Results

Results are initially published in the Member’s area of the College website. Just log in using your username and password. A paper-based results letter is also sent out on results day by first class post.

Click here to create a new account. You will need your surname and membership number. 

Your membership number is displayed in your Member area.

Results letters are sent out on the day results are published on the College website. They are sent to your registered address. You should receive your hard copy of the results letter in the next couple of days. If you would like to see your results before then, you can check them by logging onto the College website.

For privacy reasons, it is College policy not to share results over the phone/by email. Please either log in to the secure College site or wait to receive your results letter in the post.

Candidates usually require 10 stations to pass the OSCE and must meet the daily pass mark. As part of our quality assurance process, the OSCE is reviewed in detail by the Final Assessment Panel. Occasionally, where there have been issues with the performance or running of a station, the panel make the decision to remove it from the examination, to ensure that no candidate is disadvantaged. When this happens, both the overall pass mark, and number of stations required to pass, is adjusted accordingly to ensure that the relative difficulty of the examination is not affected and consistent standards are maintained.

Until you have received your GOC number, you remain a pre-registered optometrist. This means that you cannot do anything additional to what you were allowed to do as a trainee. You must practise under the supervision of your College supervisor. You can still see NHS patients under the supervision of your supervisor.

Once you have received your GOC number, you can only see NHS patients once you are on the Performers List. You can then no longer practise under the supervision of your supervisor. 

You can begin the online application process to join the GOC register today.

If you have passed the OSCE you will need to register with the GOC by following the steps below.

1. Complete and submit the GOC’s online application form to join the fully qualified register.
2. Find an appropriate person to verify your identity and complete an identification form.
3. Email your completed identification form to registration@optical.org.

Please be aware that your application will not be processed until you have submitted both of the forms

Full guidance, including information on the list of professions able to certify your identification form, can be found at optical.org.

The GOC application form is now online.

If you have passed the OSCE you will need to register with the GOC by following the steps below.

1. Complete and submit the GOC’s online application form to join the fully qualified register.
2. Find an appropriate person to verify your identity and complete an identification form.
3. Email your completed identification form to registration@optical.org.

Please be aware that your application will not be processed until you have submitted both of the forms

Full guidance, including information on the list of professions able to certify your identification form, can be found at optical.org

This can vary. We recommend you check the GOC website for guidance. 

Yes, the link to do this is on your results page.

Otherwise, we have sent you an application form in your Pass Pack. You should receive this a couple of days after results day. Please send this back to College at your earliest convenience. Please be aware that you receive a discounted membership rate of only £29.87 for your first year if you pay online for your first year.

A breakdown of your performance in each station is included with the hard copy of your results sent to your registered address.

To register as an optometrist or dispensing optician, you must be adequately covered by an appropriate, UK-valid professional indemnity insurance policy. 

Professional indemnity insurance protects you in case of claims arising from allegations of negligence and fulfils the requirements of the Opticians Act 1989 for optometrists and dispensing opticians to have insurance to practise in the UK.

Professional indemnity insurance is available from a variety of providers including some multiples, organisations within the profession and other independent insurance providers.

Guidance on joining the National Performers List can be found on LOCSU's website.

A detailed breakdown of your marks for each station and overall mark for the day is sent to you with your results letter if you have failed. This should be with you in a couple of days. It is not possible to email you the breakdown on results day

Candidates may request copies of their mark sheets. There is a £10 administration fee for this service. Please look at the sample mark sheet on our website before requesting copies of your mark sheets. The mark sheets do not contain any feedback or details of the objectives for the station. You can view the sample sheet here in the Final Assessment page of the website. If you would like to request your marksheets, contact Adam Shonk at education.help@college-optometrists.org or on 020 7766 4361. 

The objectives are the steps you should take to perform the task. If we release the objectives we will be telling you the answers. We re-use OSCE stations several times during the year. It is possible that candidates may be examined on the same station in their re-sit exam. If we released details of the station objectives this would give re- sit candidates an unfair advantage over first time candidates. 

Examiners are not asked to provide written feedback on individual candidates. They have 60 seconds between candidates to complete the mark sheets and this time is only used to give a considered mark. For this reason we cannot give detailed feedback on exam performance.
 

The only record we have of a candidate's performance in an OSCE is the mark sheet completed by the examiner. For this reason we cannot re-mark the exam. Each sheet is scanned by a computer and carefully checked by eye to make sure our records are correct.

Although disappointing for candidates, we do not change exam marks. 

We use the borderline regression method of calculating results. Each station has between three and six objectives which candidates are marked against. The examiner will give each candidate a mark between 0 and 4 for each objective. In addition to this the examiner will give a mark between 0 and 5 for the candidate’s overall performance.

The total possible mark for a station is 400. Objectives do not contribute equally to this score: some are more important than others. Each objective is given a percentage weighting depending on how important it is to the task the candidate is trying to complete. For example, a communication station might have four objectives: making a diagnosis, explaining the diagnosis to the patient, choosing an appropriate management plan for that patient and communicating the plan in a professional manner. Because the station focuses on communication the explaining and communicating objectives both contribute 40% of the mark, while the diagnosis and management objectives only contribute 10% each.

The examiner does not know the weightings for the objectives. This compensates for any conscious or unconscious bias the examiner may have.

When the results are processed we multiply the score the examiner gave by the weighting for that objective. So in the example above, if the candidate scored 3 on every objective, the weighted score would be 120 for each of the communication objectives and 30 for the other objectives. This gives a total score of 300 out of 400.

To calculate the pass mark for the station we look at the scores for every candidate who has ever taken that station. We compare the mean station score with the midpoint of the overall grade (0-5) given by the examiners. Plotted on a graph it would look like this:

The point where the two lines meet is the pass mark for the station. This means that the pass mark is set using the average ability of entry-level optometrists as well as examiner judgment.

Borderline regression is a method of standard setting that is used by medical professionals all over the world. It is considered to be the most objective way of setting the standard for practical exams such as OSCEs and is recognised internationally. 

No. You must complete the OSCE application form. You must also pay for your resit, please see our Fees section for current costs. You must pay for the resit when you apply. We will not release your timetable until the fee has been paid.  

 

Future examination dates can be found here.

The number of resits you have remaining will be stated at the bottom of the results letter sent out on results day. 

Visit the Preparing for the OSCE page for useful tips on revising for the examination.