Operating Department Practice BSc (Hons)

Study level: Undergraduate
Students in scrubs in a mock operation scenario in the operating theatre

Operating Department Practice (ODP) is an exciting and rewarding career where you work within the perioperative theatre environment caring for patients undergoing surgery.

Year of entry

Location

Coventry University (Coventry)

Study mode

Full-time

Duration

3 years full-time

Course code

B991

Start date

September 2024


Course overview

Accredited by the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC) enabling you to register as an operating department practitioner upon successful completion (additional requirements and costs may apply).

  • Home students can apply to receive a payment of £5,000 a year through the NHS Learning Support Fund that does not need to be paid back, with additional bursaries for students incurring childcare costs6.
  • State-of-the-art teaching facilities including mock operating theatre and scrub room, ambulance, high-tech manikins, hospital wards, critical care settings and other real-life environments relevant to practice.
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Joint Top Modern University for Career Prospects

Guardian University Guide 2021 and 2022

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5 QS Stars for Teaching and Facilities

QS Stars University Ratings

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Top 5 UK Student City (Coventry)

QS Best Student Cities Index 2023

Why you should study this course

Operating Department Practitioners (ODPs) are a crucial part of the inter-professional team interacting and supporting a variety of patients throughout their perioperative journey. The role of the ODP is continually evolving beyond the borders of the operating department. ODPs are increasingly adapting their range of skills and abilities to develop their practice to work in non-traditional acute areas such as the emergency department, Interventional Radiology, cardiac catheterisation, MRI and CT scanning as well as endoscopy units.

  • The skills you will learn and the knowledge you will gain will be facilitated through simulated activities such as role play and clinical skills development. These will take place in facilities which replicate those found in modern hospitals, include a mock operating theatre and scrub room, mock ward setting, high dependency bays, and utilising high-tech manikins which respond to the treatment provided.
  • Teaching and learning is supported by highly trained, clinically current and experienced staff, clinical partners, service users and peer-supported learning both from fellow ODP students and inter-professionally with students from a range of health courses across the school. Our learning through exploration approach provides a hands-on style of learning which provides context and is designed to prepare you for real-world situations.
  • Successful completion of the course will allow you to contribute fully as part of the perioperative multidisciplinary team in all areas of operating department practice. In the mandatory practice placements throughout your programme (sourced for you by the university), you will apply theory to practice on a daily basis, providing you with a platform to grow in confidence, develop your clinical skills and abilities to enable you to become a safe, confident and competent practitioner. As the course leads to eligibility to apply for professional registration with HCPC, you are required to meet attendance requirements both at university and on placement.
  • This award leads to eligibility to apply for registration with the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC) for registration as an ODP (subject to additional costs).
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for Health Professions

Guardian University Guide 2023

Accreditation and professional recognition

This course is accredited1 and recognised by the following bodies:

HCPC logo

Health and Care Professions Council

This course is accredited by the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC) for the 2024/25 intake.


CODP logo

College of Operating Department Practitioners

This course has College of Operating Department Practitioners (CODP) accreditation for the 2024/25 intake.



What you'll study

Successful completion of the course will allow you to contribute fully as part of the perioperative multidisciplinary team in all areas of operating department practice. In the mandatory practice placements5, which are sourced for you by the university, throughout your programme you will apply theory to practice on a daily basis, providing you with a platform to grow in confidence, develop your clinical skills and abilities to enable you to become a safe, confident and competent practitioner.

As the course leads to eligibility to apply for professional registration with HCPC you are therefore required to meet attendance requirements both at university and on placement.

Year one introduces the three roles of an ODP. This includes anaesthetics, surgery and recovery.

Before the placement module, key principles in safe and effective patient care are taught within the first semester. We aim to develop you into a confident and competent student practitioner.

Modules

Year two explores advanced anaesthetics and surgery, developing your skills and knowledge gained in year one.

You will now be working towards becoming independent student practitioners experiencing patients with more complex needs, for example in the emergency department and emergency theatre.

Modules

The final year of the course builds on the knowledge, skills and abilities developed in years one and two to enhance your experiences in more acute and challenging clinical, managerial and coaching roles as well as developing a more in-depth understanding of evidence-based practice.

Modules

We regularly review our course content, to make it relevant and current for the benefit of our students. For these reasons, course modules may be updated.


How you'll learn

We aim to provide you with a range of learning environments and styles of teaching and learning which will suit the varied subject matter within the different modules and support your needs at all levels of the course. Teaching and learning will take place in the context of lectures, seminars, workshop activities and practice area placements, each supported by a comprehensive course of tutorial support.

These range from formally taught sessions to case studies, group work, online discussions, online quizzes and practical hands-on sessions in our state-of-the-art facility with a mock operating theatre and scrub room which is equipped with a range of equipment you would expect to be exposed to, and use on a daily basis, in a real operating theatre.

You will normally have around 15 hours per week contact time, which consists of a mixture of lectures, workshops and practical skills sessions in our clinical simulation areas. In addition, you will be expected to undertake a further 20-25 hours minimum of self-directed study each week.

The contact hours may be made up of a combination of face-to-face teaching, individual and group tutorials, and online classes and tutorials.

As an innovative and enterprising institution, the university may seek to utilise emerging technologies within the student experience. For all courses (whether on-campus, blended, or distance learning), the university may deliver certain contact hours and assessments via online technologies and methods.

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, we are prepared for courses due to start in or after the 2023/24 academic year to be delivered in a variety of forms. The form of delivery will be determined in accordance with Government and Public Health guidance. Whether on campus or online, our key priority is staff and student safety.


Assessment

This course will be assessed using a variety of methods which will vary depending upon the module.

Assessment methods include:

  • Academic coursework
  • Online examinations
  • Viva voce (oral interviews/discussions)
  • Objective Structured Clinical Examinations (OSCE)
  • Poster presentations (individual and group)
  • Work-based practical observations.

The Coventry University Group assessment strategy ensures that our courses are fairly assessed and allows us to monitor student progression towards achieving the intended learning outcomes.


International experience opportunities

Our course provides international learning experiences to help prepare you for the global employment market as well as strengthen and develop your broader intercultural, personal and professional skills2.

I am proud to be a part of the team that helps our students become confident and competent practitioners. Here at Coventry, we are an enthusiastic teaching team all with a wealth of experience to assist your learning and development. We are lucky to have use of the amazing facilities which allows us to simulate real life situations in a safe and controlled environment.

George McSharry, lecturer, quoted in 2022
Three people in scrubs in a mock operating theatre

Entry requirements

Typical offer for 2024/25 entry.

Requirement What we're looking for
UCAS points 112
A level BBC
GCSE Minimum 5 GCSEs graded 9-4 including English, Mathematics and Science
BTEC DMM in a Health or Sport based subject
IB Diploma 29 points to include 14 points at Higher level
Access Diploma The Access to HE Diploma in a Health or Science related subject to include 15 credits at Distinction and 30 credits at Merit. Plus GCSE English and Mathematics at grade 4/C or above.

We recognise a breadth of qualifications, speak to one of our advisers today to find out how we can help you.

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Additional information

Applicants will be required to attend and undertake a successful interview as well as provide a suitable reference from a professional email address. Evidence of experience of healthcare e.g. residential or nursing homes, voluntary work with elderly/children/disabled care assistant work or work-based placements in the care sector is preferable but not essential. Satisfactory health and Disclosure and Barring Service clearance is required to undertake clinical placement.

Satisfactory health clearance and enhanced criminal record disclosure is also required. As part of the health clearance checks you will be required to provide information about your immunity and vaccination status. You will also be required to provide information about your COVID-19 vaccination status. We therefore recommend that you are fully vaccinated including the COVID-19 vaccine. The information you provide will be used to determine your eligibility to go on placement(s). Placements are provided at the placement provider’s discretion. The University is therefore unable to guarantee the provision of placements or the location and type of placement offered5.

Please refer to the full requirements in the disclaimer section5.

In line with the National Health Service Constitution we use a values-based recruitment approach in seeking candidates with the appropriate values to support effective team working in delivering excellent patient care.

Degree Level Apprenticeship

Applicants do not apply via UCAS and are required to meet the entry criteria as per the BSc (Hons) course. The apprenticeship route is for applicants who are in relevant employment and sponsored by their employer.

Are you eligible for the Fair Access Scheme?

We believe every student should have the opportunity to dream big, reach their potential and succeed, regardless of their background. Find out more about our Fair Access Scheme.

Select your region to find detailed information about entry requirements:


You can view our full list of country specific entry requirements on our Entry requirements page.

Portfolio

Applicants will also be required to attend and undertake a successful interview as well as provide a suitable reference from a professional email address. Evidence of experience of healthcare e.g. residential or nursing homes, voluntary work with elderly/children/disabled care assistant work or work-based placements in the care sector is preferable but not essential. Satisfactory health and Disclosure and Barring Service clearance is required to undertake clinical placement.

Satisfactory health clearance and enhanced criminal record disclosure is also required. As part of the health clearance checks you will be required to provide information about your immunity and vaccination status. You will also be required to provide information about your COVID-19 vaccination status. We therefore recommend that you are fully vaccinated including the COVID-19 vaccine. The information you provide will be used to determine your eligibility to go on placement(s). Placements are provided at the placement provider’s discretion. The University is therefore unable to guarantee the provision of placements or the location and type of placement offered5.

Please refer to the full requirements in the disclaimer section5.

In line with the National Health Service Constitution we use a values-based recruitment approach in seeking candidates with the appropriate values to support effective team working in delivering excellent patient care.

English language requirements

  • IELTS: 7.0 overall with at least 6.5 in each component area.

If you don't meet the English language requirements, you can achieve the level you need by successfully completing a pre-sessional English programme before you start your course. 

For more information on our approved English language tests visit our English language requirements page.

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Fees and funding

2024/25 tuition fees.

Student Full-time Part-time
UK, Ireland*, Channel Islands or Isle of Man £9,250 per year Not available
EU £9,250 per year with EU Support Bursary**
£19,850 per year without EU Support Bursary**
Not available
International £19,850 per year Not available

A non-repayable grant of £5,000 and extra payments worth up to £3,000 may be available to eligible home students for each year of study. Read more about this in the NHS Learning Support Fund information booklet.

For advice and guidance on tuition fees and student loans visit our Undergraduate Finance page and see the university’s Tuition Fee and Refund Terms and Conditions.

We offer a range of International scholarships to students all over the world. For more information, visit our International Scholarships page.

Tuition fees cover the cost of your teaching, assessments, facilities and support services. There may be additional costs not covered by this fee such as accommodation and living costs, recommended reading books, stationery, printing and re-assessments should you need them. Find out what's included in your tuition costs.

*Irish student fees

The rights of Irish residents to study in the UK are preserved under the Common Travel Area arrangement. If you are an Irish student and meet the residency criteria, you can study in England, pay the same level of tuition fees as English students and utilise the Tuition Fee Loan.

**EU Support Bursary

Following the UK's exit from the European Union, we are offering financial support to all eligible EU students who wish to study an undergraduate or a postgraduate degree with us full-time. This bursary will be used to offset the cost of your tuition fees to bring them in line with that of UK students. Students studying a degree with a foundation year with us are not eligible for the bursary.


Facilities

Our multi-million-pound Alison Gingell Building features a range of mock healthcare settings, including hospital wards, ambulance, therapy suites and community houses, giving you the opportunity to replicate real-life situations before you go on placement4.

Students in scrubs in the mock operating theatre

Mock operating theatre

Our operating theatre is set up to accommodate procedures that would take place during hospital surgery. It includes a scrub room and the machines, equipment and lighting you will need to use to be an effective operating department practitioner.

Students practicing patient care in an ambulance

Alison Gingell Building

Our state-of-the-art Alison Gingell Building features a mock ambulance, high-tech manikins, hospital wards, critical care settings and therapy suites. This gives you the opportunity to learn in situations that mirror real life scenarios.

Students and a tutor with a manikin in the hospital ward

Mock hospital wards

We have two fully-equipped mock hospital wards, each containing 4 beds. The wards are built to NHS standards and contain moveable beds, first aid equipment and patient monitoring tools, so that you can study a complete patient pathway.


Careers and opportunities

Our ‘learning through exploration’ approach is designed to prepare you for real-world situations, and using the mock operating theatre and scrub room will provide the opportunity to undertake realistic scenarios before you go onto your placements.

Your mandatory practice placements5 (sourced for you by the university) enable you to apply theory to practice on a daily basis, providing you with a platform to grow in confidence, develop your clinical skills and abilities to enable you to become a safe, confident and competent practitioner.

ODPs are sought-after employees and we provide support for all Coventry University graduates to help them secure employment on completion of the course.

Where our graduates work

Past graduates have found work in the perioperative environment in both the NHS and private sector in anaesthetics, surgery and post-anaesthetic care environments.

Graduate Immigration Route visa

Based on current information from the UK Government, international students whose study extends beyond summer 2021 may be eligible for a visa under the UK Government’s Graduate Immigration Route, which will enable students to stay and work, or look for work, in the UK at any skill level for up to two (2) years. Check the most up to date guidance available to check your eligibility and any updates from the UK Government before making an application or enrolment decision.


How to apply

Full-time students applying to start in September 2024 can apply for this course through UCAS. Read our application pages to find out your next steps to apply.

Part-time students should apply directly to the university.


If you'd like further support or more information about your course get in touch with us today.

International codes:
HLSU201

How to apply

For further support for international applicants applying for an undergraduate degree view our International hub.

You can also download our International guide which contains lots of useful information about our courses, accommodation and tips for travel.

This course with foundation year is not currently available to international students. If you do not meet the entry requirements to directly join year 1 of the degree, please take a look at our International Pathways Programme for additional options.


Get in touch with us today for further advice and guidance.


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