Qualify as a supervisor

What is a supervisor and what are their responsibilities?

A supervisor is responsible for a trainee during their time in the Scheme for Registration or CLiP placement and your duties include: 

  • being accountable for every patient your trainee sees - so you need to ensure that your trainee has adequate supervision and that you are on the premises and in a position to intervene at all times
  • ensuring that the wider practice team are aware of both your supervisory requirements and the needs and responsibilities of the trainee - this includes selecting those patients who see the trainee in the early stages when the trainee may need longer examination times.
  • signing off any outstanding (GOC Core Stage 1) competencies as notified by the GOC
  • providing the trainee access to a fully equipped consulting room for at least 20 hours a week

You should refer to the GOC Standards of practice on supervision and any relevant infection control guidance documents to help support you with fulfilling your role as a supervisor. 

Supervision is a rewarding role. It means you’re contributing to the development of the next generation of the profession and guiding them to become the most professional optometrist they can be. By helping others develop it also evolves your own knowledge base and mentoring skills.  

Who can supervise?

  • any qualified registrant, including newly qualified optometrists, can supervise—provided they have completed the required training
  • other professionals (eg dispensing opticians, orthoptists) can also supervise within their scope of practice

Supervisor roles:

  • Principal Supervisor – takes overall responsibility for the trainee (access via My College)
  • Joint Supervisor – shares responsibility with the Principal (access via My College)
  • Additional Supervisor – supports the trainee under the oversight of the Principal
  • Assessor checks compliance through logbook

Principal supervisors have overall responsibility for pre-registration trainees. They are responsible for ensuring that additional supervisors are appropriate and they fulfil the additional supervisor criteria. 

Additional supervisors are regulated eye health practitioners who can contribute to a trainee’s supervision. These could include optometrists, dispensing opticians, contact lens opticians, orthoptists, ophthalmic nurses, and ophthalmologists. This will allow greater flexibility and use the skills, expertise, and experience of colleagues from across the eye care sector. There is no limit to the number of additional supervisors a trainee can have, however, we recommend that principal supervisors consider how much active supervision an individual is doing for their trainee. An additional supervisor should be responsible for no more than three trainees at any time. 

Additional supervisors who are not optometrists only have clinical responsibility for a specific activity, for example, a dispensing optician supervising dispensing. They will not need to be formally registered with the College. Trainees will record the names and registration details of additional supervisors in their logbook with sign-off from their principal supervisor. 

College assessors will also check these arrangements. 

  • Practice Lead – overall coordination of a student’s educational experience and progress
  • Task Supervisors – supervise clinical tasks within their scope of practice
  • Any College-approved supervisor can be assigned to a student on the portal (including locums, and staff at other sites)
  • ALL supervisors have access via the CLiP Portal, approval managed automatically

Pathways to each supervisory role

Scheme Principal/Joint Supervisor or CLiP Practice Lead 
Previous experienceQualification routeFull College membership (optometrists)Workplace training one & two (2 CPD)CLiP training (1 CPD)Experience or mentor*
Scheme Principal or Joint Supervisor Scheme✔   
CLiP✔ ✔ 
Additional Supervisor, or new to supervisionScheme✔✔ ✔
CLiP✔✔✔✔
*2 years post-registration experience (Scheme only until 7/26) OR a Principal Supervisor/Practice Lead Mentor OR evidence of previous successful supervision 
Additional/Task Supervisor 
Previous experienceQualification routeAdditional Supervisor training (1 CPD)CLiP training (1 CPD)Full College membership (optometrists)Associate membership (ophthalmic professions)
Scheme Principal or Joint Supervisor Scheme  ✔N/A
CLiP ✔✔N/A
Additional Supervisor, or new to supervision  Scheme✔ ✔From July 2026
CLiP✔✔✔✔

Chris Evans MCOptom DipTp(IP)

Director, Gwynns

“You’ll be able to use your knowledge more effectively and pass it on to the future workforce, benefiting the profession. It’s not only rewarding but also helps you stay on top of your skills, which ultimately benefits our patients.”

What skills and qualities make you an effective supervisor? 

A good supervisor: 

  • has effective people skills and can communicate well with both trainees and patients
  • is empathetic towards their trainee and encourages them to learn and develop their skills in practice
  • is able to coach their trainee to help them unlock their potential and maximise their own performance
  • is able to help a trainee to learn, rather than directly teach them
  • is someone who can impart their knowledge and experience to others

You can practise and develop a range of useful skills during your time as a supervisor. We do not expect you to have all the expertise in place on day one. 

Successful supervision is about guiding and developing skills within your trainee that will allow them to recognise and work within their level of competence, to reflect on and action any areas that need development. This ultimately leads to a professional optometrist who is then safe enough to be able to work without the need for supervision. 

Chris Evans MCOptom DipTp(IP)

Director, Gwynns

“Being patient, understanding and flexible. Having the higher qualifications [in low vision and glaucoma and IP] helped me; it allowed me to show my pre-regs a whole varied learning experience because I see a more varied patient load. For myself, I am learning the best way to present information when someone does something that isn’t right so that the student is not discouraged.”

Angharad Bowie MCOptom Prof Cert Glaucoma

“You have to be patient with pre-reg trainees. Practice is completely different to a textbook. Be kind to them. Be willing to put time and effort into being a supervisor. Your supervision will mould their career and help them make future professional decisions.”

Start your supervision training

Complete these training courses to begin your supervision journey.

Find out more

Further guidance and training

The College has created a Supervisor Competency Framework to support you in meeting the Standards of Practice set of by the GOC. It will help you to fulfil your responsibilities and provide for a successful pre-registration training period. This guide includes examples of the skills, tools and practical application of these competencies to the pre-registration period so that you can be an effective supervisor. 

We run regular Peer Review sessions for supervisors to provide a space to discuss key topics.  

These sessions cover the GOC peer review requirement and are worth three interactive CPD points. They fill up fast, so check the Events page regularly to make sure you don’t miss out. 

These regular drop-in sessions are a chance for current supervisors to meet a senior assessor and ask questions about the Scheme for Registration and more.  

OptPE is the College's first-ever educational affix designed to recognise the dedication, expertise, and commitment of supervisors who nurture the next generation of optometrists. To qualify for the affix, you must be a member of the College and complete the requirements outlined on the OptPE page.