Why choose the School of Society, Community and Health
This course scored over 90% student satisfaction rates for teaching and academic support, with 100% satisfaction for individual questions on the course’s intellectual stimulation, level of challenge and prompt assessment feedback (NSS 2025).
On successful course completion, you will be eligible to register with the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC).
Complete 2,420 hours on placement over three years, with regional NHS trusts and other partners including Great Ormond Street Hospital.
About the course
This degree is designed for healthcare workers with an interest in becoming registered operating department practitioners (ODPs), able to offer compassionate, safe and effective care through the perioperative period - a time when people can be at their most vulnerable. You develop the skills to offer coordinated, patient-centred care alongside surgeons, anaesthetists and theatre nurses in a range of perioperative care settings including operating theatres, emergency departments, intensive care and recovery.
Find out if you are eligible for £5,000 a year NHS learning support funding.
Course accreditation and endorsement
This course is accredited by the Health and Care Professions Council (the registering body). On course completion, you will be eligible to apply for registration with the HCPC as an operating department practitioner.
This course is endorsed by the College of Operating Department Practitioners
Facilities and specialist equipment
Fully immersive simulation suites which allow you to practise your skills in ‘real-world’ situations including:
- a state-of-the-art mock operating theatre
- anaesthetic equipment
- recovery room
- immersive suite, to practise simulation safely in different environments
Industry links
We currently work closely with the following practice partners:
- Bedfordshire Hospitals
- Milton Keynes Hospital
- Northampton General Hospital
- Lister Hospital
- Spire Harpenden
- Great Ormond Street Hospital
- Royal Papworth Hospital
- Harefield Hospital
- Keech Hospice Care
- Feed Up Warm Up, a homeless charity in Hertfordshire
Student experience
Develop the knowledge, competencies and clinical skills to provide high-quality, evidence-based care and to work confidently within a multi-professional team.
Practise your skills in high-tech simulation suites, supported by staff who are healthcare professionals.
Gain hands-on experience across a range of healthcare environments.
The University organises your placements for you within local trusts and other external partners - so you don’t have to worry about sourcing your own work experience.
Extend your knowledge with field trips to the Old Operating Theatre museum and the Royal College of Surgeons, both in London.
Take the opportunity to learn from sector-leading guest speakers at an ODP conference hosted by the University.
Benefit from a course that offers you the support of a qualified mentor.
Hone your critical thinking and decision-making skills so you can respond quickly to complex critical situations.
Gain a HCPC-approved qualification and a skill-set much sought after in the job market.
with Professional Practice Year
This course has the option to be taken over four years which includes a year placement in industry. Undertaking a year in industry has many benefits. You gain practical experience and build your CV, as well as being a great opportunity to sample a profession and network with potential future employers.
There is no tuition fee for the placement year enabling you to gain an extra year of experience for free.
*Only available to UK/EU students.
with Foundation Year
A Degree with a Foundation Year gives you guaranteed entry to an Undergraduate course.
Whether you’re returning to learning and require additional help and support to up-skill, or if you didn’t quite meet the grades to pursue an Undergraduate course, our Degrees with Foundation Year provide a fantastic entry route for you to work towards a degree level qualification.
With our guidance and support you’ll get up to speed within one year, and will be ready to seamlessly progress on to undergraduate study at Bedfordshire.
The Foundation Year provides an opportunity to build up your academic writing skills and numeracy, and will also cover a range of subject specific content to fully prepare you for entry to an Undergraduate degree.
This is an integrated four-year degree, with the foundation year as a key part of the course. You will need to successfully complete the Foundation Year to progress on to the first year of your bachelor’s degree.
Why study a degree with a Foundation Year?
- Broad-based yet enough depth to give you credible vocational skills
- Coverage of a variety of areas typically delivered by an expert in this area
- Gain an understanding of a subject before choosing which route you wish to specialise in
- Great introduction to further study, and guaranteed progression on to one of our Undergraduate degrees
The degrees offering a Foundation Year provide excellent preparation for your future studies.
During your Foundation Year you will get the opportunity to talk to tutors about your degree study and future career aspirations, and receive guidance on the most appropriate Undergraduate course to help you achieve this; providing you meet the entry requirements and pass the Foundation Year.
Year 1
Academic skills - Build the study skills you need to learn effectively, make progress and succeed. Inclusivity and diversity in care - Learn to plan and deliver patient-centred care that embodies equality, diversity and inclusion. Fundamentals of perioperative practice - Experience working within the care team, observing a range of surgical and anaesthetic interventions. Professional identities for operating department practitioners – Learn the professional values underpinning ODP and how these help develop professionalism. Sciences for perioperative practice – Explore other fields relevant to ODP including anatomy, physiology and sociology.
Year 2
Change management and innovative practice – Be able to evaluate care provision and measure results using benchmarks. Pharmacology and pathophysiology for perioperative practice – Explore the medications used in ODP settings and the care of patients with an underlying illness. Evidence-based practice for operating department practitioners – Understand the relationship between research and practice while gaining skills in critical analysis. Mental health matters – Gain an understanding of core mental health concepts so you can support patients’ or carers’ mental health needs. Advancing perioperative practice – Develop your hands-on anaesthetic and scrub skills in areas including emergency surgery, obstetrics and paediatrics.
Year 3
Emerging care roles for operating department practitioners - How to provide safe, effective and personalised patient care in emerging clinical settings such as A&E, specialist care and transplant coordination. Operating department practice project – Gather, analyse and evaluate information to answer a research question aimed at improving professional practice. Supervision and leadership for perioperative practice – Develop your understanding of what it takes to be an effective, confident ODP team leader. Medicines management and pharmacology – Calculate drug doses, administer them, monitor their effect and take prompt action if there are adverse effects.
The course assessment strategy is closely aligned to the teaching and learning strategy which is designed to have: immediate relevance to practice; draw on expertise-by-experience; foster active learning and be learner-centred in approach. A distinct feature of the course is the range of assessment tasks including those that allow you to undertake workplace relevant assessments that can have an immediate impact in practice. Examples include: written assignments ranging from reflective pieces to academic essays culminating in a service improvement project assessed practice within your placements; computer based examinations and oral presentations.
The use of professional and theoretical literature will increase in complexity depth and breadth as you progress through the course. In the first year you will be expected to demonstrate knowledge and understanding of the evidence-based literature and apply this to practice. In contrast the second year will demand deeper analysis and evaluation of the literature and its applications. For example you will develop your ability to study and practice more independently. You will be expected to identify a subject that particularly interests you based upon the NHS values and propose a service improvement project supported by appropriate literature.
Assessments of clinical skills will begin with observation of your participation in caring for patients/service users during practice placements. Expectations of the levels of skill demonstrated by you will increase over time and by the final assessments you will be expected to manage more complex and challenging encounters in a non-judgemental empathic manner in accordance with NHS values.
Careers
On successful completion of the course, you will be eligible to apply to register with the Health and Care Professions Council as an operating department practitioner. This opens up a career path as an operating department practitioner in a range of contexts within NHS trusts as well as the private, voluntary and independent sectors.
Postgraduate opportunities include specialising in particular clinical areas such as paediatrics, critical care and cardiovascular surgery, and include postgraduate MSc and PhD study opportunities across a wide range of perioperative and allied health professions' specialisms. There are also education roles for graduates as hourly paid lecturers in areas such as clinical simulation.
Fees for this course
UK
The full-time standard undergraduate tuition fee for the Academic Year 2025/26 is £9,535 per year. You can apply for a loan from the Government to help pay for your tuition fees. You can also apply for a maintenance loan from the Government to help cover your living costs. See www.gov.uk/student-finance
Excellence Scholarships
Worth £2,500 per year of study over three years when you score a defined number of UCAS tariff points from specified qualifications*
» If you don’t qualify for an Excellence Scholarship but have 120 UCAS tariff points, you have enough points for one of our Achievement Scholarships offering £500 per year of study**
» Other scholarships, bursaries and financial support packages are available
* Points requirements vary depending on type of qualification.
** Threshold is 120 UCAS tariff points across all awarding bodies and qualifications.
International
The full-time standard undergraduate tuition fee for the academic year 2025/26 is £16,900 per year.
There are range of Scholarships available to help support you through your studies with us.
A full list of scholarships can be found here.
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