Member alert: Q&A on a degree apprenticeship in optometry

No, the apprenticeship agenda is a government initiative enshrined in law. No individual sector body can prevent an apprenticeship proposal being developed. However, we can ensure that key points of concern are considered at each stage of the formal process for considering whether an apprenticeship proposal should be approved for delivery.

Yes, we are. We know that the petition’s signatories include many of our members, and we will continue to address their concerns through our individual and member communications. We will continue to invite member feedback to inform our response to the consultation and future discussions on the degree apprenticeship.

Opposing the proposal at this point would not stop the degree apprenticeship or prevent it being progressed. By being involved, and reflecting member views, we will be in a better position to ensure that educational and professional standards in optometry are upheld than if we stepped away.

We are listening to member concerns; we will continue to invite you to share your opinions (now closed) so that we can represent them. We will use member feedback to shape our response to the consultation on the draft degree apprenticeship standard, and to inform what we say at the trailblazer group meetings. We are also encouraging members to respond to the consultation, as the trailblazer group will have to take account of all submissions. 
 
As the development of the degree apprenticeship progresses, we will keep our position under review. We will strongly oppose any proposal that diminishes professional standards or quality of education, or puts patient safety at risk.

The College is a professional body and our role is to ensure high educational and professional standards. Opposing the plan, or refusing to be involved in the trailblazer group at this stage, would not prevent the degree apprenticeship development. It would instead mean that the degree apprenticeship would be developed without our, and our members’, critical input. 

Yes. The College’s response to the consultation will take full account of all member feedback. We have taken on board members’ strength of feeling, and think it is vital to feed this into the proposal. We will highlight members’ specific concerns in our consultation response and our future contributions to the degree apprenticeship discussions. 

We will be submitting a full response to the consultation on the draft standard. We will develop this by taking full account of member feedback. We will also share our draft consultation response with members, for your feedback, in the coming week. 

Our response will reflect the strength of concern expressed by members, particularly relating to the potential dilution of optometry’s high-quality education and professional practice, risks to patient safety, and the imperative that an optometrist degree apprenticeship would have to relate to all the sectors and settings in which optometrists practise. We will also highlight gaps and ambiguities in the current draft. 

See question 20 for details on how you can share your views.

We do not know at this stage. It is proposed that individuals undertaking the apprenticeship would need to meet the demands of a Master’s degree. The admissions requirements would need to reflect this. 

As this is a degree apprenticeship, we would expect that the admission requirements would ensure that anyone who is accepted into such a programme would have the potential to successfully achieve the academic, professional and regulatory requirements of an optometry degree. Admission requirements for other degree apprenticeships are usually set by employers and universities in partnership. The College wouldn’t have a role in setting the admission standards – as we don’t now for university courses.

The College will strongly oppose any proposal that would put patient safety at risk. 

The same legal requirements would apply to degree apprentices as any optometry student or pre-registration trainee. Degree apprentices would have to have to fully meet the academic requirements of the underpinning degree and the regulatory requirements of the GOC, in the same way as for current optometry students and trainees. This includes working under supervision until they have met the requirements for full registration with the GOC to practise independently as an optometrist.

We also expect employers and universities intending to deliver any degree apprenticeship to ensure there is appropriate and safe learning progression through both work-based and university-based learning. There would need to be transparent and clear agreements about the limits of apprentices’ status, scope of practice and competence at any stage, as they progress through their degree. 

Any degree apprenticeship standard has to be of demonstrable relevance to a profession wherever it is practised, not just a particular employment sector or setting. For optometry, the standard must meet GOC requirements for full registration for safe optometry practice in the UK - and in every setting where optometrists practise. We will strongly oppose the degree apprenticeship if we do not think this is the case. 

The College will be actively involved in the degree apprenticeship discussions as we want to ensure that all the necessary requirements and approvals are robustly put in place at every stage.

There is a risk that it could - this is what the College is seeking to guard against. Our involvement in the trailblazer group will be to uphold high professional and educational standards and to raise objections if we believe these could be compromised. 

A degree apprenticeship in any profession should not, and must not, lower the high standards of the profession concerned.  Any degree apprenticeship for a profession that is subject to statutory regulation has to meet the academic, professional and regulatory requirements for that profession.