Is your child thinking about their future career? Q&A with Specsavers and expert optometrist

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THIS Q&A IS NOW CLOSED. VIEW LUCY AND HUSSNAN'S ANSWERS HERE.

Is your child thinking about what to do next? If they are interested in STEM subjects or healthcare, have they considered optometry? Specsavers is offering 40 students the chance to receive a £10,000 scholarship to study optometry at university. To help with this difficult life decision we’ve invited two Specsavers’ experts to answer your questions on a career in optometry, and the university scholarship.

• Post your questions on the thread below.
• Everyone who shares a questions on the thread below by 21/10 will be entered into a prize draw to win a £200 voucher
• Our expert will be back in a few weeks to answer some of your questions

Hussnan Ejaz
Hussnan is an Ophthalmic Director at Specsavers. He joined the company in 2009 on a work experience placement before becoming an Optical Assistant, then qualifying as an Optometrist in 2015. He is now a director in the same Dudley practice, as well as a director of the Blackheath practice and Dudley hear care. Hussnan currently runs a team of 12 optometrists and regularly supervises trainee clinicians. He completed his professional certificate in Medical Retina and Glaucoma in 2022, is a WOPEC assessor and acts as a facilitator for the Specsavers pre reg academy. Hussnan is an enthusiastic advocate for promoting Optometry and continually developing himself and optometrist colleagues professionally.

Lucy Knock
Lucy is the Early Talent Lead for Specsavers. Her role involves raising the profile of optometry amongst young people, teachers and parents, and encouraging grass roots optometry development in local communities. She works with schools, universities, Education Business Partnerships and optometry leaders to engage young people and showcase the amazing breadth of opportunity a career in optometry can offer. Lucy’s background is teaching and youth engagement, developing programmes for hard-to-reach audiences in a range of settings. She graduated in 2001 with a first class honours degree from the University of Leicester, studied secondary history education gaining a PGCE (2003) and a Masters in 2005.

Here’s what Specsavers has to say:
"We understand the careers landscape can often be a noisy and overwhelming place for teenagers and their parents and carers. We wanted to share the exciting opportunities a clinical career with Specsavers offers, but since Optometry is an often-overlooked path, we knew we had to do something new and bold! The Bright Stars Scholarship is an industry leading programme and encourages people to consider optometry when choosing their next steps."

Thanks and good luck!
MNHQ

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Hi @MuddlingThrough1724 As things stand, to become a UK qualified Optometrist, you need to compete a degree approved by the General Optical Council. There are ongoing discussions around the apprenticeship route but this is still very much in the early stages and not yet approved.

Lucy

Hi @DinkyDaffodil I'm sorry to hear this has been your experience. At Specsavers we fully appreciate this type of feedback. We pride ourselves on customer service as well as providing affordable and accessible eye care for all. This is one of the main reasons why Specsavers is a market leader. We have targets in customer service scores to meet in every one of our practices. Specsavers also a higher amount of Optometrists employed than any other company and takes on by far the most graduates each year. One of the many reasons for this is that its a certified Great Place to Work and the branches have the best equipment and technology which attracts our workforce. Specsavers is ranked within the top 100 in the national institute of customer service.

Hussnan

Hi @lillypopdaisyduke All the universities which offer optometry are approved by the General Optical Council which assures the required standards are met. The various courses are all slightly different and offer things which will suit different types of students and offer different experiences. The best thing to do is visit the campus if you are able, and ask lots of questions to help you get a sense of the different offerings available.

Lucy

Hi @HeathcliffvsMrDarcy The NHS sight test fee is currently fit for purpose and is reviewed every year. There is a mix of private and NHS customers within the UK. Scotland are ahead of the game and have a more structured and rewarding NHS sight test fee. More services are being commissioned in the UK and Wales does lead the way on this. With a new labour government trying to take pressure away from hospitals, we hope England will follow in Scotland and Wales' footsteps. I believe Optometry and the medical profession will always be held in high regard.

Hussnan

I agree with Hussnan that Optometry is held in high regard, but its great news that the new Masters' Degree is a level 7 qualification, and so on a par with Medicine in that sense.

Lucy

Hi @Pinkfluffypencilcase Another super question! We are looking for people who are excited by the prospect that optometry offers - its such a great career option with a whole breadth of opportunities. We are keen to see people who can communicate well, who love their sciences and who want to make a real difference. Our purpose at Specsavers is to change people's lives through better sight and hearing so when it comes to the scholarship, we are keen to hear from those who want to help others. Of course on the practical side of things, students need to be studying at least 2 STEM subjects in order to access the optometry course at university, so that's a must have. To set yourself apart, we'd also recommend getting some work exprerience in the optical field, so whether that's a short placement in an optical practice, paid part time work as an optical assistant, or some volunteering experience in an optical setting, it all shows a willingness to learn and an appreciation of the wider context before you start university.

Lucy

Hi @JacCharlton We have sponsorship agreements in place that support both Specsavers and the student to ensure that the student is successful, and of course we recognise that every student will need support throughout their studies. We know its an important decision to make and we are confident that students will have a brilliant experience with us, and that the experience they gain in practice will really embed the theory they're learning on their university course. We know that our brilliant colleagues in Specsavers practices up and down the country will offer a supportive environment in which to grow and thrive, so that our Bright Stars will really feel part of a great team. Typically there would be the usual post-qualification contract to remain working in the practice 12 months after qualifying as an optometrist - this is current practice. However if your child does decide optometry isn't for them, there's no legal obligation to pay back the financial contributions from the scholarship.

Lucy

Thanks so much to everyone who shared a question on optometry or the Specsavers Bright Star bursary, and to our Specsavers experts Lucy and Hussnan for answering them! We hope it's been useful and interesting and wish your children good luck in their future careers.

If you would like any more information on the subject you can take a look at our content page or Specsavers site.

I was a recent customer at specsavers and was really impressed by the young people working there. Definitely seemed like well trained graduates. Good customer service and didn’t feel like a conveyor belt just well organised. I don’t work for the company honest!