Conditions

Don't be daunted about applying for CSP student membership. Use this page to find out more about the conditions the Society sets and what you need to do to meet them. Public protection issues are also put in context.

Introduction

The process of applying to become a CSP student member is designed to:

Be clear and transparent
Give you swift access to CSP benefits and services
Complement processes enacted by your host higher education institution [HEI]
Fit with the high standards of conduct the Society sets for all its members
Uphold the Society's commitment to achieving equality and promoting diversity both in the physiotherapy profession and its own membership.

Conditions of CSP student membership

To become a CSP student member you need to:

Be enrolled on a Society-approved qualifying programme in physiotherapy
Complete and sign the Society's application form to verify you:
- Agree to abide by the CSP Rules of Professional Conduct and bye-laws
- Have given full, accurate and up-to-date information in applying for membership.

Making a confidential disclosure

You also need to disclose, confidentially, information in support of your application if you have, in the UK or elsewhere,

Any criminal convictions or police cautions
Been declared bankrupt
Been suspended from the register and/or the subject of fitness to practice proceedings by a professional or regulatory body.

If these additional requirements relate to you, please be assured that having to make a disclosure is not an automatic bar to CSP student membership and that the Society is committed to considering your application fully and fairly.

If the further requirements set above apply to you, your application must be supported by the following material addressed to the CSP Professional Regulation Officer:

A personal statement detailing your disclosure and related circumstances
A reference from someone (not a friend or relative) with professional or community standing who has known you for at least two years
A letter from a physiotherapy educator at the HEI at which you are enrolled, explaining the screening process through which you went prior to admission to the programme and clarification as to whether the HEI is aware of the focus of your disclosure
Relevant documents: please see Box A below

Box A: additional information requirements

Depending on the nature of your disclosure to the CSP, you will need to provide:

A copy of a recent enhanced disclosure from the relevant authority
A copy of a bankruptcy order
Details of disciplinary action, including the sanctions imposed and the outcome, taken by a regulatory or professional body.

For full guidance on the information you need to supply and the process through which your disclosure will go, please use the PDF download links at the foot of this page, or contact the CSP at enquiries@csp.org.uk or on 020 7306 6666.

The broader context of public protection

A range of organisations operates processes to protect the public. These are enacted at different stages in your progression to becoming a qualified, practising physiotherapist: for further information, see box B below:

Box B: public protection - different stages and perspectives

HEIs consider whether you are fit to undertake a programme of academic learning that also confers professional status and involves practice elements through which you come into direct contact with patients - they therefore balance providing learning opportunities with ensuring that individuals are safe to go into practice settings and prepare for professional practice
The CSP considers whether you are fit to be a student member of itself as a professional body that sets and upholds high standards of professional conduct; following a similar process once qualified, you should progress to chartered membership
The HPC considers your eligibility, on qualification, for registration and therefore your eligibility to hold the title of, and practise as, a physiotherapist
Employers consider whether to employ you as a physiotherapist and therefore put you in a position of trust with patients - they need to be confident that employees will not present a threat to the public whom they serve.

Once admitted to student membership, you should inform the CSP of any matter(s) that relate to the list above that arise during your studies (as well as notifying your host HEI).

The value of CSP student membership

CSP student membership will help you to develop your professionalism, and all this implies about understanding and taking on the responsibilities of professional status, as well as earning its privileges in terms of autonomy and self-regulation. It will give you access to resources, advice and networking opportunities that will form important sources of support in your journey to becoming a physiotherapist.