General Optical Council

Arrangement is as follows:

A/GOC/A: Minutes of the Council and its Committees

SA/GOC/B: Annual Reports

SA/GOC/C: Notices

SA/GOC/D: Registers and Lists

SA/GOC/E: Publications

Archived website

This organisation's website has been archived as part of the work of the UK Web Archiving Consortium (UKWAC) and can be consulted here http://www.webarchive.org.uk/ukwa/target/112213.

The General Optical Council (GOC) is the statutory body which regulates the Optical professions (Dispensing Opticians and Optometrists). The GOC's main aims are to protect the public and promote high standards of professional conduct and education amongst Opticians. It was created following the Opticians Act 1958 in order to implement the provisions of the Act.

The powers and duties of the GOC are outlined in the Opticians Act 1989. They are responsible for registering Opticians, enrolling Bodies Corporate and maintaining and publishing registers and lists. In addition they approve training institutions and qualifications enabling registration and supervise training institutions and examinations, promoting proper professional conduct. The Council also prosecutes criminal offences under the Act in order to enforce the Act's provision in the public interest.

The GOC holds registers of Optometrists and Dispensing Opticians as well as lists of Bodies Corporate who carry on business as Optometrists and Dispensing Opticians. It is made up of a number of Committees, including the Education Committee, the Disciplinary Committee and the Standards Committee. They consist of representatives from the College of Optometrists, the Royal College of Ophthalmologists, and the Association of British Dispensing Opticians, as well as Ophthalmic Training Institutions, Registered Ophthalmic Opticians and Registered Dispensing Opticians.