Optometrists perform eye tests and diagnose sight problems, helping to improve people’s vision and manage a range of eye conditions. Our Cambridge-based degree, fully accredited by the General Optical Council, is designed to give you the skills you need to register as an optometrist after a year-long clinical placement. You’ll learn from lecturers who are professional practitioners, use specialist equipment in clinical and lab sessions, and make a difference to people’s lives working in our University Eye Clinic.
Only a third of your teaching time will be spent in lectures. The rest of your learning will be hands-on, divided between practical demonstrations, clinical and lab sessions, and our eye clinic. You’ll also visit local hospital clinics to gain practical experience – plus, there’s the chance to get work experience in the community, spending time with charities like Cam Sight.
Our Eye Clinic has everything you’ll need to practise your optometry skills, including 15 fully equipped testing and research rooms. You’ll use specialist equipment such slitlamps, keratometers and optical coherence tomographers. And you’ll have access to facilities for assessing and supporting visually impaired people and testing visual stress and colour perception.
All our staff are trained or registered as optometrists or dispensing opticians, so you’ll be kept up-to-date with what’s going on in the professional world. You’ll also have guest lectures from ophthalmologists, orthoptists and optometrists working in laser eye clinics and their own practices.
Our three year degree course is accredited by the General Optical Council (GOC), so when you graduate you’ll be able to register as a fully-qualified optometrist after completing a pre-registration, year-long clinical placement.
Course Details - Modules
Year one, core modules
Human Anatomy and Physiology for Optometrists
Ocular Anatomy and Biochemistry
Geometrical, Physical and Visual Optics
Theoretical and Practical Ophthalmic Lenses
Clinical Optometry 1- Introduction to Practice
Year two, core modules
Clinical Optometry 2 -Skills for Optometric Practice
Monocular, Binocular and Paediatric Vision
Clinical Optometry 3 - Introduction to Professional Practice
Pharmacology and Pathology
Introduction to Ocular Disease
Year three, core modules
Undergraduate Major Project
Clinical Optometry 4 - Advanced Optometric Practice
Clinical Optometry 5 - Professional Practice
Optometry, Society and Environment
Course Details – Assessment Method
Throughout the course, we’ll use a range of assessment to measure your progress. Because our course is so practical, a lot of your assessment will be practical, too – including exams and clinical competence. You’ll also do written exams, problem-solving exercises, essays, presentations and data analysis.
Course Details – Professional Bodies
Professional Bodies are not listed for this Course.
How to Apply
26 January This is the deadline for applications to be completed and sent for this course. If the university or college still has places available you can apply after this date, but your application is not guaranteed to be considered.
Application Codes
Course code:
B513
Institution code:
A60
Campus Name:
Cambridge Campus
Campus code:
Points of Entry
The following entry points are available for this course:
Year 1
Entry Requirements for Advanced Entry (Year 2 and Beyond)
Entry Requirements for Advanced Entry are not listed for this Course.
International applicants
Standard Qualification Requirements
Grades AAB at A level with grades AA to come from 2 Subjects from: Maths, Physics, Biology, Chemistry at first sitting or first resit.
2020 entry requirements are under review for the next cycle and have been published using the current cycle information. Please check back when Apply opens for the exact requirements.
If English is not your first language you will be expected to demonstrate a certificated level of proficiency of at least IELTS 6.5 (Academic Level - with no individual score being lower than 5.5) or equivalent English Language qualification, as recognised by Anglia Ruskin University.
Please click the following link to find out more about qualification requirements for this course
