Student competition

The HCPC student competition is now open

Social media can be an excellent tool for all kinds of healthcare professionals. It provides opportunities for colleagues to keep in touch and share information promptly, as well as showing examples of best practice. However, it also comes with risks and the potential to breach professional standards.

We invite students who are enrolled in a HCPC approved pre-registration programme to create a learning session for fellow students, which explores the risks and benefits of using social media in your practice as a health and care professional. The winning entry will be awarded a £300 voucher prize.

This is a chance to show off your talents! We’re looking for sessions that are accurate and informative, as well as attention-grabbing, engaging and creative. It's about illustrating best practice and potential pitfalls, and above all it's about helping others understand the social media landscape and their place in it.

You can enter the competition on your own or in a team of up to six students.

Some resources you could use are our:

• Student hub, which provides specific guidance and help for students
• Updated guidance on using social media
• Advice on meeting the standards around communication and social media

What we are looking for

A learning session of no more than 30 minutes that explores the risks and benefits of using social media in your practice as a health and care professional.

Your learning session can be in any format (e.g. a narrated presentation, video, quiz, online workshop, or anything interesting and engaging).

You should create a clear plan for your session. This should be detailed enough for us to understand how the session would run, what would be covered and what the learning objectives are. Detail any slides, media or other resources you would use in the session.

We will consider the following when shortlisting and judging your entry:

• Does the entry comply with the terms and conditions for entry?
• Does the entry accurately reflect the competition brief?
• Are all learning materials that are needed to deliver the session included?
• Do the learning resources accurately present HCPC standards and guidance?
• Does the content accurately identify the:
  • Risks and benefits of social media as a health and care practitioner
  • Standards related to social media
• Are the learning objectives clear for participants and met by the session? 
• Does the session demonstrate the ability to produce materials that are engaging and creative for students? 

Why enter?

The winning entry will be awarded a £300 high street voucher and two runner-up entries will be awarded a £150 high street voucher.

The winning and runner-up entries will be published on the HCPC website and shared with HCPC approved programmes as a teaching resource. We will also promote the top entries across our social media channels.

Take a look at the winners of the 2023 student competition

How to enter

Read our full terms and conditions here. This includes how we will assess your submission.

Complete and submit the entry form, and our EDI monitoring form.

Send your learning session, plan and materials to studentcompetition@hcpc-uk.org and complete the entry form by 23:59 on Sunday 1 September 2024. Do not include your name(s) or education provider name in any of your session materials, only include this information in the application form and subject line of your email.

If you would like to receive this information in a different format, or require reasonable adjustments to enter, please let us know at studentcompetition@hcpc-uk.org.   

And finally

If you have any questions, please contact us on studentcompetition@hcpc-uk.org

Very best of luck with your entry!