GOC proposes changes to student regulation

Students may not have to register with the General Optical Council in the future following a proposal document by the regulator.

Council members have approved draft proposals for the changes, sparking a consultation period to seek feedback this summer.

Under the changes, expected to take years to implement, the GOC would introduce ‘a system of student regulation without student registration’. The system would result in cost savings for the GOC of around £550,000 per year, it said, but parties taking on new responsibilities were warned to expect implementation costs.

Since 2005, the GOC has been the only health and care regulator to have a full compulsory system of student registration, but an ongoing Law Commission review has triggered the re-think.