Merit and Fellowship Awards

A RCOT Fellowship is the highest honour we can present to our members to recognise exceptional service and outstanding contribution to the profession, and RCOT, over many years.

There are three categories of Fellowship:

Fellowship (for a Professional Member)

You can nominate any occupational therapist who will have been a professional member of RCOT for at least 10 years at the time of the award. 

Fellowship (for an Associate Member)

You can nominate an occupational therapists who will have been an associate member of RCOT for at least 10 years at the time of the award. 

Honorary Fellowship (for a non-member)

You can nominate individuals who are not an occupational therapist or a member of RCOT. They will have made an exceptional contribution to either promote the occupational therapy profession or will have provided distinguished service to RCOT.

The Merit Awards recognise a significant achievement by our members at any stage in their career and are open to all of our members (excluding students and apprentices). They are often a first step towards a full Fellowship.

The award recognises their contribution to the profession. This may be, but is not limited to, a contribution:

• locally or regionally
• in a specialist field of practice
• in a diverse area of practice.

Anyone you nominate will be recognised by their peers in the occupational therapy community for excellence in their field of work and their special contribution to the profession.

We’re keen to increase and promote the diversity within our profession and encourage people from a range of backgrounds to nominate and be nominated for Fellowship and Merit Awards.  

This is a short summary of defining characteristics of those who can be nominated. You can find a more detailed criteria in the guidance documents associated with each of the awards. 

• Fellowship (for a Professional Member)  

Nominations are open to occupational therapists who will have been a Professional Member of RCOT for at least 10 years.  

• Associate Fellowship (for an Associate Member) 

Nominations are open to occupational therapists who will have been an Associate Member of RCOT for at least 10 years.  

• Honorary Fellowship (for a non-member) 

Nominations are open to individuals who are not an occupational therapist or a member of RCOT.  

• Merit Awards 

Nominations are open to RCOT members at any stage in their career (excluding students and apprentices). 

Any current member of RCOT.

Although students and apprentices cannot be nominated, they can submit nominations and get involved with the process.

Yes, they will. A testimony from the nominee is required to complete the nomination.

In addition to the main nominator, each nomination requires an additional two members to support it. However, we can only receive one nomination per nominee.

No, all nominations must be submitted in a typed and electronic format. 

The Fellowship and Merit Awards Committee will ultimately choose the winners of these awards. They’ll decide if they meet the criteria and standards. The committee will give a final recommendation to the BAOT/RCOT Council to approval. The Chair of Council will contact all nominees and the main nominators to let them know the outcome.

All submissions will be recognised on receipt. 

Nominees and main nominators will be informed of the outcome in January 2024.

Those who receive a Fellowship Award will be able to call themselves a ‘Fellow / Associate Fellow / Honorary Fellow of RCOT’.

Winners will be recognised on our website, in our magazine, OTnews, and in a digital publication celebrating excellence at RCOT.

We won’t be able to share information or reasons about why a nomination was or wasn’t approved.

You can contact our RCOT Fellowship and Merit awards team: fellowship.awards@rcot.co.uk or phone us on 020 3141 4600.

• Dr Maria Avantaggiato-Quinn, Associate AHP Director CYP Services, Cumbria, Northumberland, Tyne and Wear, NHS Foundation Trust
• Professor Katrina Bannigan, Professor of Occupational Therapy, Glasgow Caledonian University
• Professor Patricia McClure, Associate Head of School, School of Health Sciences, Ulster University

• Musharrat Ahmed-Landeryou, Associate Professor in Occupational Therapy, London South Bank University, Co-founder BAMEOTUK
• Rachael Booth Gardiner, Occupational Therapist, Co-founder AbleOTUK
• Louise Clark, Consultant Occupational Therapist – Stroke and Neuro Rehab
• Natalie Jones, Clinical Academic Occupational Therapist, Associate Lecturer Sheffield Hallam University, NIHR Clinical Doctoral Research Fellow
• Emma Linley, Clinical Specialist Occupational Therapist and Team Lead
• Dr Fiona Maclean, Associate Professor of Occupational Therapy
• Janice McClymont, Head of Occupational Therapy Services and Professional Lead, NHS Lanarkshire
• Jo Vallom-Smith, Independent Occupational Therapist
• Jenny Welford, Specialist Occupational Therapist