Posted 6 December 2019

On Monday December 2^nd, top set Year 11 Science students from Hanson Academy joined a handful of interested sixth formers for an exciting opportunity to find out more about Optometry. The students took part in a workshop delivered by a practicing optometrist to introduce optometry as a potential career option. Many of the students were already quite ‘clued up’ about the subjects they wanted to study at Level 3 and had ambitions to go on to higher education, but weren’t aware exactly what a course or career in optometry might involve. Their eyes were opened!

The session started with a quiz, which taught us, amongst other things, that the average person blinks around 13000 times a day and that the eye weighs 7g. We were pretty confident that we knew that the most common eye colour was brown. One student was really surprised to find out that eye examinations are free if you’re under 18. She’d never had her eyes tested and was keen to book an appointment.

Students then had a chance to test themselves for blind spots and depth perception, and a couple of braver students were willing to put on the optometrist’s sight testing spectacles to check how good their vision was. The rest of the session included some eye biology, degree entry requirements, the benefits of working as an optometrist and an overview of other related health professions, such as orthoptics.

Also present was a student ambassador from Bradford University, who is a first year optometry student and an ex-Hanson pupil. She was able to share her experience of applying to a competitive course with high entry requirements. Her advice was not to be put off if you think you can’t quite make the grades, as sometimes lower grades are accepted.

Students really enjoyed the interactive and engaging session. One student said, “I’d like to do things like this more often. It helps people think about their career and inspires them.”