BSc Optometry / Course details

Our BSc Optometry course will enable you to discover the scientific principles that underpin optometry, including the properties of light, the anatomy of the eye and the processing of vision in the brain.

We have strong links with Manchester Royal Eye Hospital, where you can take advantage of a one-week clinical placement and attend regular specialist clinics in your final year.

Students graduating with a BSc degree are usually able to register as an optometrist after a one year pre-registration placement. In order to progress to the pre-registration year you will need to achieve a 2:2, to demonstrate all of the GOC core competencies and maintain GOC student registration throughout your studies and achieve the required GOC patient experience. You will need to secure your own pre-registration placement and ensure you have the appropriate visa, if necessary (details can be found here ).

Some students are able to enrol onto our unique four-year undergraduate Master of Science in Optometry course. On completion of this course, successful graduates can automatically register to practice as an optometrist with the General Optical Council.

Unique clinical experience

Gain experience at Manchester Royal Eye Hospital - one of Europe's biggest eye teaching hospitals - to learn about the management and treatment of eye disease.

Early patient contact

Start to meet patients in the second semester of Year 1.

Close-knit student cohort

Join the active student-run Optometry Society to take part in formal and informal social activities.

Integrated master's option

Our undergraduate four year Master of Science (MSci) gives you the chance to complete an integrated master's where successful students complete pre-registration year as part of the degree. This leads to direct registration with the General Optical Council.

We use a range of teaching and learning methods including lectures, clinics and practical sessions. You will have around 20 hours of formally timetabled lectures and practical sessions every week.

Find out more about teaching and learning in optometry , including a typical Year 1 timetable.

Units completed within a semester will be assessed at the end of that semester by a combination of coursework, practical examination and written examination.

Subjects taught throughout the year will be examined at the end of the second semester.

The final degree classification is based on marks obtained during all years of the course, weighted as follows:

• Year 1 - 10%
• Year 2 - 30%
• Year 3 - 60%.

I have always wanted to be an optometrist, and am absolutely delighted to have had the opportunity to study at Manchester. The learning experience is remarkable, with first rate lectures and practical teaching delivered by practising optometrists, ophthalmologists, and researchers at the cutting edge of development in vision and optometric study.

Sean Matthews

The parts of the course I like most are the practicals. They are great for getting to know others in your year, and the majority of the supervisors are practising optometrists, so learning from them provides an invaluable insight into how it is done in practice. Having patients from the first year also vastly improves your clinical and communication skills, and the patients aren't as scary as you might think!

Sophie Godley

Find out more about what it's like to study at Manchester on the  Biology, Medicine and Health Student Blog .

You will learn in purpose-built facilities that include a dispensing clinic, 16 bespoke optometric examination rooms, numerous dedicated specialist clinic rooms and dedicated laboratories for non-clinical practical sessions.

You will also have access to the University's other facilities for undergraduates .