Planning A Career in Speech & Language Therapy? Here’s What You Need to Know

A career in Speech and Language Therapy (often called STL) can be incredibly rewarding. That said, it’s also a demanding discipline and one that takes a lot of dedication.

Combining healthcare, communication, psychology and hands-on practice, STL aims to help people of all ages with communication difficulties. Speech and language therapists also often work with those who have challenges in eating, drinking, and swallowing. Their patients include children with delayed speech development, adults recovering from strokes/brain injuries, and those with complex neurological conditions impacting speech.

All told, it’s a huge field that impacts many people’s lives in meaningful ways and a great opportunity for those looking to make a real difference.

Speech & Language Therapist Jobs

Many speech and language therapists are generalists, taking on diverse caseloads from clinics, schools, hospitals, and elder care institutions. For more severe or unique cases, there are also specialists.

For example, many patients who require STL suffer from a condition called dysphagia. This means that they cannot swallow properly and require treatment to help them eat and drink. Specialist speech and language therapists can work with these patients to find and help treat the root cause of their dysphagia.

Others choose to work with specific age groups. In education, speech and language therapy often goes hand-in-hand with treatment for neurodevelopmental conditions.

That’s not to say STL is an entirely hands-on field. In order to provide the best possible treatment to such a broad range of patients with so many different conditions, therapists need a strong grounding in research and that’s where the academic side comes in.

As with many academic careers, researchers divide their time between conducting clinical trials/studies and teaching students. This gives students direct insight into the latest developments in the field.

How Long Does it Take to Become a Speech & Language Therapist?

To practise STL in the UK you’ll need to study at either degree or postgraduate level. An undergraduate degree generally takes three years to complete, assuming you have the prerequisite qualifications (2/3 A-levels and five GCSEs including English language, maths, and science or equivalent qualifications such as BTECs, T-levels, and NVQs).

If you already hold a relevant undergraduate degree, then you can do an accelerated postgraduate, lasting only two years.

You can also do an apprenticeship degree. On the one hand this allows you to earn as you learn, providing hands on experience and a practical view of the field. That said, apprenticeships can be incredibly demanding. You’ll be expected to complete degree-level work alongside a challenging job. The major upside is that once you’ve done this, you’ll be well placed to jump right into a career. If you’ve got the passion and the dedication, then it’s a great approach.

Of course, that is assuming that you already have a clear idea of where you want your career to take you. The major advantage to a purely academic route is that it keeps your options open as you learn more about the field/industry.

Ultimately there are lots of good speech and language therapy courses you can take in the UK depending on your current education level and plans. When researching, make sure to ask lots of questions about what your options will be after completing the course.

Is STL Right For You?

So that’s how to become a speech and language therapist but what if you’re still on the fence? What should you do if you’re not sure whether to pursue this profession?

If you’ve done your research and you’re still not sure whether you want to follow a career in STL, then we would strongly recommend an academic approach over an apprenticeship. Many people don’t know what they want to do for a career until after university and that’s why plenty of post-graduate courses will allow you to join so long as your undergraduate is at least relevant.

You might even consider a degree in something more broad like linguistics or psychology until you’ve made up your mind about the path you want to follow. You don’t have to specialise right away