to an open day and see what the campus and surrounding place is like. Is it close to shops for groceries? Are there laundromats available and how close are they? How much is accommodation in each place if you are planning on staying on campus? All these uni life questions that will be essential for when you start.

I would have a good look into both unis and see them in person if you can. I always say go with what feels right because you will be there for a couple years. Hope this has helped and please let me know if I can help in any other way 😊 Good luck!

Siobhan (Student Ambassador for University of Central Lancashire)