From 1 April 2007, newly-qualified optometrists and dispensing opticians will benefit from a pro-rata policy on registration fees.
Under the new fees rules, approved by the General Optical Council in November 2006, student optometrists and dispensing opticians joining the full register are no longer automatically required to pay the full £169 registration fee, irrespective of the date of registration. Instead, they will pay a proportionate fee, calculated from the date of joining to the end of the registration year, on 31 March.
The fee will be £42.25 for every period of three whole calendar months in their first year on the full register. The standard renewal fee will then be due by the annual retention deadline of 15 March.
Further information including registration fees and forms are available from the GOC website, www.optical.org.
Pro rata fees – how does it work?
If you register between: You need to pay
1 April - 30 June: £169
1 July – Sep 30: £126.75 (£ 42.25 x 3)
1 Oct – 31 Dec: £ 84.50 (£ 42.25 x 2)
1 Jan – 31 March: £ 42.25