Radiotherapy and Oncology, BSc (Hons)

Therapeutic radiographers are essential in cancer care, collaborating in teams to apply scientific, technical, and interpersonal skills for planning and delivering radiotherapy, while managing side effects with compassion. This BSc in Radiotherapy and Oncology, approved by the Society and College of Radiographers and Health and Care Professions Council, is delivered by experienced professionals, with half the program dedicated to clinical practice. Students access advanced facilities like simulation suites to build confidence for roles in radiotherapy departments.The curriculum balances university learning with placements, covering cancer care, radiation treatment, anatomy, and research methods across three years. Assessment includes coursework, exams, portfolios, and a dissertation. Graduates pursue diverse careers in hospitals, including treatment planning, patient support, management, and research, with opportunities for specialisation or further study in healthcare fields. This program, at St George’s, University of London, prepares students for leadership in a dynamic profession.

The time on the programme is split approximately 50/50 between university based learning and clinical placements. Year 1 In Year 1, you begin your learning about caring for people with cancer, how cancer is treated and concepts of radiation treatment, learning treatment planning skills throughout the course. You will also gain knowledge of anatomy and imaging plus work in the clinical department putting skills and knowledge into practice. You will participate in the Essentials of Radiotherapy module, developing your unique identity as a St George’s University of London Therapeutic Radiographer, learning in an environment alongside different health professional groups, including healthcare sciences, medicine, physiotherapy, diagnostic radiography, occupational therapy, pharmacy and biomedical sciences. Where possible, we also organise interprofessional topic-focused days, for example, on professionalism and team working within healthcare. Year 2 In Year 2, you will build upon your knowledge and skills from Year 1. In the discipline specific modules Principles and Practice of Radiotherapy, you will learn about specific cancers, how we care for people with these tumours and the detailed complex treatment with radiotherapy. Learning on the VERT and Treatment Planning System is embedded within these modules. You will learn about imaging on treatment to ensure treatment accuracy using specialist software that is used in clinical departments. This helps you to become ‘employment ready’. You also study Research Methods in readiness to complete your own research in Year 3. Our remote cloud-based Treatment Planning System means that you can access it on a smart device to help you to continue to practice your Treatment Planning Skills remotely. You will learn treatment planning from Year 1 and build on those important knowledge and skills throughout the three years. Year 3 In the final year, the focus is on integrating your knowledge and practice skills, you will further develop your clinical skills within the radiotherapy department. You will have the opportunity to go on an elective placement, which may be in UK or abroad (subject to successful completion of clinical competencies, clinical hours and academic work). An interprofessional module enables you to learn and work alongside students from physiotherapy, diagnostic radiography and occupational therapy to explore quality and service improvement within healthcare. In the final year you will also be provided an opportunity to engage in a suitable research activity of your choice, where you will plan, design and produce a written article for publication. Many of our students have published their work in radiography journals, for example, one student reviewed the support needs and services for adolescent’s post-cancer; and another published their research on how the risk of heart problems can be reduced when using external beam radiotherapy (ERT) to treat breast cancer. You will be ready to graduate with the full attributes, skills and knowledge required of a therapeutic radiographer in the changing healthcare environment, ready to become future leaders in this exciting profession. Our graduates have gone on to work in NHS hospitals and private providers throughout the country and in Europe, as well as the UK’s specialist National Proton Centres in London and Manchester. You can read more about placement opportunities here: https://www.sgul.ac.uk/study/courses/radiotherapy-and-oncology#course-structure-