About us

Our School is housed in a £22 million, custom built teaching and research facility, situated in the Maindy Park Innovation Campus.

We are a leading optometry and vision sciences school providing opportunities for undergraduate, postgraduate and research study - the only one of its kind in Wales. We have a world class international reputation for our education and vision sciences research.

Our teaching and research activities are also enhanced by our on-site eye clinic, which is open to the public and provides 'in-house' placements and research opportunities for our students.

Research

Our researchers aim to facilitate the detection, diagnosis, monitoring and treatment of vision disorders.

Research at our School has a wide range of fascinating real life applications and has made a positive and lasting impact on the lives of people affected with vision disorders. For example, our Down’s Syndrome Vision Research Unit, led by Dr Maggie Woodhouse OBE, was awarded the UK’s most prestigious academic award, a Queen’s Anniversary Prize, for its pioneering research and treatment of vision problems in children with Down’s Syndrome.

View more examples of the far-reaching impact our research has on society.

Teaching

Our students benefit from hands on experience, involvement from our internationally renowned academic staff and our purpose built facilities. We are passionate about optometry and pride ourselves on our friendly, supportive and inclusive environment.

Training the next generation of optometrists

We train our students to a high standard. 96% of our graduates were in highly skilled jobs 15 months after their course ended (Graduate Outcomes 2020/21 survey) and we have been ranked in the top 3 for Optometry in the Complete University Guide since its inception.

Our students' pass rates for the optometric Professional Qualifying Examinations are consistently been higher than average pass rate. Passing these examinations is essential before becoming an independently practicing optometrist.

Postgraduate opportunities

Our postgraduate research programme provides opportunities for students to gain experience working with world-renowned research leaders, their teams and their collaborators, and gain the skills necessary to pursue a successful academic career on completion.

We provide postgraduate taught courses as well as short courses through our Wales Optometry Postgraduate Education Centre. The Centre is the first postgraduate education centre for optometry in the world. A large choice of courses are available via a combination of distance learning, e-learning and practical days.