INTRODUCTION

The Worshipful Company of Spectacle Makers (WCSM or SMC) was incorporated by Royal Charter in 1629 to improve the quality of life for the visually impaired. At the time of incorporation, there was little that its members could do but ensure high standards of quality and service in the manufacture and provision of reading glasses but, as science and technology developed, members of the Company played a prominent role in most of the innovations and improvements in vision sciences that we now take for granted. Many of them acquired international reputations and high scientific honours, both in the field of optical instrumentation and that of eye disease, where they harnessed advances in medical and optical knowledge to introduce ever more thorough and comprehensive eye examinations.

By the end of the nineteenth century, the pool of knowledge had become deep enough to justify the introduction of examinations for opticians themselves, and the Company introduced these in 1898. Successful candidates were awarded the qualification “FSMC” (Fellow of the Spectacle Makers’ Company), a qualification that can still be seen displayed in some High Street practices today. The Company also encouraged the study of optics through evening classes at the Northampton Polytechnic (now the City University), and paid the salary of the lecturer in visual optics. Separate examinations for dispensing opticians followed in 1956. Success in the Company’s examinations also secured registration with the General Optical Council, once that body had been set up in 1958 to regulate and raise the standards of professional education and conduct.

Greater change occurred in 1980, when the Company joined forces with the British Optical Association (BOA) and the Scottish Association of Opticians to found the British College of Ophthalmic Opticians (now the College of Optometrists) as the single examining body for ophthalmic opticians (nowadays termed “optometrists”). Six years later, the Company and the BOA combined with the Association of Dispensing Opticians to establish the Association of British Dispensing Opticians (ABDO). This left the Company free to devote a major part of its energies and resources to training those seeking to get on the bottom rung of the optical career ladder as either optical technicians or optical practice support staff.

Since 1962 the Company has awarded certificates to students who have successfully completed its examinations for Optical Technicians, after studying at the City & Islington College. In response to demand from the optical industry, it subsequently made arrangements for students to prepare for these examinations by distance learning. In more recent years, it has also taken an interest in the training of those who provide the interface between the public and the optical practitioner, and who are responsible for upholding the ambience in optical practices and assisting with the dispensing of spectacles and contact lenses – the Optical Practice Support Staff (OPS).

THE BENEFITS OF AN SMC QUALIFICATION

Award of an SMC qualification can open up a deeply satisfying career helping to improve the quality of life for the visually impaired.

Optical Technicians will be joining a key industry with a proud record of technical development, expertise and, above all, high standards, and by encouraging them to learn about their craft and to become highly skilled and proficient in their role as technicians, the SMC will enhance their prospects of advancement. Many holders of its Level 3 Certificate in Optical Manufacturing have gone on to secure managerial appointments in the optical industry.

Optical Practice Support Staff will receive a thorough grounding in the theories and practices that underpin their work, which will allow them to deal with patients in an assured and confident manner and set them at ease before they are seen by an optometrists or dispensing optician. Achievement of an SMC Award will enhance their prospects of advancement to supervisory or practice management positions.

All holders of SMC Certificates may alternatively exercise their right to claim partial exemption from the Association of British Dispensing Opticians’ normal entry requirements, and go on to train as Dispensing Opticians. One or two may even wish to take their personal development a stage further and, by building on the confidence that success in the SMC’s examinations has given them, qualify as Optometrists (Ophthalmic Opticians).

AIM

Our aim is to enhance the career prospects for Optical Technicians and Optical Practice Support Staff, by providing them with a thorough knowledge and understanding of the principles and theories that underpin their roles in the optical industry and the optical profession.

ACCREDITATION

SMC qualifications are widely respected within the optical industry and profession throughout the United Kingdom, and the Irish Republic but applicants are advised that they have only been accredited by the English, Welsh and Northern Irish regulatory authorities.

EQUAL OPPORTUNITIES POLICY

The WCSM Awarding Body is committed to giving everyone who wants to gain a qualification an equal opportunity of access and assessment in line with current UK legislation and EU directives. Action will be taken to:

The WCSM Awarding Body will deliver:

A copy of this policy will be issued to all examiners and moderators, and is readily available to anyone else who might want one.

The WCSM Awarding Body will ensure the effectiveness of this is policy is reviewed annually.

CUSTOMER SERVICE STATEMENT

In accordance with the Awarding Body’s Equal opportunities policy, which is set out on the previous page, all candidates will be treated with dignity and respect, and be given every encouragement sit the examinations.

All will be assessed fairly, including those with particular assessment requirements. Strict procedures are in place to ensure consistency in the standard of examination papers over time, and fair assessment.

It is the Awarding Body’s policy to communicate in English.

Requests for guidance and information about syllabi, preparation for the examinations, the examinations themselves and fees will be met within 5 working days. The contact address is shown on the front cover of this pamphlet. Every effort will be made to ensure that all documents and guidance given to students will be clear, and relevant to their needs.

The syllabi for the examinations leading to awards of the WCSM’s qualifications will be reviewed at regular intervals, to ensure that they continue to reflect current practice and meet the needs of employers.

Fees

There is a single examination fee for each examination. The Awarding Body reviews its examination fees annually. Current fees may be obtained from the SMC Office at Apothecaries’ Hall, the contact details for which appear on the front cover of this pamphlet.

Applications

It is the Awarding Body’s policy to reduce the cost of sitting its examinations by offering candidates the choice of examination venue which, besides London, will normally include options in each of the north of England, Wales, Northern Ireland and Scotland.

All applications to register for an examination should be lodged with the Awarding Body, at the address shown on the title page of this Statement, no later than one month before the date of the examination. They will be acknowledged within 14 working days, and the acknowledgement will be accompanied by a copy of the Awarding Body’s Examination Handbook & Regulations.

Preparation

Candidates may prepare themselves for the examinations leading to the WCSM’s Awards in any way they choose. Those without access to a local training provider may, however, wish to avail themselves of the help offered by the Training Committee of the SMC. Further information may be obtained by telephoning 020 –7236 2932 or 020 7236-8645 or through email to administrator@spectaclemakers.com.

Claims for Reasonable Adjustments

The Awarding Body will look sympathetically on all requests for reasonable adjustments to its assessment methods from those with disabilities or other impairments, such as sufferers of dyslexia and those confined to wheel chairs, and will do everything practicable within the prevailing circumstances to facilitate their sitting of the examination, and without additional charge.

Such claims must be received by the SMC Office in Apothecaries’ Hall at least one month before the examination, and be accompanied by proof of the disability or impairment in the form of a medical practitioner’s certificate and, where appropriate, a certificate from the employer.

They will be considered and assessed by the Chief Examiner concerned, and a response issued within two weeks.

Claims for Special Consideration

A candidate who arrives at an examination venue more than 30 minutes after the start of the examination will be denied entry. If the Awarding Body subsequently judges that there were mitigating circumstances behind that late arrival, it may, after reviewing the evidence, allow the candidate to sit the examination at the next available opportunity free of charge. Requests for such consideration must be lodged at the SMC Office in Apothecaries’ Hall within 7 days of the examination.

A candidate who attends and completes the examination on time, but feels that his or her performance was impaired by a unforeseen and unforeseeable change in personal circumstances occurring over 48 hours before the examination that seriously affected his or her ability to prepare for it, may petition the Awarding Body within 7 days after the examination. Such a petition must be accompanied by supporting evidence, including where appropriate, documentation from the employer and/or GP.

Receipt of a claim for special consideration will be acknowledged immediately, and the Awarding Body will endeavour to provide a definitive response within a month, and preferably alongside publication of the examination results.

Aegrotat Awards

A candidate who is prevented for illness or other circumstances beyond his or her control from sitting an examination will, on production of evidence from a medical practitioner and employer to support the claim, be allowed to resit it at no additional cost at the next scheduled opportunity. The WCSM does not make aegrotat awards.

Complaints

A candidate (or an employer) who wishes to complain about some aspect of the Awarding Body’s assessment procedures, whether the perceived error be one of omission or commission, should submit the complaint in writing (giving as much detail as possible) to the SMC Office in Apothecaries’ Hall, as soon as he or she feels aggrieved.

Appeals

An appeal against examination results must set out the grounds for the appeal clearly and in detail, and should be lodged with the Awarding Body at the SMC Office in Apothecaries’ Hall within a month of the date shown on the letter notifying the student of his or her result. It will be acknowledged immediately, and a definitive reply sent within a month.

Provided the appeal is not frivolous, the Awarding Body will not charge an appellant for the work involved in assessing it.

In the first instance, appeals will be referred to all those concerned with setting and marking the paper. If the candidate is not satisfied with their response, the appeal will then be considered by a group of serving and retired university professors who are members of the Worshipful Company of Spectacle Makers, but who will include two independent arbiters in their deliberations. If the appellant is still not satisfied, the appeal will be referred to a totally independent review panel, whose findings will be considered final. Again, in each case, the Awarding Body will aim to respond within a month.

Where the outcome of an appeal brings into question the accuracy of other results, the Awarding Body will take immediate steps to protect the interests of all candidates who sat the paper in question by reviewing their results in the light of findings on that appeal.

THE AWARD OF CERTIFICATES

The Awarding Body’s examinations are held in June and December, and it will endeavour to promulgate results by the end of July and January respectively.

Successful candidates will receive an invitation to attend the formal presentation of certificates, which is held once a year in Apothecaries’ Hall, Black Friars Lane, London EC4 in mid-October. The invitation is extended to members of their family, and includes a buffet lunch. Presentations are made by the Master of the Worshipful Company of Spectacle Makers, who is accompanied by members of the Court of Assistants, in front of an invited audience which, besides family and friends of the “graduands”, includes guests of the Livery Company.

Certificates are posted out within a week of the ceremony to those who wish to “graduate in absentia”.

Replacement of Incorrect or Damaged Certificates

Replacement of lost Certificates

A request to replace a lost certificate will be acknowledged immediately, but no action will be taken until the Awarding Body has obtained proof of the claimant’s identity and satisfied itself as to the circumstances occasioning the loss.