Mandatory Eye Tests for Drivers: What Optometrists Need to Know

Right now, millions of drivers in the UK renew their licence by ticking a box—no eye test. No clinician. Just a self-declaration that their vision is fine. The government wants to change that — and there is a live consultation that closes on 11 May 2026. Every optometrist and dispensing optician in the country should respond to it.

The numbers behind the current system are uncomfortable. A 2024 roadside survey of over 3,000 drivers found that 1.7% failed a basic number plate test. Among drivers aged 81 to 90, the failure rate exceeded 10%. The number of drivers aged 70 and over holding a full licence has grown by 60% since 2012 — from 3.9 million to 6.3 million. More people are driving for longer. And right now, many of them have never had a vision check tied to their licence at all.

That is the problem. Here is the opportunity.

What the proposal actually says

The Department for Transport is consulting on mandatory eyesight testing at licence renewal for older drivers. The College of Optometrists, led by Daniel Hardiman-McCartney MBE FCOptom, is calling for that test to be a full, optometrist-led sight test — not a basic screening, not a number plate check in a car park—a real clinical encounter.

The administrative separation matters here. The sight test itself would continue to be NHS-funded where eligible. The certification confirming a driver's visual acuity — signed off following that test — would be paid for by the driver, not the NHS. So this is not a raid on the NHS sight test budget. It is a separate process built on top of an existing clinical infrastructure in every community in the country.

That infrastructure is largely independent of optical practices.

Why a full sight test and not a basic screen

This is where it matters most. A basic vision screening — a quick acuity check — creates the impression of safety without the clinical substance to back it up. Glaucoma, macular degeneration, and diabetic eye disease: these conditions can significantly impair driving vision while remaining entirely asymptomatic to the patient. A number plate test will not find them. A full sight test will.

The College's position is clear. A screening check is not a substitute for a sight test. If the government accepts a watered-down version of this proposal, it will not just miss the point — it may actually make things worse, by giving drivers and the public false confidence that a proper eye health check has taken place when it has not.

Dispensing opticians have a specific role in the proposal, too. Checking that a driver's spectacles are current, fit for purpose and appropriate for their prescription. Not a passive administrative role — a clinical one.

What this means for independent practices

Hundreds of thousands of older drivers who currently have no regular sight tests would be brought into community eye care, potentially for the first time in years. Not into a superstore. Not into a drive-through screening van. Into their local optician, which in most of the country means an independent practice.

The continuity-of-care argument writes itself. An independent practice that sees an older driver for their licence renewal sight test builds a relationship. It picks up the early AMD, the elevated IOP, and the diabetic changes that would otherwise go unnoticed. That is the kind of clinical encounter that compounds — for the patient, and for the practice.

The consultation closes at 11:59 pm on 11 May 2026. Respond via the government website below. Support a full optometrist-led sight test. Not a screening. Not a minimum check. The full thing.

Respond to the government consultation here — closes 11 May 2026

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