How you’d get this certificate
- Zavmo teaches you. You learn the units one-to-one with an AI tutor, on your own work.
- You register with an approved centre. That is a college, training provider or employer Association of British Dispensing Opticians has approved to offer this qualification. Zavmo is not an approved centre, so you register with them, not with us.
- The centre assesses, and Association of British Dispensing Opticians awards. A qualified assessor at the centre judges your evidence, and the certificate comes from Association of British Dispensing Opticians.
The qualification is for optical assistants and focuses on retail practice and management within an optical setting. It includes the provision of contact lenses, optical screening, and low vision aids, alongside the principles of optics.
These are the units Association of British Dispensing Opticians registers against this qualification. It is a catalogue, not a syllabus. Which of them you take depends on the combination the qualification requires, and that is set by the awarding body rather than by us. Every unit here is regulated. Zavmo teaches towards them on your own work, and work done here is recognised as prior learning under the agreements we hold.
Zavmo is not an awarding body, is not an approved centre, and is not affiliated with Association of British Dispensing Opticians. It does the teaching and the mapping. Association of British Dispensing Opticians sets this qualification and awards it, and a qualified human assessor makes the assessment decision.
Free first step
Try a free Future Fluency lesson first
The free part is a Future Fluency lesson on using AI at work. It is not part of this qualification. Next, a free account. We build your plan for this qualification as you set up. Teaching towards this qualification begins when you subscribe.
No card · Nothing to commit to
What each unit actually teaches you to do
ANTERIOR EYE AND OCULAR SUPPLEMENTS Real unit · Association of British Dispensing Opticians
What you'll be able to do
- Describe the use of refractive surgery to correct vision
- Recognise and manage blepharitis
- Recognise and manage dry eye
- Explain the use of ocular nutritional supplements
BUSINESS PRINCIPLES FOR OPTICAL PRACTICES Real unit · Association of British Dispensing Opticians
What you'll be able to do
- Identify the factors for success of an optical retail practice
- Explain how regulatory bodies, professional organisations and trade bodies influence the restrictions on marketing and advertising in optical practice
- Evaluate the effectiveness of different marketing techniques
- Analyse the financial impact of decisions taken by optical assistants
- Describe the systems typically used within an optical practice
OPTICAL SKILLS IN PRACTICE Real unit · Association of British Dispensing Opticians
What you'll be able to do
- Demonstrate effective patient communication skills
- Perform spectacle repairs and adjustments
- Demonstrate spectacle dispensing techniques
- Perform spectacle verification procedures
- Conduct optical screening tests
- Describe the principles of contact lenses
PRINCIPLES OF OPTICAL RETAIL PRACTICE SUPPORT AND MANAGEMENT Real unit · Association of British Dispensing Opticians
What you'll be able to do
- Explain the legal requirements that apply in an optical practice and their relevance to the role of an optical assistant
- Describe the regulatory requirements governing optical practice
- Explain the health and safety requirements in an optical practice and their relevance to the role of an optical assistant
- Demonstrate the skills required for communication in optical practice
- Explain the principles of managing staff and developing individuals’ performance in an optical practice
- Demonstrate how to achieve excellent customer service in an optical practice
- Apply sales techniques in an optical practice
- Describe the rules of provision of services through a national health care scheme
THE EYE AND THE PRINCIPLES OF OPTICS Real unit · Association of British Dispensing Opticians
What you'll be able to do
- Explain the nature of light and the electromagnetic spectrum
- Describe the reflection of light when incident at plane and curved surfaces
- Describe the refraction of light when incident at plane and curved surfaces
- Explain the basic anatomical structure of the eye and how it relates to refractive errors
THE PROVISION OF CONTACT LENSES IN OPTICAL PRACTICE Real unit · Association of British Dispensing Opticians
What you'll be able to do
- Explain the legal implications of supplying contact lenses and aftercare
- Explain the legal implications of supplying contact lens solutions
- Describe the key designs of contact lenses
- Describe the wearing modalities of contact lenses
- Advise customers who have not complied with contact lens care regimens
THE PROVISION OF LOW VISION AIDS IN OPTICAL PRACTICE Real unit · Association of British Dispensing Opticians
What you'll be able to do
- Define the terms relating to low vision
- Explain the importance of the case history for patients with low vision
- Describe the anatomy of the retina and anterior chamber and related structures and the relevant pathological conditions
- Explain the importance of illumination for low vision patients
- Describe the care requirements for people with low vision
- Demonstrate the use of low vision appliances
THE PROVISION OF OPTICAL SCREENING AND CLINICAL SUPPORT Real unit · Association of British Dispensing Opticians
What you'll be able to do
- Describe how to interpret optical prescriptions
- Explain the applications of visual field screening
- Describe the application of auto-refraction
- Describe the application of non-contact tonometry in measuring intra-ocular pressure (IOP)
- Explain the importance of fundus photography and optical coherence tomography (OCT)
- Identify eye conditions typically encountered in an optical practice
- Describe the actions required when confronted with an ocular emergency and recognised pathways for referral
THE PROVISION OF SPECTACLES IN OPTICAL PRACTICE Real unit · Association of British Dispensing Opticians
What you'll be able to do
- Describe the design principles for spectacles
- Explain the selection process for dispensing multi-focal lenses including bifocals and trifocals
- Determine the measurements required prior to the supply of spectacles
- Identify the materials used for spectacle lenses
- Explain the principles of fitting spectacles
- Explain the importance of the care of spectacles
- Describe the use and limitations of protective eyewear
The national standards these units are built against
What the job actually needs, in the words employers and awarding bodies already use for the work itself.
- Standard
Carry out routine optical screening procedures
- Standard
Manage the optical clinic
- Standard
Process optical prescriptions and order optical products
- Standard
Provide a contact lens collection service
- Standard
Select and sell optical products to meet customer needs
The credits, and who awards them
Level 4 credits are regulated, and they are awarded by Association of British Dispensing Opticians rather than by Zavmo. They don’t vanish when a subscription ends or a website closes. They travel to any employer, and Zavmo keeps the map of what you have covered and what is next.
What you would be collecting
ANTERIOR EYE AND OCULAR SUPPLEMENTSBUSINESS PRINCIPLES FOR OPTICAL PRACTICESOPTICAL SKILLS IN PRACTICEPRINCIPLES OF OPTICAL RETAIL PRACTICE SUPPORT AND MANAGEMENTTHE EYE AND THE PRINCIPLES OF OPTICSTHE PROVISION OF CONTACT LENSES IN OPTICAL PRACTICETHE PROVISION OF LOW VISION AIDS IN OPTICAL PRACTICETHE PROVISION OF OPTICAL SCREENING AND CLINICAL SUPPORT
Each one is a real unit registered against this qualification.
How you’d practise it
You don’t watch this. You do it.
You are not assessed on remembering this. You are assessed on applying it, analysing it, evaluating it and producing something. So that is what the practice is: projects, role play and your own live cases, with a tutor in the room.
The Coach · your practice partner Illustration - Lead it Apply
“PRINCIPLES OF OPTICAL RETAIL PRACTICE SUPPORT AND MANAGEMENT” is practised on the team you actually have. You talk through the call you are about to make, and Zavmo makes you say it the way you would say it to them.
What you leave holding
The standards this credential builds, in the shape the product keeps them
Nothing here is marked learned. There is no learner on a public page, so the map shows what the qualification covers rather than what anybody has done.
- Carry out routine optical screening procedures
- Manage the optical clinic
- Process optical prescriptions and order optical products
- Provide a contact lens collection service
- Select and sell optical products to meet customer needs
How you would learn this
One to one, on the work you already do
A tutor sets the task against your own job and marks the reasoning, at your pace. There is no cohort to fall behind.
A lesson from ANTERIOR EYE AND OCULAR SUPPLEMENTS, one of this qualification's own units.
Applied to your own work
Learners will explore refractive surgery options and their indications, recognise and manage anterior eye conditions such as blepharitis and dry eye, and understand the use of ocular nutritional supplements for eye health.
- 1 Remember
- 2 Understand
- 3 Apply
- 4 Analyse
- 5 Evaluate
- 6 Create
It is £70 a month, billed monthly. Your free first module is Future Fluency, and you can cancel any time. Teaching towards this qualification begins when you subscribe.
Built for ABDO Level 4 Diploma for Optical Assistants - Retail Practice and Management
9 units in this credential, in the order it lists them, awarded by Association of British Dispensing Opticians.
- ANTERIOR EYE AND OCULAR SUPPLEMENTS
- BUSINESS PRINCIPLES FOR OPTICAL PRACTICES
- OPTICAL SKILLS IN PRACTICE
- PRINCIPLES OF OPTICAL RETAIL PRACTICE SUPPORT AND MANAGEMENT
- THE EYE AND THE PRINCIPLES OF OPTICS
- THE PROVISION OF CONTACT LENSES IN OPTICAL PRACTICE
and 3 more in the full unit list below.
Free tools
Want a read on where you stand?
Three free tools, no account needed. Each one ends with a role, a level and a way in.
Learned on your own work, taught one-to-one.
Everything you just read, learned one-to-one on the job you already do. Your free first module is Future Fluency, so you can see how the teaching works before you pay for anything.
Build my plan, freeNo card. See how this qualification maps onto your role and meet the tutors who’d teach it, free. The learning begins when you subscribe. It’s £70 a month, billed monthly. Cancel any time and billing stops.
The title, level, credits, guided learning hours and unit learning outcomes on this page are taken from the Ofqual Register of Regulated Qualifications. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Where this data comes from.