Speech and Language Therapy

Speech and language therapy is a healthcare profession focused on supporting people who have difficulties with communication, eating, drinking, or swallowing. Speech and language therapists work with children and adults across the full lifespan, helping people with conditions including speech and language delay, stuttering, aphasia following stroke, voice disorders, autism spectrum conditions, cleft palate, and the swallowing difficulties that can accompany neurological disease or head and neck cancer. The profession requires a combination of linguistic and scientific knowledge, strong clinical skills, and the human qualities needed to work effectively with people who may find communication itself difficult or distressing.

At the University of Reading, this four-year full-time programme leads to a qualification recognised by the Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists and the Health and Care Professions Council, which is the regulatory body for the profession. Graduating from an approved programme makes you eligible to register and practise as a speech and language therapist in the UK. The programme combines academic study in linguistics, phonetics, psychology, anatomy and physiology, and clinical science with extensive clinical placement experience in NHS and other settings, allowing you to develop the practical skills and professional judgement that registration requires.

You will study normal and atypical communication development, the assessment and diagnosis of speech and language disorders, the management of dysphagia, the frameworks used to plan and evaluate therapy, and the evidence base that informs clinical practice. Clinical placements take place in paediatric and adult settings, giving you experience across the full range of the profession before you qualify.

Speech and language therapists work in NHS trusts, schools, children's centres, care homes, hospices, and specialist rehabilitation units. The profession is in sustained demand, particularly in paediatric services and neurological rehabilitation. Experienced therapists can specialise in areas such as autism, augmentative and alternative communication, dysphagia, or voice, and can progress into clinical leadership, consultancy, and research roles.

Postgraduate clinical specialist training and academic research in linguistics and communication disorders are both accessible to qualified speech and language therapists.