There’s a new way to train as a dispensing optician (DO) and earn while you learn with the launch of Level 6 apprenticeships, equivalent to a degree.
DOs advise on, fit and supply the most appropriate spectacles after taking account of each person’s visual, lifestyle and vocational needs. They can take further training to fit contact lenses.
The first intake started in September and the next group of learners will begin their courses a year later. The 2025 starters will include people working for new employers, who have never offered apprenticeships before.
The three-year schemes are a great way to develop your career while gaining professional qualifications, leading to a diploma in ophthalmic dispensing.
“If you have a fascination with science, you feel that you’re good with people, or like dealing with the general public, then it is a fantastic career for you,” says Paula Perrott, head of school – ophthalmic dispensing at Bradford College.
The Level 6 apprenticeship is “a real mixture of theory and practical, anything from anatomy to the physics, to professionalism, how to communicate with people and how to put the patient first,” Paula Perrott, head of school – ophthalmic dispensing at Bradford College says.
Learn on the job, at college and online
The courses offer blended learning – working for an employer with protected time for study online, on the job and block release training, where you spend one to two weeks, twice an academic year at college.
Weekly coursework is designed to take 7.5 hours, which is part of your work commitment, not on top – and you are paid.
It is just as academically rigorous as the traditional diploma, following the same syllabus. But apprentices don’t have to pay anything – even the costs of travel and accommodation during block release are covered by the employer.
Three training providers are running the apprenticeships
- ABDO College
- Bradford College
- City & Islington College