About Us
The School is the only optometric training department in Wales, and one of the largest in the UK, with 28 academics, 4 clinicians, 17 post-doctoral fellows, 42 post-graduate students, and 12 School staff. In addition, we have a large number of visiting lecturers who support the clinical supervision of undergraduate students.
The title of the School reflects the importance of the dual roles of the School – teaching and research. On the teaching side, the School runs one undergraduate course, the BSc Optometry.
In the most recent Higher Education Funding Council assessment of undergraduate teaching quality in UK Optometry departments, our School of obtained one of the highest rankings throughout the UK and was awarded the designation 'Excellent'. Our top quality teaching relies on the academic and clinical expertise of our lecturers and visiting supervisors, and is inspired by the excellent staff-student relations and friendly atmosphere that exists within the School.
In the final optometric Professional Qualifying Examinations our overall pass rates have been consistently in the top two amongst all eight participating UK Universities during the past four years. As a pass in these examinations has been compulsory before becoming an independently practicing optometrist, most students consider it to be the most important examination of all.
Our core undergraduate student recruitment is for 70 UK/EU students each year, plus a vibrant international flavour provided by around 15 overseas students from many countries around the world. This means that there are around 240 undergraduates enrolled, spread over the three years of the course.
In research, the School has an international reputation as a world-class School. This is built on the research expertise of our academic staff and the quality of the research facilities available in the School. The primary objective of the School is to achieve the highest quality vision research in order to facilitate the early detection and diagnosis of eye diseases and their successful treatment. Research is co-ordinated through four research groups, which provides a breadth of research, which enables a truly multi-disciplinary, collaborative approach to our investigations of vision and visual pathologies.