ABDO to begin recruiting students for first dispensing optics apprenticeship

The General Optical Council (GOC) has approved recruitment for the first dispensing optics apprenticeship to be delivered by the Association of British Dispensing Opticians (ABDO).

ABDO will deliver the Level 6 Dispensing Optician Apprenticeship through its centres, including ABDO College, Bradford College, and City and Islington College.

The first cohort of students will begin the course in September 2024. Once the first cohort reaches their final year of study, the GOC will make a final decision on whether to approve the apprenticeship.

This decision will be made on the basis of evidence provided by ABDO to outline how it meets the GOC education and training requirements.

Head of education and CPD development at the GOC, Samara Morgan, shared that the optical regulator will work with ABDO to ensure that the apprenticeship meets the requirements for full approval.

“An apprenticeship scheme will offer another pathway for potential dispensing opticians to earn their qualification, whilst still ensuring they are training through a qualification that has been approved and quality assured by us,” she said.

Head of professional qualifications and education at ABDO, Miranda Richardson, shared that ABDO has worked closely with ABDO College, Bradford College, City and Islington College, and the GOC to ensure that high professional standards will be maintained through the apprenticeship.

“It is a great achievement to reach the point of enrolling apprentices on the Level 6 Dispensing Optician Apprenticeship. Building on the work of the employers’ Trailblazer Group which developed the Apprenticeship Standard, it has been a collective effort to deliver the first qualification for dispensing opticians that will benefit from government funding,” she said.