Most physiotherapy courses across the UK will have an interview that makes up part of the application process.
Each university has their own interview process and format and they can vary massively, therefore, it is very useful to ask the university exactly what to expect.
Whilst the formats vary, the information that the universities are trying to gain from you will be very similar throughout.
The following guide will take you through some of the most important things to consider when preparing for your interview.
To begin to plan for your interview, the first thing you should do is consider these four very important questions:
1.Why do you want to be a physiotherapist?
2.What do you know about physiotherapy?
3.What skills does a physiotherapist require?
4.Why do you think you will be a good physiotherapist?
All universities will want to know the answers to these questions. Whilst the questions they ask may not be as explicit as above, they will be looking for you to answer these questions throughout your interview.
Check out the video as we go through each question in more detail or read about it below.
Why do you want to be a physiotherapist?
Your answer to this question is likely to be similar to the opening of your personal statement. You need to be able to explain why you chose physiotherapy as a profession to pursue.
Many people have emotive stories about their own experience or an experience they witnessed a family member encounter. If this isn’t you, that is okay! You just need to make it clear to the interviewer that you have a key interest in physiotherapy for a specific reason.
Make sure you have a well rehearsed answer, this is often one of the first questions interviews will ask so if your question goes well then you'll feel a lot more comfortable for the rest of your interview!
What do you know about physiotherapy?
You need to show the interviewer that you have a broad knowledge of the physiotherapy profession.
The basics include knowing about musculoskeletal (MSK), neurology and respiratory physiotherapy - ensure you know exactly how physiotherapy can help in all of these situations.
For more information on what physiotherapists do, check out our Physiotherapy Education pages!
For these questions, it is important that you can show you have learn more about physiotherapy from your work experience. Work experience is incredibly valuable for many reasons - when answering questions about your knowledge of physiotherapy you should give personal examples of things you observed during your work experience.
What skills do physiotherapists require?
There are many answers to this question. The skills that you name are not so important, rather focus on the reason why you think they are important. The better you explain the reason why a skill is important, the better you answer.
You need to show to the interviewer that you understand why this skill is important to the profession and for bonus marks; if the question allows, you should explain how you have demonstrated these skills previously in past experiences.
Why do you think you will be a good physiotherapist?
In the past two questions, you have explained to the interviewer what physiotherapy is and what skills are required. This question is specifically asking, why you think that you have the necessary skills and knowledge to become a physiotherapist.
Be clear on exactly what person qualities you can bring that will be useful as a physiotherapist and always use examples to back up ever point that you make.
In no particular order:
Wider knowledge of physiotherapy
Teamwork/multi-disciplinary team
Care/empathy/compassion
Motivation to learn
Work experience
Self-Reflection
Patient-centred approach
NHS Values & 6C's
Passion to help people live to their full potential
Very frequently, universities will want to know why you want to go to their university.
In reality, this might be an interview for your 5th choice university and your not massively keen, however, in order to get an offer, you need to impress them with you knowledge of the course and the university.
There are three main things about the university you should make sure you are aware of:
Study the universities physiotherapy modules – these details should be on the university’s website (if not, they will not expect you to know about it).
Make sure that you can explain to them why you think the organisation of the course is good. For example, “I really like that the teaching of MSK, neurology and respiratory parts of physiotherapy are integrated into one module in third year because I know that in real world scenarios it is unlikely that a neurology patient will have no MSK issues or equivalent combinations”.
Other things you may comment on are the placements (length/frequency), joint teaching with other courses, types of assessments and number of face-to-face teaching hours.
Find out about unique opportunities the university has on offer - often these are well advertised because they use it as a marketing strategy for their course.
This might be in the form of an elective placement, additional course opportunities (like partnerships with sports clubs), volunteer opportunities etc.
If you avoid this, you have missed the whole purpose of their marketing and the interviewer may think you are uninterested by their amazing opportunities.
This goes without saying but you should really get to know a bit about the university and the city it is in.
Wherever you interview, you can adapt the answer the setting of your interview.
For example: if applying at a campus university, “I love that it is a campus because the university and course has a real sense of community”, if applying for a city university, “I love that the university is integrated within the city because it gives a real sense of belonging and I love the busy city life”.
TOP TIP: Often applicants feel like they have to only focus on answering the question. This is also a great opportunity to demonstrate your own experiences and apply them to the scenario to explain your answer.
Scenario questions are common in physiotherapy interviews. They give the interviewer an opportunity to see you perception of the role of a physiotherapist, how you react to different situations and what interpersonal skills you demonstrate.
The interview is not designed specifically designed to test any in-depth physiotherapy knowledge. The universities are looking for attributes that match with that of a good physiotherapist, therefore, scenario questions are a great opportunity to ensure that you are well rounded.
Scenario questions may be phrased or designed in a number of situations. These include (but are not limited to):
- Being asked to act out a scene with the interviewer.
- Explaining what you would do in a certain situation.
- Watching a video and explaining something or reacting to it.
Examples of scenario situations may involved a certain patient condition such as dementia. You may then be asked to explain how and why physiotherapists are involved with this patient.
Additionally, they may present you with a common situation experienced as a physiotherapists. For example, “A patient calls you over and complains that the nurses keep ignoring them and they have urinated the bed, what would you do?”
Another common scenario is where you are given a difficult situation where the conflict needs to be resolved. They may ask how or what you would do to get out of these situations.
As previously said, scenario questions are complex and often worry a lot of students. Keep answers simple, think about your core physiotherapy and remember, they are not expecting an expert physiotherapist answer!
Physiotherapy interviews can be daunting, however, with the right preparation, education and thinking, it will feel much easier to have confidence in yourself.
Universities are looking for candidates that show good physiotherapy potentials – these candidates will show that they have done wider reading around all areas of the profession, demonstrate the interpersonal skills requires (teamwork, communications skills, empathy – to name a few!), articulate good awareness of self and a great motivation to study physiotherapy.
Studying physiotherapy is incredibly competitive, with this advice, you are one step ahead. If you would like to take a leap forwards from the pack, check out our 1-on-1 interview advice service HERE.
