More than one in 10 eye care professionals have yet to complete their CET requirement a matter of weeks before the deadline expires - and face being blocked from starting the next cycle.
The General Optical Council told Optician that 2,487 of its registrants, or 13 per cent, still needed to meet their target ahead of a new three-year cycle starting in the new year.
From January 1 the GOC will roll out wholesale changes to the way CET points must be attained, including compulsory peer review sessions. Registrants will be asked to gain 50 per cent of points through interactive learning, including lectures, clinical skills workshops, peer review and live webinars and online discussions.
At least six of the 36 points required for all dispensing opticians and optometrists must be obtained in each given year.
Meanwhile, meetings have been held with providers in recent months to brief them on the changes, and despite concerns the GOC said it was on schedule for the transition.
Under the changes, both registrants and providers will be asked to log on to the MyGOC section of the website to record CET for the 2013-15 cycle. However, any registrants still in deficit must continue using www.cetoptics.com to complete the 2010-12 cycle first.
A GOC spokesperson said: 'Registrants will not be able to apply for retention for 2013/15 unless they have met our CET requirements for the 2010-12 cycle. If registrants miss the deadline, the registrar may grant the right to use the "shortfall" period to gain sufficient points.'
This shortfall period for missing points will run until March 31, and the GOC warned that registrants who had not applied for retention by March 15 would have to pay a late application fee. Those who have still not applied by March 31 would be removed from the register and unable to practise in the UK from April 1.