How to become a speech and language therapist

Wondering how to become a speech and language therapist? This fascinating career path is a unique branch of the medical field that involves elements of linguistics, psychology and neuroscience to help patients develop improved talking and language skills. 

There are multiple routes into this profession – it’s important to work to your strengths and choose the right study and training options to suit your educational background, so you can achieve a bright speech and language therapy job outlook. 

This guide explores various aspects of the postgraduate journey towards working as a speech and language therapist. It will help you with choosing the right speech and language therapy programme, meeting licensing and certification requirements, and ultimately advancing your career as a speech and language therapist. 

CONTENTS 

• Why become a speech and language therapist? 
• How do I become a speech and language therapist? 
• What are the entry requirements? 
• What skills do I need to become a speech and language therapist? 
• What universities offer speech and language therapy courses? 

Why become a speech and language therapist? 

Speech and language therapy is a satisfying profession that is ideally suited to people who are interested in linguistics and helping others. It’s a diverse sector that offers its practitioners a wide variety of specialisms to explore, and flexibility in how they develop their career. 

Your career in speech and language therapy could see you working with all kinds of patients. You might work primarily with children, addressing developmental delays, cleft lips and palates, learning disabilities, selective mutism or developmental language disorders. You might work with adults with brain injuries, stammers, mental health or speech sound disorders, or conditions like autism and ADHD. 

You could work for a range of speech and language therapy organisations in the UK, including the NHS and private businesses. Speech and language therapy salary in the NHS starts at around £27,000 but can range up to around £47,000 for senior and specialist practitioners. It’s even possible to work as an independent therapist in your own practice, giving you control over your business and workload. 

How do I become a speech and language therapist? 

To develop a successful career in this field, you’ll need to understand the educational requirements for speech and language therapy. In all cases, you’ll be working towards registration with the Health & Care Professions Council (HCPC). This is achieved through completing an approved university course – either undergraduate or postgraduate – or a speech and language therapy apprenticeship. 

Your choice of degree type will depend on whether you’ve already completed a degree, what you’ve studied previously, and whether you want to work while you learn. If you’ve completed a degree in an area like psychology, biology, linguistics, social sciences, medicine or education, you can apply for a postgraduate course in speech and language therapy. This will allow you to qualify in two years, rather than the three or four required for undergraduate study. 

Speech and language therapy tasks for students on a postgraduate course typically include lectures and seminars, as well as practical learning and training with real patients, lab work and research training. 

Developing the essential skills for speech and language therapists is a major part of your studies programme, but there’s more you can do to stand out to employers and secure the most interesting and well-compensated roles. 

Building professional networks and connections, as well as gaining practical experience as a speech and language therapist, are both essential activities that you should be pursuing during your postgraduate studies. Professional placements, internships and graduate roles are all extracurricular opportunities to become a more experienced and confident speech and language therapist. 

What are the entry requirements? 

Speech and language therapy requirements for postgraduate study will be different for students depending on their educational background to date, the type of course they’re applying to, and the institution offering the programme. 

Students applying for a pre-registration MSc in Speech and Language Therapy, for example, will typically need a 2:2 or higher in a relevant field, or equivalent professional experience. Applicants for a PhD in the field, however, will need a 2:1 or first-class degree in speech and language pathology, or similar. 

Some courses accept undergraduate honours degrees in areas like modern language, linguistics and English language or literature for entry at postgraduate level, as well as medical qualifications such as medicine and biomedicine. 

It’s sensible to check the specific entry requirements using our course finder tool, to understand the different options open to you for your chosen course. 

What skills do I need to become a speech and language therapist? 

Building a successful speech and language therapy career depends on your ability to identify and nurture the essential skills needed to work in this field. 

Some of the core speech and language therapy skills that you should focus on include: 

Communication and empathy 

Whether you’re working with children or adults, overcoming speech and language difficulties is a challenging process in which your clients and patients are often frustrated and vulnerable. You’ll need to be able to reassure them, build trust, and support them through their tasks. 

Flexibility, adaptability and patience 

Speech and language therapy is often difficult, with progress being inconsistent or slow. You’ll need to be patient and persistent with your patients, as well as aware of different approaches and solutions that could be applied to overcome obstacles. 

Organisational and teamworking skills 

You’ll often be working in a multidisciplinary team to deliver speech and language therapy, and will need to co-ordinate effectively with administrative, managerial, support and other therapeutic staff. Not only that, but you’ll need to manage the workload of various patients and ensure that they are all receiving equal care and attention. 

What universities offer speech and language therapy courses? 

There are 14 universities offering postgraduate courses in speech and language therapy, with around 25 programmes to choose from in total. These study options may relate to different speech and language specialties, as well as having different entry requirements, so it’s important to understand the different choices available to you before making any decisions. 

Our course search tool is ideal for this, making it easy to access all the essential information needed to make a shortlist and come to a great decision for your speech and language therapy degree. 

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