Welcome to ABDO College!

This page is designed for those who have successfully applied to join the Ophthalmic Dispensing or Contact Lens Diploma programmes.

It is designed to provide useful information for you ahead of joining the course as well as answer some frequently asked questions.

GOC registration

GOC registration is mandatory throughout your period of study with us.

Please notify the college of your GOC student registration number and remember that it is illegal to use the protected titles of Trainee Dispensing Optician, or Dispensing Optician unless you are registered with the GOC.  DO students should apply to the GOC once you have been accepted onto the course, they will not release your GOC number until September.

ABDO Membership

Membership of ABDO is mandatory throughout your studies.  There is a discounted ‘new student’ membership fee available for students who apply for membership after 1^st April each year and intend to join the September intake of Dispensing courses. This is to prevent students from paying the full fee for September and then again in January when renewals become due.

Course fees

For privately or employer funded courses, an invoice for the course fee will be attached to your course confirmation email – unless your employer has an agreement in place with ABDO College to fund studies directly.

To access your course material for the start of the course, fees must be paid before the start date.  Payment methods can be found on the second page of your invoice.

It is the student’s responsibility to ensure that payment has been made.

Apprenticeships are funded through the government systems and therefore are not initially invoiced directly.

Coursework

The units of your course are delivered and uploaded through an online environment – ABDO College Virtual Learning Environment (also referred to as the VLE or ‘Moodle’) and will be timetabled to be uploaded weekly.

Assignments can be word processed (MS Word) or handwritten and scanned as a pdf, so regular access to a computer, scanning software (we recommend Adobe Scan which can also be downloaded onto your phone), and internet access is essential.  Please ensure you make all appropriate provisions for these before the course start date.

The coursework is available on the VLE a few days before the course start date, providing your course fees have been paid in full.

The exam syllabus can also be viewed electronically on the ABDO Website.

Travelling to Godmersham for Block Release

Godmersham does not have its own train station. The nearest mainline stations are Ashford International and Canterbury West. Smaller stations may not have taxi ranks.

ABDO College has plenty of on site parking which is free of charge.

Books and essential reading list

eBook versions of all essential books are provided and can be found on the VLE, to order physical books visit the online ABDO College Bookshop (www.abdocollege.org.uk/bookshop). Click essential reading sets.