FtP Regulations: Who decides what and when?

Careful analysis of the annual reports published by the General Optical Council (GOC) show that its total number of registrants has risen from 26,811 (in 2013-2014) to 33,705 (in 2023-2024), representing a 20% increase.^1-10  

A breakdown of the numbers for each registrant category is presented in figure 1. Although the data reveal a sizeable decrease in the number of student dispensing opticians over the last decade, figure 2 illustrates that the number of student optometrists has substantially expanded within the same period, from 2,736 to 5,307.^1-10  

Correspondingly, the proportion of optometrists has also increased, by around 5.4 times more than the proportion of dispensing opticians over the same period.^1-10