GOC (General Optical Council): Registration, Exams and Fees

• Optometrists (fully qualified register)
• Dispensing opticians (fully qualified register)
• Student optometrists
• Student dispensing opticians
• Optical businesses (bodies corporate)

• Specialty entries on the optometrist register, such as independent prescribing

• You qualified as an optometrist outside the UK. If you qualified in the USA or Canada at an ACOE-accredited school, you use the separate direct entry route.
• You completed three years' full-time (or equivalent part-time) optometry training at a level equivalent to a UK post-baccalaureate qualification.
• You are legally qualified to practise optometry in a country outside the UK.
• You have practised for one year within the last ten years, unsupervised and after qualifying.
• You are registered with the regulatory body in your country of practice, if the profession is regulated there.
• You have Academic IELTS or IELTS for UKVI (Academic) at 7.0 overall, with at least 7.0 in speaking and no other section below 6.0, taken at an official test centre. Online IELTS and IELTS One Skill Retake are not accepted, and no other English test is accepted.
• You have verified your professional qualification through the GOC's partner platform, Qualification Check (QC), before you submit the application form.
• Direct entry (USA and Canada only): an ACOE-accredited qualification, a current licence with a US state board or Canadian provincial or territorial body, a certificate of good standing from that body, the same IELTS scores and a QC check.
• TU Dublin BSc Optometry graduates: the GOC withdraws approval of this qualification from 31 October 2026. Applications made on or before that date can use the fast-track route; from 1 November 2026 these graduates use the international process.

Check your route with the route finder

1. 1

   1. Complete the GOC self-assessment form

   Start with the GOC's online registering from overseas self-assessment form. The GOC says it replies by email within three working days with the list of documents and, if you look eligible, the application form. Answer accurately: the form decides which route you are sent down.
2. 2

   2. Verify your qualification through Qualification Check

   Before you submit the application form, have your optometry qualification verified through Qualification Check (QC), which checks it directly with your university. QC charges its own fee, listed on its website. The GOC closes applications if the QC check is not complete before submission, so start it as soon as you receive the email.
3. 3

   3. Sit IELTS at the right level

   Book Academic IELTS or IELTS for UKVI (Academic) at a test centre. You need 7.0 overall and 7.0 in speaking, with no other section below 6.0. Many applicants reach 7.0 overall but miss the speaking score, so prepare for speaking in particular.
4. 4

   4. Email the application and pay the scrutiny fee

   Email the completed application form and supporting documents to the GOC registration team; do not post hard copies. The GOC then invoices the £130 scrutiny fee, which you must pay within 14 days or the application is cancelled. Staff check that the file is complete within 28 days of payment and contact you if anything is missing.
5. 5

   5. Pay the assessment fee for the equivalence assessment

   When your file is complete you pay the £455 assessment fee, again within 14 days. Non-UK assessors compare your qualification and experience with the GOC's stage 1 and stage 2 competencies and the minimum patient experience expected of a UK graduate. The GOC says this takes up to four months from payment, and the assessors either invite you to interview or advise rejection.
6. 6

   6. Attend the online interview

   If you proceed, you pay the £205 interview fee within 14 days. The interview is held on Microsoft Teams with two non-UK assessors and lasts between 1 hour and 1 hour 30 minutes. Re-read your application before it, be ready to explain your clinical experience in detail, and expect a request for evidence of anything new you mention. Scheduling can take up to two months, and the outcome letter follows within 14 days.
7. 7

   7. Act on your outcome letter

   The outcome is one of four: join the College of Optometrists' Scheme for Registration, join it with trailing competencies, complete adaptation courses (theory or practical) first, or rejection. If you need adaptation courses, you find a provider yourself and send the GOC a proposal for approval before you start. The findings in the letter stay valid for two years from the date of issue.
8. 8

   8. Secure a placement, sponsorship and student registration

   Find a UK pre-registration placement with a supervisor, enrol with the College, and if you need a visa ask the College for a Temporary Worker GAE certificate of sponsorship. Register on the GOC student register (£30) before you start. The College says it cannot issue a certificate of sponsorship without confirmed employment, and the visa lasts a maximum of 24 months with no extension.
9. 9

   9. Complete the Scheme for Registration and the OSCE

   The Scheme has three parts: Stage One and Stage Two work-based assessments and a final OSCE. The College gives you 2 years and 3 months to complete it and says many trainees finish in 15 months. The College enrolment fee is £4,657, which includes one OSCE attempt.
10. 10

    10. Join the fully qualified register

    After passing the OSCE you apply to join the register of optometrists. The GOC charges an application fee and a pro rata renewal fee for the rest of the registration year, and then an annual renewal fee each April. You also complete continuing professional development in each cycle.

• GOC international interview

  An online interview on Microsoft Teams with two non-UK assessors, lasting 1 hour to 1 hour 30 minutes. It is based on your application and supporting documents. It is not a clinical exam; the assessors explore your training, experience and any gaps against the GOC competencies. Reasonable adjustments may be possible under the Equality Act 2010 if you ask your registration officer.

• Scheme for Registration: Stage One and Stage Two

  Work-based assessments carried out in your placement. Stage One covers the 75 competencies later sampled in the OSCE, and the College fee includes up to four Stage One visits. Stage Two includes a direct observation and an overarching assessment. Additional or missed visits are charged separately.

• Final assessment (OSCE)

  The College's OSCE usually runs four times a year. It has 15 five-minute stations, with one minute to read the instructions before each and two rest stations. Actors play patients and relatives; tasks cover history taking and diagnosis, communication, data interpretation and clinical skills, and every exam includes ophthalmoscopy. Recent sittings are held at the Royal College of General Practitioners in London and the Royal College of Physicians in Liverpool.

  Read the guide

• Adaptation courses

  If the assessors find you do not meet all stage 1 competencies, you complete theory and/or practical adaptation courses before the Scheme. You choose and pay the provider, and the GOC must approve your proposal before you begin. The GOC cannot say how long they take.

• The GOC accepts only IELTS: IELTS Academic or IELTS for UKVI (Academic), taken at an official test centre.
• You need 7.0 overall. Each section must be at least 6.0, except speaking, which must be at least 7.0.
• Online IELTS tests such as IELTS Indicator are not accepted, and neither is IELTS One Skill Retake.
• OET, TOEFL, PTE and other tests are not accepted by the GOC.
• The same IELTS requirement applies to US and Canadian optometrists using direct entry.
• Separately, NHS England asks for English evidence (IELTS 7) and three months' continuous employment in the last two years in a country where English is the first language before you can join the National Performers List, if you qualified outside the UK and Ireland.
• The UK visa has its own English rule (CEFR B2 for a new Health and Care Worker application). An IELTS for UKVI Academic result can count for both if the scores and dates line up.

Estimate your total cost

• The GOC says it replies to the self-assessment form within three working days.
• Initial scrutiny is completed within 28 days of paying the scrutiny fee.
• The equivalence assessment is completed within four months of paying the assessment fee.
• The interview can take up to two months to schedule, and the GOC sends the outcome letter within 14 days of the interview.
• The College gives you 2 years and 3 months to finish the Scheme for Registration, and says many trainees finish in 15 months. A Temporary Worker GAE visa lasts a maximum of 24 months.
• Allow roughly 7 months from application to outcome letter, plus the Scheme. A new GOC international process is expected in early 2027, and the GOC cannot guarantee you will complete the current process before it starts.