Interested in becoming a physiotherapist? As you probably already know, some physiotherapy courses can be pretty darn competitive to be in to!
But you have quite a few options. Here are all the universities that offer physiotherapy degrees in Queensland.
Undergraduate degrees (ie. Bachelor degrees)
Undergraduate degrees are open to almost anyone. You don’t have to have studied at university before to get in to an undergraduate course.
What you do need to do is meet the entry requirements (like prerequisite subjects) and have a high enough rank to be competitive for entry compared to other applicants.
Here’s a quick overview of each of the undergraduate physiotherapy programs around Queensland, including the university, location, degree name, pre-requisite subjects and rank needed to get in in the 2021/2022 main offer round (13 January 2022).
| University | Location(s) | Degree name | Pre-requisite subjects | Rank cutoff (incl. adjustments) in 2021 |
| Australian Catholic University (ACU) | Banyo (Brisbane) | Bachelor of Physiotherapy | A General English subject and one of Biology, Chemistry or Physics | 98.50 |
| Central Queensland University (CQU) | Bundaberg or Rockhampton | Bachelor of Physiotherapy (Honours) | A General English subject and one of Chemistry, Biology, Physics, Health or Physical Education | 77.00 |
| Griffith University | Nathan (Brisbane) or Gold Coast | Bachelor of Physiotherapy | A General English subject | 97.50 |
| James Cook University (JCU) | Townsville | Bachelor of Physiotherapy | A General English subject and Maths Methods and one of Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Psychology, Health or Physical Education | 88.90 |
| The University of Queensland (UQ) | St Lucia (Brisbane) | Bachelor of Physiotherapy (Honours) | A General English subject and one of Biology, Chemistry or Physics | 99.50 |
As you can see, if you want to study physiotherapy in a metro area in Queensland, you’ll need a much higher rank than if you’d like to study somewhere like Townsville, Bundaberg or Rockhampton.
Post-graduate degrees (ie. Masters degrees)
Post-graduate degrees are courses that are only open to people who have already completed a bachelor degree. They are usually faster to complete (2 years instead of 4 years), but can also be more expensive because they are not usually “Commonwealth Supported”.
In Queensland, there is only one post-graduate course that you can do to become a physiotherapist:
| University | Location | Degree name | Pre-requisite studies | GPA cutoff in 2020 |
| The University of Queensland (UQ) | St Lucia (Brisbane) | Master of Physiotherapy Studies | Relevant bachelor degree, with some human anatomy & physiology study | 5.97 |
There is another post-graduate physiotherapy course at the University of Queensland — called the Master of Physiotherapy — but this course is for people who are already qualified physiotherapists. So keep that in mind when you’re researching – other universities around Australia, like Uni of SA, Swinburne, and others, also offer Master of Physiotherapy courses but these are for people who are already qualified physiotherapists.
Which Queensland universities don’t offer physiotherapy?
At the moment, the following universities don’t offer physiotherapy courses:
| University | Similar degrees that are offered at this university |
| Queensland University of Technology (QUT) | Bachelor of Podiatry Bachelor of Clinical Exercise Physiology |
| University of Southern Queensland (USQ) | Bachelor of Health Sciences, majoring in Clinical Exercise Physiology |
| University of Sunshine Coast (USC) | Bachelor of Clinical Exercise Physiology Bachelor of Health Science (includes a Prosthetics & Orthotics major that is only available at one other uni in Australia) Bachelor of Occupational Therapy (Honours) |
Think you’ll apply to study physiotherapy in Queensland?
Then make sure you:
â–¢ Have a good idea of what the career is like, including day-to-day tasks, job prospects, and salary.
â–¢ Check you’ll meet the prerequisites for the uni(s) you’re interested in
â–¢ Check you have a chance of getting a high enough rank to get an offer
â–¢ Have a back up plan, in case you don’t get an offer on your first try
Then, when QTAC opens in August, you can jump in and apply!
Need any advice?
You might want to talk to:
- The uni(s) you’re interested in
- The Tertiary Admissions Centre (TAC) you’ll apply to (in Queensland, that’s QTAC)
- A Careers Counsellor, like me!
Good luck!
Tom
Photo by Nino Liverani
