ABDO celebrates National Apprenticeship Week
Dispensing optician apprentices will ‘earn while they learn’
ABDO is encouraging the profession to ‘build your workforce: train a dispensing optician through apprenticeships‘ this National Apprenticeship Week (9-15 February).
Developed in partnership with employers and approved by the General Optical Council in July 2024, the ABDO DO (dispensing optician) apprenticeship enables practices to train fully qualified DOs through a structured, work-based programme designed around real clinical needs.
The key benefits for employers include:
- Significant cost savings: apprenticeships are funded differently from traditional private study routes as levy paying employers can draw the full cost from their levy account; non-levy employers receive 95 per cent government funding, with some eligible for 100 per cent funding
- Developing talent that ‘earns while they learn’: apprentices remain a productive team member throughout, putting their learning into practice from day one
- Same high professional standards as the FBDO diploma: the ABDO DO apprenticeship is fully integrated with the FBDO qualification with apprentices sitting the exact same exams and assessments as privately-funded students
- Valuable new skills within the team: apprentices gain the clinical, communication and technical skills essential for patient care – from vision assessment and dispensing lenses to managing patient needs and working to professional standards
The ABDO DO apprenticeship is available though three training institutes currently:
For more information, contact the institutions direct.