Online Learning – Level 3 Optical Assistant Certification

Unit 1: The legal requirements for optical business

This unit reviews the range of legislation that governs optical businesses; from consumer rights to the Opticians Act and GDPR. The importance of Health and Safety is also covered, along with, COSHH, risk assessment, and waste disposal. This is an important unit for anyone who is in a supervisory capacity or management position.

Your learning goals:

• Understand the legal requirements in an optical practice
• Understand health and safety in an optical practice
• Understand the importance of managing waste in an optical practice

Unit 2: Lens treatments and eye protection

Improve your lens knowledge by studying this unit that covers the wide range of lens treatments available. Treatments covering include, hard coating, MAR, blue light and driving finishes. There are also sections covering the range of tinting options, photochromic lenses, and polarised lenses. The final part of the unit is dedicated to eye protection, reviewing the lens and frame options available.

Your learning goals:

• Understand different lens coatings and finishes
• Understand the tinting of lenses and sun protection
• Understand safety lenses and eyewear

Unit 3: Understanding contact lenses

Building on the knowledge covered on Level 2, this unit delves into more depth on the correction of astigmatism and presbyopia; as well as building confidence with the contact lens ‘teach’ and reviewing contact lens compliance. A must for any assistant who is involved with contact lens patients on a regular basis, or who wishes to expand their contact lens knowledge.

Your learning goals:

• Understand the correction of astigmatism with contact lenses
• Understand the correction of presbyopia with contact lenses
• Understand the contact lens ‘teach’ process
• Understand contact lens related complications

Unit 4: An introduction to low vision

There are 2 million people in the UK living with sight loss, making this unit an important aspect of modern practice. The unit starts by reviewing the terminology used and moves on to reviewing the low vision assessment journey, with an emphasis on the range of support available. The unit then covers the range of low vision aids available and the importance of good lighting. Studying this unit will help you to empathise and understand people’s needs.

Your learning goals:

• Understand what we mean by low vision
• Understand the low vision assessment process
• Understand the range of low vision aids (LVAs) available
• Understand the importance of light for the visually impaired

Unit 5: Customer service and complaints

Customers are more demanding than ever, so offering excellent customer service is essential for any business to survive and grow. This unit looks at the principles of customer service, how to effectively measure and improve customer service, as well as a section dedicated to dealing with complaints when things do go wrong.

Your learning goals:

• Understand what constitutes excellent customer service
• Understand the measuring of customer satisfaction
• Understand the causes of complaints and how to handle them

Unit 6: Visual merchandising and stock control

All businesses should have effective methods to monitor their stock to protect their bottom line. Stock should also be presented in ways that will generate interest from customers and persuade them to buy. This will result in increased sales and includes techniques such as how to implement add-on selling.

Your learning goals:

• Understand the importance of visual merchandising in an optical practice
• Understand the ordering and receipt of stock
• Understand the importance of accurate stock control

Unit 7: Frame fitting, adjustments and repairs

This is an essential unit for anybody working in practice, from optical assistants to lab staff and professional colleagues. All customers will expect you to be able to confidently and competently assess the fit of a frame, then carry out the correct adjustments. This is vital at the collection stage of the customer journey so that they leave on a high and with a positive experience. The unit also looks at some of the common spectacle frame repairs that can be carried out in practice, so that learners can feel more confident in completing these tasks themselves.

Your learning goals:

• Understand the fitting of spectacles
• Understand the adjustment of spectacles
• Understand common spectacle repairs

Unit 8: Advanced optical screening

A more advanced unit than the level 2 unit on optical screening; this unit considers a greater understanding of procedures such as visual field testing, auto-refraction, tonometry, fundus photography, and OCT. The unit finishes with how to deal with triaging ocular emergencies, which will boost the confidence of optical support staff.

Your learning goals:

• Understand optical prescriptions
• Understand the results of visual field screening
• Understand different methods of measuring intraocular pressure
• Understand how to improve imaging of the fundus
• Understand Optical emergencies and triaging

Examinations

In order to achieve a qualification for this course you will need to pass the examinations.

All of our examinations are carried out online in your workplace.  You will need to take an examination for each unit you have studied and these will be done once you have completed the course work for each unit.  The details and dates of your examination will be communicated to you on our online portal and also by post.  Each examination will take around 30 minutes to complete and will consist of a series of short answer questions.  The pass mark for each unit is 50% and you can resit any units you do not pass at the end of your course.

Once you have achieved a pass in all your units you will receive a certificate from NCFE.

You can find out more about our examinations, find application forms, see the fees and all our policy documents here.