General Optical Council

CET Review

What is the CET Review?

We are carrying out this review to help ensure that the current CET scheme evolves to help meet the challenges of the future.

Our current CET scheme was introduced in 2013 and covers both continuing professional development and revalidation. However, the optical sector has changed since then and the work optometrists and dispensing opticians carry out has expanded and diversified. We want to make sure that our CET scheme evolves, supports our registrants’ learning and development needs, and continues to maintain the safety and quality of care patients receive.  

Aims of the CET review

Following our consultation and engagement activities over the last year or so, our aim is to evolve the current CET scheme by:

• Giving registrants more control over their learning and development
• Giving registrants more scope and more support to reflect on their practice
• Re-branding the scheme to Continuing Professional Development (CPD) to bring it in line with other regulatory schemes
• Exploring how to best support newly qualified registrants as they transition into fully qualified professionals

What we've heard so far

• Positive views on the current CET scheme but support to evolve the scheme into one that encourages and supports more genuine lifelong learning and development throughout a registrant’s professional career.
• Support for giving registrant’s more control over their learning and development enabling them to tailor CET to their own scope of practice
• Positive views on the benefits of peer review
• Support to re-brand to Continuing Professional Development (CPD)

Timeframe for change

Our aim is to: 

• Consult with stakeholders via a public consultation in spring 2020
• Communicate our plans for change autumn 2020
• Implement changes to the CET scheme 2020-2021
• Introduce the next cycle 2022