Free under 16 · Recommended from age 4 · No letters needed
Your child’s eyes, tested properly, for free.
Not the two-minute school check. A proper eye test with an optometrist who does this every day: whether each eye sees clearly, whether they work together, whether there is a prescription nobody knew about, and whether a lazy eye or a squint is starting while it can still be fixed. Free under 16 on the NHS, glasses voucher included.
Noticed one of these? Book the test.
None of them means something is wrong. All of them mean it is worth twenty minutes, and the twenty minutes is free.
“They sit right up to the television.” Could be nothing. Could be short sight starting. A free test tells you in twenty minutes, and if it is short sight, the earlier we know the more we can slow it. Book it.
“Getting my two-year-old her first pair of glasses was so worrying, and they sorted us out immediately.”
“They get headaches after school.” A long-sighted child strains all day to keep the page clear and pays for it by teatime. It is one of the commonest things we find, and a pair of glasses for close work ends it. Book it.
“The optician had a really lovely manner and put my child at ease.”
“One eye turns in the photos.” A squint, however small, is worth a look now, because the brain starts to switch the turned eye off. Caught young, a lazy eye is fixed with glasses or a patch. Caught late, it is not. Book it.
“The optician was very patient and great with my daughter, who is four. He made the examination fun for her.”
“They will not read, or lose their place.” Sometimes the two eyes are not working together, sometimes a prescription is missing. We check both, and a small change can turn reading around. Book it.
“An excellent experience, especially for the children.”
“The school said their eyes are fine.” The school check is a sight screen, not an eye test. It does not measure the prescription, check the health of the eye, or catch the child who is straining. Ours does, and it is free. Book it.
“A really lovely manner. My child was put at ease.”
“They are too young for the letters.” From three we use pictures, shapes and matching cards, and we measure the prescription with a light. Your child does not have to answer a thing. Book it.
Free under 16 on the NHS, glasses voucher included.
What happens
Twenty minutes in the chair, and you know
While they are in the chair
Each eye on its own, then together, with letters or pictures depending on age. The prescription measured with a light, so a shy three-year-old is tested as well as a chatty ten-year-old. A check for a squint, and whether the eyes team up, which is where a lazy eye is caught in time. The health of the eye, inside and out, and colour vision.
What we tell you at the end
Exactly what we found, to you, and to your child in words they understand. Glasses if they need them, on the NHS voucher, chosen with them so they will actually wear them. If they do not need anything, we say so, and we see them next year.
If the prescription keeps rising
Short sight that climbs every year means the eye is growing, and a longer eye carries more risk later. We slow it by about half with myopia-control lenses, MiSight contact lenses or Ortho-K, all fitted here, and we measure the eye every six months so you see it working.
Five practices
Free for every child, at every one of our practices
Cheadle, Middleton, Heald Green, Winsford and Heckmondwike. The same test, the same patience with the nervous ones, and the same rule: if we would want it checked for our own children, we check it for yours.
- FreeUnder 16 on the NHS, and the glasses voucher with it
- PatientPictures, games and time, for the ones who are not sure
- Complex casesLooked after here, with Tomato Glasses: non-slip, safe, adjustable, from babies up
- Ahead of itMyopia control fitted here if the prescription starts to climb
Five practices
Book your child’s eye test today
Free under 16 at all five. Choose the one closest to you and pick a time online, or ring and a person books it for you.
CheadleAbra & Co · 19 Wilmslow Road★ 4.9 · 106 Google reviewsOpticians in Cheadle → Also near: Cheadle Hulme · Gatley · Bramhall · Stockport
MiddletonAbra & Co · 36 Long Street★ 4.9 · 164 Google reviewsOpticians in Middleton → Also near: Heywood · Chadderton · Blackley · Rochdale
Heald GreenAshworth Opticians · 214 Finney Lane★ 4.9 · 131 Google reviewsOpticians in Heald Green → Also near: Gatley · Wythenshawe · Sale · Altrincham
WinsfordWinsford Eye & Footcare · 27 Delamere Street★ 4.9 · 75 Google reviewsOpticians in Winsford → Also near: Northwich · Middlewich · Knutsford · Crewe and Nantwich
HeckmondwikeArmitage Opticians · 14 Market Street★ 4.9 · 133 Google reviewsOpticians in Heckmondwike → Also near: Dewsbury · Batley · Mirfield · Cleckheaton
Free on the NHS if you qualify, £55 privately, at every practice. All five, with the towns each one serves →
Reviews
What our patients say
4.9★★★★★
G 600+ Google reviews across five practices
“Brilliant service very friendly staff and a no rush service Really informative and helpful when reviewing and selecting a new pair of glasses would highly recommend”Google review · Middleton · July 2026
“Many thanks to Abra & Co. I greatly appreciate the time that they spent helping me select the perfect glasses. The staff are friendly, informative and knowledgeable. I’ll be returning for years to come.”Google review · Middleton · April 2026
“Absolutely fabulous, professional and friendly always looking after me would recommend them”Google review · Middleton · March 2026
Frequently asked questions
When should my child have their first eye test?
By three or four, before school, then every year while the eyes are growing. Sooner if you notice a turn in the eye, squinting, sitting very close to things, or if lazy eye or strong glasses run in the family.
My child cannot read yet. Can you still test them?
Yes. We use pictures, shapes and matching cards, and we measure the prescription with a light, so we do not need a single answer from them.
The school said their eyes are fine. Do they still need a test?
Yes. The school check is a quick sight screen. It does not measure the prescription, check the health of the eye, or find the long-sighted child who is straining all day. A full test is free.
The prescription goes up every year. Is that normal?
Common, and worth acting on now. Every step up means the eye has grown, and a longer eye carries more risk later in life. Myopia control slows that growth by about half, and we fit every option at every practice. What we offer →
Are children’s glasses free?
The NHS voucher covers a range of frames and lenses in full, and can be put towards any other frame. Broken glasses are repaired or replaced under the voucher too.
My child has additional needs, or cannot keep glasses on. Can you help?
Yes. We look after complex children’s cases, take the time the child needs, and we fit Tomato Glasses: non-slip, safe, adjustable frames made for children, from babies under one to teenagers. Only 7 to 8 grams, flexible and hard to break, with adjustable temple lengths and nose pad heights so they fit each child and stay put. Tell us when you book and we allow longer.
Do I need to come with them?
Under 16, yes, a parent or guardian comes into the room. We explain everything to you as we go, and to your child in words they understand.
Guides on this
- Screen time and children’s eyes: what the evidence actually saysScreens don’t damage a child’s eyes. What they do is take the place of the one thing that protects them. That’s a different problem, and an
- Back to school: the eye test that catches what the school check missesThe school check is a sight screen: can the child read the chart. It isn’t an eye test, and the children it misses are exactly the ones who
