Annual Report 2024/25

Our Clinical Advisers, policy and communications teams worked in partnership with Baroness Hayter and the RAC to raise the issue of headlight glare at the highest level, culminating in the agreement of the Westminster government to conduct more research into the issue. 

In addition, our guidance has been widely referred to by each nation’s health system, often underpinning national policy and third sector clinical frameworks. The role of primary care optometrists is recognised in Westminster’s 10-Year Health Plan, and more enhanced eye care services were commissioned in primary care in Scotland and Wales.

While all of our work seeks to influence and impact the future of eye care, this year we also specifically focused on the College’s priorities by preparing our next five-year strategic plan. The strategy was formed through extensive consultations with members, stakeholders and patients to ensure that it was fit for the future and would deliver real change where needed. We have an ambitious vision, to eliminate preventable sight loss. 

We can’t do this alone, so working in collaboration remains at our core. We come together on research, for education, professional learning and development and in our outreach and communication to the government and public. 

Our purpose is to champion optometrists as essential eye care professionals and inspire them to improve eye health and vision for all. Of course, this work is not new and our manifesto for England clearly outlined the necessity of enabling optometrists to provide more care to patients closer to home, and supporting the optometry workforce to develop specialised skills. We were pleased therefore to see this reflected in NHS England’s 10-Year Health Plan. We have been working with our members, the sector and government to support the shift of outpatients eye care from hospital to the community, make the full transition from analogue to digital, to prevent avoidable sight loss and its impacts.

The foundations of our members, our values, our people and our resources underpin everything we do and support our four strategic pillars to deliver our new strategic plan:

• optometrists are inspired, enabled and equipped to deliver high-quality services 
• optometry is recognised in all healthcare pathways, trusted and valued by all 
• patients get the eye care they need, when they need it, where they need it 
• the public are aware of the benefit of maintaining good eye health

I truly believe that our new five year strategy is the right one to drive the profession forward, support optometrists and wider eye care professionals, and deliver real knowledge and impact for the public’s eye health. I look forward to the College continuing its collaboration with all relevant stakeholders to make this happen.

The 2024/25 Scheme for Registration saw the highest number of enrolments ever, reaching over 1,000. In addition, we continued our outreach regarding supervision, enabling more pre-registration optometrists to be supported in practice, and taking the whole sector on the journey to meet the new GOC Education and Training Requirements.

95% of OSCE passers joined the College, continuing the upward trend of new optometrists recognising the benefits of College membership over the last four years. More employers than ever are now committed to financially supporting College membership for their newly qualified staff, demonstrating the importance that employers place on their optometrists belonging to their professional body.

Our Clinical Management Guidelines (CMGs) continue to be the go-to resource for practice, with almost 50% of respondents to our member survey accessing them once a month or more, and 91% citing them as excellent. Our CMGs continue to get updated every two years. This year we published two new CMGs on idiopathic epiretinal membrane and pseudophakic cystoid macular oedema. We also updated guidance on clinical governance and developed sector-endorsed guidance on artificial intelligence (AI).

Engagement with our communication channels has also been strong. Our social media channels showed a positive year on-year growth, and our member emails continue to outperform industry standards.

Our media presence is vital to reach outside of our membership and influence the public and stakeholders alike. We rely on the expertise of our Clinical Advisers and College members to be the voice of the College on national and regional media. This year our coverage more than doubled and our potential reach grew by over 200%, demonstrating that we are the trusted and evidence-based organisation that the media turn to for eye health stories and information.

Furthering the profession through research and knowledge is a core part of the College, and we continue to be a partner in many research projects focusing on conditions such as myopia, attitudes to contact lens use by children, and improving the accuracy of referrals from primary care for papilledema and pseudo-papilledema.

Publication and dissemination of research has been a long-standing commitment of the College. 2025 marked the centenary of Ophthalmic and Physiological Optics (OPO), our leading international and interdisciplinary research journal for contemporary vision science and optometry.

With over 400,000 readers worldwide, our members’ support and submissions have been instrumental in advancing optometric science.

And finally, our library and museum continue to be vital in understanding eye health and contribute to further research into the science of eye health and eye care. This year, we were delighted that Baroness Hayter formally reopened our museum in September. A culmination of a five-year project to refurbish the College building, welcoming members and the public to explore the wealth of artifacts and knowledge. These are just a snapshot of our action, collaboration and impact over the past year to support members, the profession and public eye health. And this is only possible with the continued support of our members.