School of Optometry and Vision Sciences

Optometry (BSc)

The Optometry degree course at Cardiff has been designed to be stimulating, comprehensive and relevant to the needs of a career in Optometry. One of the main functions of an Optometrist is to assess eye health, whilst also being able to correct long and short sightedness and to detect any disease that may affect the eye or the visual system. The course at Cardiff is of three years duration and is designed to provide you with the scientific and clinical knowledge that you will need as your foundation to becoming a fully qualified and practising Optometrist. Our students are highly satisfied with their experience at Cardiff according to the Unistats data released in 2011.

Great emphasis is placed on the practical aspects and you will spend considerable time in our purpose-built clinic which is open to members of the public who require eye examination as well as children and adults with special needs.

In the most recent Higher Education Funding Council assessment of undergraduate teaching in UK Optometry departments, the School of Optometry and Vision Sciences in Cardiff was awarded the designation 'excellent'. This was partly because of the excellent staff-student relations and friendly atmosphere that exists within the School. The School has 28 academic and clinical staff, many of whom are world-class experts in their field of research, attracting several thousands of pounds each year in grant funding for their work. About 80-90 undergraduates are accepted each year and the School has a total student body of nearly 280, which also includes a number of postgraduate students, carrying out research for a doctorate degree.

Professional Training

Successful optometry students graduate after three years of study with a BSc (Hons) in Optometry. With a final BSc degree classification of 2ii or higher, you can proceed to take up an employed position (subject to visa regulations) in community or hospital optometry to undertake your final training – a pre-registration period.
This further 'pre-registration' period of training is under the supervision of a qualified optometrist, and the student is required to pass work-based assessment and final professional examinations. Graduates from this School rarely experience difficulties in obtaining a 'pre-registration' post, but if the competencies or the required degree classifications are not obtained, the student will need to discuss the remedial steps needed with the  College of Optometrists, before progressing on to their pre-registration training.
After successful completion of the pre-registration period (usually one year), you will then be able to register with the General Optical Council as an optometrist.

See this course on the University's Coursefinder website.

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