Occupational Therapist
Specialist SEND College | South East England | Permanent | Term Time + 2 Weeks
Salary in line with NHS Banding | Full Time
Are you an Occupational Therapist feeling stretched by high caseloads, constant discharge pressures and limited time to see the long-term impact of your work?
This specialist SEND college offers something different.
A highly respected specialist college for young people with complex additional needs is seeking an Occupational Therapist to join their multidisciplinary team on a permanent basis. This is an opportunity to step into a setting where therapy is genuinely valued, integrated into daily practice and centred around meaningful progress rather than rushed outcomes.
Unlike many healthcare environments, this role allows you the time and consistency to build relationships, embed strategies into everyday learning and witness students develop over months and years, not just across short intervention blocks.
The college supports students with Autism, SLD and PMLD through highly personalised educational and therapeutic pathways, helping young people build independence, communication, regulation and life skills in preparation for adulthood.
The Setting
This specialist post-16 environment supports young people with complex learning and developmental needs through a collaborative approach where education and therapy work hand in hand.
Therapists are not treated as external professionals working around a timetable. Instead, therapy is embedded throughout the curriculum and daily routines, allowing students to access consistent support across every part of college life.
You will work closely with:
- Occupational Therapists
- Speech and Language Therapists
- Physiotherapists
- Teaching and Support Staff
- Senior Leadership Team
The Opportunity
This role offers the chance to:
- Manage a specialist caseload within a highly supportive environment
- Deliver meaningful interventions focused on functional independence
- Support students with sensory regulation, feeding, mobility and daily living skills
- Influence how therapy is embedded across the wider college environment
- Provide training and modelling strategies for staff and families
- Develop specialist SEND experience within an established MDT
- Play an active role in Preparation for Adulthood outcomes
Why Therapists Move Into Education
Many therapists who transition from healthcare into specialist education environments do so because they are looking for:
- Greater work-life balance and school holidays
- More time to deliver quality interventions rather than constantly firefighting
- Lower pressure around discharge targets and service throughput
- The opportunity to build long-term therapeutic relationships
- A collaborative culture where therapy is embedded into everyday practice
- The ability to visibly see progress and developmental change over time
This role offers all of the above within a setting that genuinely values therapeutic input.
A Role Designed Around Quality Practice
The college understands the importance of giving therapists the time and support needed to do their best work.
You will benefit from:
- Dedicated time for reports, planning and administration
- A collaborative and supportive leadership team
- Ongoing CPD and professional development opportunities
- Regular supervision and clinical discussion
- The opportunity to see long-term outcomes for students
- School holidays, aside from two weeks worked during the summer period
Who This Role Would Suit
This role would suit an Occupational Therapist who:
- Has experience supporting children or young people with SEND
- Enjoys working collaboratively within multidisciplinary teams
- Is passionate about functional independence and person-centred practice
- Has experience with Autism, SLD, PMLD or complex needs
- May be considering a move away from traditional NHS or community-based pressures
- Wants to work in a setting where therapy can have lasting impact
Opportunities where therapy is fully integrated into education are rare. This college has created an environment where therapists are valued, supported and able to make a genuine difference every single day.
If you are looking for a role where you can slow down, work more holistically and truly see the impact of your interventions over time, this could be the perfect next step in your Occupational Therapy career.