Over 90 per cent of opticians met the requirement for CET by the deadline of December 31, according to final figures released by the General Optical Council this week.
Ninety-five per cent of optometrists, 89 per cent of dispensing opticians and 86 per cent of contact lens opticians have reached their points totals by the year end.
Overall, 98 per cent of practitioners had registered with the CET website www.cetoptics.com. 'This is an excellent start to the year for UK optics,' said registrar Peter Coe. 'The professions have demonstrated their commitment to continuing education and I believe this will give us a strong foundation to build on in 2007 as we consider options for re-validation.'
A total of 1,554 registrants failed to reach their points requirement and must make up the shortfall by March 15 2007, including 401 who had not registered with www.cetoptics.com.
The shortfall includes 541 optometrists, 445 dispensing opticians and 167 contact lens opticians. Of these, 40 per cent have already earned more than 24 points, but 24 per cent have less than 12 points.
Letters to registrants with a shortfall were sent out on January 3 and anyone who believes their record is inaccurate must write to the registrar by January 31 to log a dispute.
The GOC added that registrants who do not obtain sufficient CET points by March 15 will be removed from the register on April 1 and any retention fee paid will be refunded. Where a shortfall relates to a speciality, the entry to that speciality will be removed.