Course summary
This course prepares you to work as an optometrist, making a real difference to the lives of people who suffer from vision impairment and sight loss. City students benefit from state-of-the-art clinics and laboratories including the City Sight Optometry Clinic and from study, placement and employment opportunities in a diverse capital city. City’s Department of Optometry and Visual Science has an excellent reputation with expert academics from a range of disciplines, including optometrists, ophthalmologists, dispensing opticians, orthoptists, physicists, psychologists, neuroscientists and biologists. You will learn about vision and the eye, through topics like optics, biology, eye disease and visual impairment. You’ll also learn about therapeutic solutions such as contact lenses and ophthalmic lenses and dispensing. In your final year, you’ll develop your clinical practice by working in our very own eye clinic, City Sight. You will examine members of the public – from babies to the elderly – presenting with a wide range of ocular conditions and needs. 1st in London and 2nd in the UK for Health Professions, Guardian University Guide 2025.
Modules
From your very first day at City, you will build a foundation in the basic sciences that underpin optometry and start your clinical training. Lectures are supported by tutorials and laboratory-based work. Core modules include:
- Optics;
- Ophthalmic lenses and dispensing I
- Neural biology and general pathology
- Clinical skills I
- Visual optics and measurement techniques
- Clinical skills II
- Contact lenses
- Introduction to Eye Disease
- Binocular Vision
- Visual perception
- Ophthalmic lenses and Dispensing II
- Eye disease and therapeutics
- Clinical skills and professional practice
- Binocular vision, paediatrics and visual impairment
- Contact lenses II
Assessment method
You will be assessed using a variety of methods, depending on module choices:
- coursework
- written examinations
- clinical observation
- Objective Structured Clinical Examinations (OSCEs)
Professional bodies
Professionally accredited courses provide industry-wide recognition of the quality of your qualification.
- General Optical Council
How to apply
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:
- B510
- Institution code:
- C60
- Campus name:
- Main Site
- Campus code:
- -
Points of entry
The following entry points are available for this course:
- Year 1
Entry requirements
Qualification requirements
UCAS Tariff - 136 points
A level - AAB
Pearson BTEC Level 3 National Extended Diploma (first teaching from September 2016) - DDD
International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme - 33 points
GCSE/National 4/National 5
Bachelor Degrees: Upper second class Honours degree in other science or medically related degree. In addition to meeting the entry requirements, you are required to have enhanced disclosure and barring service clearance and are required to register with the General Optical Council and maintain this registration throughout the degree course.
Additional entry requirements
Criminal records declaration (DBS/Disclosure Scotland)
Student Outcomes
The number of student respondents and response rates can be important in interpreting the data – it is important to note your experience may be different from theirs. This data will be based on the subject area rather than the specific course. Read more about this data on the Discover Uni website.
Fees and funding
Tuition fees
England | £9250 | Year 1 |
Northern Ireland | £9250 | Year 1 |
Scotland | £9250 | Year 1 |
Wales | £9250 | Year 1 |
EU | £19150 | Year 1 |
International | £19150 | Year 1 |
Tuition fee status depends on a number of criteria and varies according to where in the UK you will study. For further guidance on the criteria for home or overseas tuition fees, please refer to the UKCISA website .
Additional fee information
Provider information
City, University of London
Northampton Square
City of London
EC1V 0HB