Optometry

Our Optometry BSc will give you the scientific and clinical knowledge you need to progress to the next step in your career as a pre-registration optometrist.

Why study with us?

Ranked No 1

We were ranked 1st for optometry in the Complete University Guide 2022.

98% employment

98% of our graduates were in highly skilled jobs 15 months after their course ended.(Graduate Outcomes 2018/19 survey)

£22 million optometry facility

Our School is housed in a dedicated £22 million optometry facility with in-built eye clinic.

Accredited by the General Optical Council (GOC)

Our undergraduate courses meet the high quality standards in education set out by the GOC.

90% overall student satisfaction

Over the last 4 years, 90% of our students said they were satisfied overall with our 3-year course.

(National Student Survey 2018 - 2021)

Research-active staff involved in course design and delivery

Most of our teaching staff are practising researchers and, in many cases, leading experts in their fields.

Studying optometry at Cardiff has been a great experience for me. Alongside using advanced optometric technologies and working with real patients, the stand-out aspect is the sense of community between students, lecturers and supervisors.

Elicia Perkins - BSc Optometry

Courses

Entry year

Optometry with a Preliminary Year (BSc)

Full time, 4 years

This course has been designed for people who have the desire and academic ability to study for a degree in Optometry, but who don’t necessarily have the right academic background.

Our videos

Hear what our students say

We are a friendly, innovative and welcoming School with a passion for optometry. We’re proud of our strong student community and both our students and graduates often describe studying here as a ‘family like environment’. Hear what some of our students say about studying here.

What is an Optometrist?

The role of an optometrist is expanding – discover more about this exciting healthcare profession.

Our School

Our School is based in a £22 million purpose-built optometry facility and is situated at the Maindy Park Innovation Campus. We are conveniently located close to the other academic buildings, the Students’ Union, city centre shops, attractive parkland and several of the student residences.

Along with our outstanding research facilities, we also have dedicated undergraduate facilities to ensure you have the best experience possible, including our own eye clinic which is open to the public and provides in-house placements for students.

Our School

An undergraduate practical session

An undergraduate eye examination.

Our on-site eye clinic

Undergraduate students in our teaching clinics.

An undergraduate clinic tutorial.

Students outside our School

An optometry tutorial

Our undergraduate students conducting an Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT) examination.

Optometry students

Undergraduate students practicing their examination techniques.

Your career

As a qualified optometrist, you will have a wide range of career options available to you with excellent progression opportunities. Private practice, the hospital eye service, teaching, and research are just some of the careers available for optometry graduates. Registration also opens possibilities to work abroad as an optometry qualification from the UK is highly regarded worldwide.

You may also wish to complete further study in order to specialise. We offer a wide range of postgraduate opportunities available for optometry graduates.

View our postgraduate opportunities

Discover more

Our courses

Find out more about our undergraduate, postgraduate taught, postgraduate research and CPD courses.

Our School

Find out more about our School, including our facilities, research and on-site eye clinic.

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Twitter

The optometry course at Cardiff is second to none. The quality of research being conducted is outstanding, and that manifests itself in the quality of teaching; I always felt as though I was surrounded by professors, lecturers and supervisors that are truly passionate about what they do.

Drew Johnson - BSc Optometry graduate