Getting your Eyesight Tested

IMPORTANT: The information below applies to the UK only

If you live outside the UK, you may be able to purchase spectacles from Specs2go if you have a valid prescription that complies with the conditions relating to your country of residence apply.

Who can test your eyesight?

Only ophthalmic opticians (also referred to as optometrists) or ophthalmologists (ophthalmic medical practitioners) are allowed to test your eyesight. Opticians and ophthalmologists have to be registered with the UK General Optical Council - see address below. After completion of the eyesight test, you will be handed your written prescription, from which your glasses or contact lenses can be made up.

You are entitled to have your spectacles made up by any shop, or other business that makes spectacles, provided they are made to the valid prescription.

This provision does not apply to under-16 year olds or people that are registered as partially sighted.

Free sight tests in the UK

Free tests are available to:

• Children under 16
• Full-time students under 19
• People needing complex lenses
• Registered blind persons
• Registered partially sighted people
• If you or a member of your family suffer from glaucoma
• If you suffer from diabetes
• If you or your partner is in receipt of UK Income Support; UK Family Credit; or UK Disability Working Allowance.

If you are on low income and would like an eyesight test, please ask for form HC1 at your local Benefits Agency office and from opticians and doctors. Full or partial help with the cost of the test is available from those who qualify. The form should be completed and sent to:

Health Benefits Division
Department of Social Security
Sandyford House
Archibald Terrace
Jesmond
Newcastle upon Tyne
NE2 1DB

Tel: 0191 225 6300

Leaflets are available in UK Post Offices explaining the definition of low income.

War Pensioners may be able to claim back some or all of the cost of the sight test and glasses if the need for glasses results from a condition for which you receive a war pension. Make initial contact with:

Treatment Group War Pensions Agency
Norcross
Blackpool FY5 3WP

Tel: 01253 858858 (War Pensions Helpline)

Complaints about eyesight tests

Complaints should first of all be made to the optician concerned or the shop or company that sold the glasses. If you are not satisfied, complaints about private sight tests can be made to:

Optical Consumer Complaints Service (OCCS)
PO Box 4685
London SE1 6ZB

Tel: 0207 261 1017

You can also complain to the OCCS about glasses or lenses sold to you by a registered optician. It does not matter whether you bought them privately or with the help of an NHS voucher. If you wish to complain about an NHS sight test, the NHS has a special complaints procedure. Your optician has to tell you how to complain. In the event that you are not satisfied, you should take your complaint within 6 months to the Local Health Authority.

Complaints about professional misconduct by a registered optician should be made to:

General Optical Council
41 Harley Street
London W1N 2DJ

Tel: 0207 580 3898.

The GOC has sweeping powers including suspension from practice and striking off.

Want to know more about lenses?

Origins of the lens
A brief history of spectacles
What your spectacles prescription means
Myths about spectacles
About sunglasses
About lens tints