Guide · choosing
Choosing an optician: the questions worth asking
Every optician is registered and every optometrist is qualified. The differences are about time, continuity and how much is explained — and these seven questions bring them out.
Seven questions
- How long is the eye test? Twenty minutes is enough for a prescription. Forty-five leaves time for the things that don’t have symptoms yet.
- Will I see the same optometrist next time? Continuity is how small changes get noticed.
- Is there an OCT scan, and will it be explained to me? Having the scan and having the time to talk it through are different things — you want both.
- What does the test include, and what does it cost on its own? It’s worth knowing exactly what you’re paying for before you go.
- Can I take my prescription elsewhere? You always can — it’s yours by law — and a good optician says so warmly.
- What do the reviews say about the test itself? “They found something my last optician missed” tells you more than a review of the frames.
- Can they look after what they find? Dry eye, children’s myopia, contact lens comfort — handled in the practice, or referred on?
Our own answers, so you can check
Forty-five minutes. The same optometrist. The OCT scan on Gold, explained on the screen. £55 for the private test, and the prescription is yours. Dry eye, myopia and contact lenses looked after here. Our reviews are here, and the optometrists are named. Whatever you choose, we hope the questions help.
The short version
- Ask how long the test is and whether you’ll see the same person
- Ask for the OCT scan to be explained
- Read reviews about the test, not the frames
- Choose the one that can look after what it finds