NHS sight test
- The full 40-minute appointment, not a shorter one
- Retinal photography included
- Every two years, or annually if you qualify
- We claim from the NHS; you sign a form and pay nothing
£0if eligible · 40 min
Eye care
Everything we do, and what every bit of it costs.
There is no page on this site where you have to ring to find out a price. If we have not published a figure for something, it is because it depends on your prescription — and where that is true, we say what it depends on.
Examinations
Four appointments. Forty minutes each, whichever you book.
The Sight Testing Regulations set a floor: an external examination, an intra-ocular examination, and whatever else is clinically necessary. Twenty minutes covers the floor. Forty is what it takes to do it without hurrying you back out onto Wyle Cop.
Standard eye examination
- Refraction, muscle balance, colour vision
- Slit-lamp and intra-ocular pressure
- Retinal photography, stored and compared each visit
- Written prescription in your hand before you leave
£4840 min
Enhanced examination, with OCT
- Everything in the standard examination
- OCT cross-section of retina and optic nerve
- Baseline stored for comparison year on year
- Recommended once for everyone, then annually over 50
£7860 min
Children, under 16
- Free on the NHS every year, no exceptions
- No reading required — pictures and matching
- Myopia management discussed if the script is moving
- First appointment from about nine months old
£0NHS · 40 min
Clinics
Six things we do that a twenty-minute high-street slot cannot.
Contact lenses
Fitting and assessment £65, refunded against your first three months. Daily disposables, monthlies, torics for astigmatism and multifocals. Plans from £22 a month with aftercare and lenses included.
Myopia management
For children whose prescription is climbing. Cycloplegic refraction, axial length at baseline and every six months, MiSight or Stellest, and six-monthly review. From £42 a month, everything in.
Dry eye & blepharitis
Thirty minutes with Nadia on a Wednesday, £55. Tear film assessment, lid margin examination, and a treatment plan you can actually keep up. Most people have been told to buy drops and left at that.
Urgent eyecare
Red eye, foreign body, sudden floaters, flashes. Two slots held every morning. Free under the NHS urgent eyecare service where you are eligible, £55 if not. Nadia's independent prescribing means most cases are treated here.
OCT scanning
£25 added to any examination, or included in the enhanced one. It shows the retina in cross-section — glaucoma and macular change appear here years before they appear to you.
Driving & occupational
The DVLA standard is reading a number plate at 20 metres, roughly 6/12 Snellen, with an adequate field. We test it properly and put it in writing for employers, HGV medicals and licence renewals.
The kit
What each of those clinics actually runs on.
Your prescription
It is yours. Here is what it says.
Under the Opticians Act 1989 we must give you a signed written prescription immediately after your test — or a signed statement that you do not need one. You are free to take it to any other practice, or online. We would rather you understood it than felt vaguely obliged to us.
Prices
The whole list, on one page.
| Appointment | Time | Price |
|---|---|---|
| NHS sight test | 40 min | £0 if eligible |
| Standard eye examination | 40 min | £48 |
| Enhanced examination with OCT | 60 min | £78 |
| OCT added to any examination | +10 min | £25 |
| Contact lens fitting & assessment | 45 min | £65 |
| Contact lens aftercare | 20 min | In plan, or £30 |
| Dry eye assessment | 30 min | £55 |
| Urgent eye appointment | Same day | £0 NHS, or £55 |
| Myopia management programme | 6-monthly | From £42/month |
| Written report for DVLA or employer | — | £20 |
| Item | From |
|---|---|
| Frames, our own range | £95 |
| Frames, designer | £160 – £395 |
| Single-vision lenses, AR coated | £55 |
| Varifocals | £145 – £420 |
| Bifocals | £110 |
| High index 1.67 / 1.74 | £70 |
| Photochromic | £65 |
| Complete prescription sunglasses | £129 |
| Myopia-control lenses | £250 per pair |
| Re-glazing your own frame | £45 |
| Repairs and adjustments | No charge |
Aperture Care
Thirteen pounds a month.
A membership, not a discount card. Cancel any month. It pays for itself in the first year if you have one enhanced examination and one pair of spectacles, which is what most members do.
£13per month · per person
- Annual enhanced examination with OCT, included
- Unlimited adjustments, repairs and re-glazing
- Same-day urgent appointments, no charge
- 20% off every pair of spectacles
- Dry eye assessment included once a year
- Children under 16 in your household added free
Asked often
The questions people ring up with.
Can I take my prescription somewhere else?
Yes, and it is not a favour — it is the law. We must hand you a signed written prescription immediately after your test, and you may spend it anywhere, including online. Nobody here will make it awkward.
Do I actually need the OCT scan?
Once, so there is a baseline to compare against. After that it depends: annually from about fifty, or sooner if there is glaucoma in the family, you have diabetes, or something has been picked up. If none of that applies to you and you are twenty-five, we will say so rather than sell it.
How do I know if my NHS test is free?
Check the eligibility table on our home page, or telephone and read us the first line of your benefit letter. We will tell you before you come in. If you are not eligible it is £48 and we will not pretend otherwise at the desk.
My glasses are from somewhere else and they hurt. Will you look?
Yes. Adjustments are free whoever sold them, and always have been. If the fault is in how they were made rather than how they sit, Tom will tell you what to ask the original supplier for.
How long is a prescription valid?
There is no legal expiry on a written prescription — a registrant may dispense an out-of-date one. In practice we would want to re-test after two years, because it is the examination rather than the paperwork that matters.
Do you do home visits?
Yes, for anyone unable to leave home unaccompanied, which is an NHS-funded domiciliary sight test. Shrewsbury and within about twelve miles — Bayston Hill, Bicton, Uffington, Atcham and the villages either side of the A5.
Booking
Book the one you actually need.
Not sure which? Telephone and describe what is bothering you. We will tell you which appointment fits and what it costs before you commit to anything.