General Optical Council Registration
The General Optical Council (GOC) requires that all students studying on an optometry training course in the UK are registered with the GOC. This is a legal requirement.
When your place is confirmed on the BSc Optometry course you will be sent a student registration form prior to enrolment which you must complete and bring with you to when you join us. Please visit the GOC website for more information on Student Registration.
FITNESS TO PRACTISE PROCEDURES FOR OPTOMETRY STUDENTS
Whilst you are training you will work with members of the general public, including children and vulnerable adults. All optometrists must be registered with the General Optical Council (GOC) to practise in the UK, and this also includes all student optometrists in training on a GOC-approved training course. One of the conditions of this registration is that you declare all criminal convictions, cautions and disciplinary proceedings on their registration and annual retention forms.
More information about student registration with the GOC can be found here:
http://www.optical.org/en/our_work/Registration/Applying_for_registration/Students.cfm
And more information about what you need to declare to the GOC can be found here:
http://www.optical.org/en/our_work/Registration/Declaring_criminal_offences/index.cfm
For students who will start their Optometry degree course from October 2010 onwards, there will be additional requirements:
You must return a self declaration form when you accept your offer of a place, prior to your arrival in Cardiff
Continuation on the degree programme will also be conditional upon an Enhanced Criminal Records Bureau Disclosure (CRB Check), or, if you join us from overseas, a Certificate of Good Conduct.
Please click the documents here to find out more about these requirements
Self Declaration (Disclosure) for all new students (from 2010 entry onwards)