A standard CET cycle will run from 2019-21 after the General Optical Council agreed to ditch plans for a transition period next year.
Instead of having a transition period during 2019 before rolling out a new CET system, the GOC promised changes from 2022 – all as part of the ongoing Education Strategic Review (ESR).
It followed concern from providers in a CET consultation presented to Council this week they would not be able to meet the requirements of a revised system by January 2020, a GOC statement said.
The AOP welcomed the change of plans but said the regulator ‘must raise its game on planning and delivering major projects’.
Dr Subo Shanmuganathan, GOC interim director of education, said: ‘There is a widespread recognition in the sector that CET needs to change to meet the challenges of the future and we want that to happen quickly.
‘But our recent discussions with key stakeholders suggest that January 2020 – which would have come only a matter of months after a consultation next year – would have been too soon for providers and registrants to adequately prepare. Change is important but the consultation does not suggest that the need for change is so urgent that we should rush change through before providers are ready.
‘So instead, the next CET cycle will be another three-year cycle with the same requirements we have at the moment. This will give us the time to make long-term changes in a considered, evidence-based way that allows providers to make the necessary preparation for January 2022 and registrants to prepare themselves for a scheme that will have a greater emphasis on reflective learning.’
