Bachelor of Physiotherapy (Honours)
If you’re seeking a rewarding career helping others maximise their physical wellbeing regardless of age, injury, illness or disability, UniSC’s Bachelor of Physiotherapy (Honours) may be your perfect fit. In this program, you will learn how to work with people to optimise their movement and function, prevent injury and encourage healthy exercise to enhance their health and mobility.
Completion of this program will open doors to a rewarding career helping others achieve their health-related goals through clinical practice. Through the Honours degree, you may also choose to pursue a research and academic career to inform and drive change, innovation and improvements in health care and education.
In this program you will:
- Undertake 1000+ hours of hands-on, work-integrated learning/clinical placement with industry partners
- Obtain valuable experience as a sports trainer and allied health assistant early in your training, and graduate work-ready for a range of work settings and roles, such as in private practice, hospital, aged care, disability, sports and community health.
- Our curriculum is new, evidence-based, practical, and unique with its focus on employability and interprofessional learning and collaboration
Location
Duration
Full-time or equivalent part-time Only a full-time option is available to international students on a Student visa. Online programs are not available to Student visa holders.Indicative fees
Indicative 2024 fees (A$)
QTAC code
Start
- Semester 1
First year only offered at this location.
Program to be rolled out. 1st year 2025, 2nd year 2026, 3rd year 2027, 4th year 2028
- Start
-
- Semester 1
- Delivery mode
-
- Blended Learning
- Total courses
- 32
- Total units
- 384
- Duration
- 4 years 4 years
- UniSC program code
- BH001
Introductory courses (8) 96 units
HLT140
HLT150
LFS103
LFS112
LFS122
PSY100
PTY100
PTY101
Developing courses (8) 96 units
BIM263
HLT205
HLT221
PTY200
PTY201
SPX201
SPX202
SPX211
Graduate courses (8) 96 units
HLT304
PTY300
PTY301
PTY302
PTY303
PTY304
PTY305
PTY406
Pathway (8) 96 units
Select 1 pathway from:
Physiotherapy Research Pathway
Physiotherapy Clinical Pathway
Note: Program structures are subject to change. Not all UniSC courses are available on every UniSC campus.
Special selection criteria
All Access UniSC adjustment factors of ATAR scores will apply for entry into the Bachelor of Physiotherapy (Honours) program. Additional support for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people for entry in the program will also be facilitated via the Indigenous Direct Entry and Access Scheme (IDEAS). Applicants with verified Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander status will be given 2 adjustment factors to assist entry into the physiotherapy program.
Post admission requirements
Fit for Placement Requirements
To maintain their enrolment in the Bachelor of Physiotherapy (Honours) and to be able to access mandatory clinical placements, physiotherapy students will need to meet “Fit for Placement” requirements by the end of first year and maintain currency throughout their study. Associated documentation needs to uploaded to SONIA to enable enrolment into PTY200 Core Physiotherapy Skills A in the first semester of second year.
Fit for Placement requirements include:
1. National Police Check from the Australian Federal Police (as well as International Police Check in country of residence for International Students) (lasts 3 years)
2. Combined Working with Children Check (Blue Card) and NDIS Worker Screening Card (Yellow Card) (or else separate Blue Card and NDIS Worker Screening Card)
3. Completion of the Mental Health First Aid Course
4. Cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and Provide First Aid certificate (HLTAID011) in year 1 of physiotherapy [Note CPR certificate needs to remain valid throughout program - HLTAID009 needs to be undertaken each year after completion of HLTAID011]
5. Level 1 Sports Trainer Certificate (nationally recognised SISSS00118 is preferred)
6. Mandatory immunisation and health record requirements including vaccination against:
Hepatitis B (full schedule)
Measles, Mumps, Rubella (MMR)
Diphtheria/Tetanus/Pertussis-Whooping Cough (dTpa)
Chicken pox/varicella COVID 19 – minimum 2 doses
Completion of QHealth Tuberculosis Risk Assessment for Students
Respirator/mask fit testing prior to first clinical placement
Additional entry information
Non-standard English language requirements apply.
International applicants and applicants who have not undertaken at least two years of senior secondary, post-secondary or tertiary study in the English language in Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Republic of Ireland, United Kingdom, or United States of America within the last five years will need to demonstrate the required minimum scores in one of the following English language tests:
1. IELTS (academic module) with a minimum overall score of 7 and a minimum score of 7 in each of the 4 components (listening, reading, writing, speaking)
2. OET with a minimum score of B in each of the four components (listening, reading, writing and speaking)
3. PTE Academic with a minimum overall score of 65 and a minimum score of 65 in each of the four communicative skills (listening, reading, writing, speaking)
4. TOEFL iBT with a minimum score of 94 and the following minimum score in each section of the test (24 for listening, 24 for reading, 27 for writing, 23 for speaking).
Please note, English language test scores need to be achieved in one test sitting within the last 2 years, and there should be no more than 2 test sittings in a 6 month period.
- Prerequisites
English (Units 3/4, C)
- Recommended prior study
- General Mathematics or Mathematical Methods or Specialist Mathematics (Units 3/4, C); At least one of the sciences: Biology, Chemistry or Physics
To graduate from BH001 Bachelor of Physiotherapy (Honours), a student is required to
- successfully complete 384 units as outlined in the Program Structure
- complete a clinical or research pathway
Physiotherapy Clinical Pathway and Research Pathway
At the end of second year of physiotherapy study at UniSC, high achieving students (with a minimum GPA of 5.0) will have the option of applying to transfer into the research pathway within the Bachelor of Physiotherapy (Honours) and undertake a supervised individualised honours project over years 3 and 4.
Honours Classification calculation
Physiotherapy graduates on the research pathway will be eligible to receive a classified honours qualification calculated on the marks achieved across research dissertation courses.
The determination of the class of honours received is based on the following:
- Class I: overall grade in the range 80% - 100%
- Class IIA: overall grade in the range 70% - 79%
- Class IIB: overall grade in the range 60% - 69%
If the final thesis, however, is less than the average percentage score across the 4 research dissertation courses, the class of honours will be determined by the thesis/dissertation mark. Graduates in the research pathway who score less than 60% across research dissertation courses, and graduates in the clinical pathway will receive an unclassified honours award. This means that physiotherapy graduates who undertake the research pathway may be eligible for direct entry into a Doctor of Philosophy program (AQF10), while all other students would be eligible for entry into Masters of Philosophy research program (or similar) (AQF9).