General Optical Council

Full registrants and bodies corporate
All registered optometrists and dispensing opticians have to renew their registration with us each year. This is called ‘retention’.

In December/January of each year, we send out Application for Retention forms to all full registrants and bodies corporate. The forms have to be completed and returned to us, with the appropriate fee, by the annual deadline of 15 March.

As part of the renewal process, registrants have to sign declarations about their health and any criminal or disciplinary proceedings. They must also confirm they have professional indemnity insurance.

Registrants who fail to return the retention form and applicable fee by the deadline are removed from the register. A list of all the practitioners who have not renewed is sent to Primary Care Trusts and Health Boards. They can no longer practise as an optometrist or dispensing optician.

If a practitioner is removed from the register, but wants to continue practising, they must apply for restoration.

Students
All registered optometry and dispensing optics students must renew their registration each year. This is called ‘student retention’. We send out Application for Student Retention forms to all existing student registrants in April each year. Forms must be completed and returned to us, together with a £20 fee, by 15 July.

Anyone who fails to return their form and payment to us by the annual retention deadline may be removed from the student register. Students who are not registered may be excluded from clinical training and examinations. We may not recognise qualifications of applicants for full registration who were not registered for all or part of their training.