Below is what each appointment actually contains, minute by minute, and what the fee covers. Pick the one you think you need. If it turns out you need a different one, we change it on the day and charge the lower fee.
20 minutesEvery 2 yearsAdults 16+No dilation usually
Standard Eye Exam
The examination most people need, and the one we book by default. We check how well each eye sees on its own and together, measure the prescription, test the pressure inside the eye, and look at the health of the front and back of each eye. You leave with a printed prescription whether or not you buy anything.
What happens, minute by minute
00:00History and symptoms
What you have noticed, what you do all day, what runs in your family, and what medication you take.
03:00Snellen acuity, each eye and both together
The letter chart. We record the smallest line you read and compare it with your last visit.
06:00Refraction — the lens-by-lens prescription check
The “better with one, or with two” part. It takes about six minutes and gives us the numbers on your prescription.
12:00Eye-pressure measurement, both eyes
A short puff of air, or a drop and a probe if you prefer. This is the glaucoma screen.
14:00Front-of-eye examination and tear-film check
Cornea, lids and tear film under the slit lamp — the usual source of grittiness and screen fatigue.
17:00Back-of-eye examination
The retina and optic nerve, viewed directly. If anything needs a scan we say so before you leave the chair.
20:00Findings, in plain words, and your printed prescription
What we saw, what it means, and when to come back. No upsell in the room.
Included in the £65
Written prescription to take anywhere, handed over unasked
Comparison against every previous record we hold for you
Referral letter written the same day if the hospital needs to see you
A recall letter when you are next due, so you do not have to track it
35 minutesRecommended 40+Scan kept on file£30 more than standard
OCT Advanced
Everything in the standard exam, plus a cross-section scan of the retina. The scan shows the layers beneath the surface — where glaucoma, macular degeneration and diabetic damage begin, often years before you would notice a change in your sight. The images stay on your file, so next year's scan is measured against this one rather than against an average.
What happens, minute by minute
00:00 – 20:00The complete Standard Eye Exam
Every step above, unchanged. The scan is added to it, not substituted for any of it.
20:00Wide-field photograph of the back of each eye
One flash per eye. It records the retina as it is today, in colour, for the file.
25:00Cross-section retinal scan, both eyes
You look at a green target for about forty seconds an eye. Nothing touches the eye and no drops are needed.
30:00Year-on-year comparison on screen
Your scan beside your previous ones, thickness measured in microns. Ama or Rhys walks you through it.
35:00Findings and, where needed, a same-day referral letter
If something needs a hospital eye service, the letter is written before you leave the building.
Who we actually recommend it to
Anyone from 40 onwards, once, then every second exam
Any age with glaucoma or macular degeneration in the family
Anyone with diabetes, alongside the screening you already attend
Anyone under 40 with none of the above: not routinely. We will say so.
45 minutesTwo appointmentsTrial pair includedFollow-up included
Contact Lens Fitting
We measure the curve and diameter of your cornea, match a lens to it, and teach you to put lenses in and take them out before you leave. The fee covers the fitting appointment, a trial pair, and the follow-up two weeks later. It does not include an eye examination — if your prescription is more than two years old you need one first, and we book them back to back.
What happens, across the two visits
Visit 1 · 00:00Wear plan and lifestyle
Every day or two days a week; screens, sport, swimming, dust. The answer changes which lens is right.
Visit 1 · 08:00Corneal curvature and diameter measurement
The shape your lens has to sit on, measured rather than estimated from your prescription.
Visit 1 · 15:00Tear-film assessment for comfortable wear
Break-up time and volume. This is the step most often skipped elsewhere, and the usual reason lenses sting by teatime.
Visit 1 · 22:00Trial lens on the eye, settled and assessed
Ten minutes to settle, then we look at how it sits and moves with each blink.
Visit 1 · 35:00Handling lesson — in, out, and cleaning
You do not leave until you have managed it yourself, both eyes, twice. Nobody has ever been the fastest.
Visit 2 · +2 weeksFollow-up: cornea, comfort, and the final prescription
Included in the fee. We check the cornea under the lens for oxygen stress and confirm or change the material.
What lenses cost afterwards
Daily disposables from £26 a month, both eyes, delivered
Monthly disposables from £18 a month, solutions included
Six-monthly aftercare check included in every monthly plan
Cancel any month. No minimum term, and we do not hold you to a year.
30 minutesAges 3–15No reading required£0 under the funded scheme
Children's Vision
Children rarely report a sight problem, because they assume everyone sees what they see. This appointment uses pictures and shapes rather than letters, so a child who cannot yet read can still be tested accurately. It is free for under-16s under the funded scheme — the £45 fee applies only if you are booking outside it.
What happens, minute by minute
00:00Talk to the child, not about them
What they can see from the back of the classroom, whether words move, whether they get headaches after reading.
05:00Picture and shape-matching acuity tests
A shape on a card matched to a shape on the chart. It works from about age three and needs no reading at all.
12:00Eye-alignment and focusing check for lazy eye
Cover test and near-focus range. Lazy eye treated before about seven usually recovers fully; after that it becomes harder.
18:00Colour-vision screening
Done once, usually at the first visit. Worth knowing before a school subject or a career depends on it.
22:00Short-sightedness tracking, measured against last year
The rate of change matters more than the number. It tells us whether to act to slow it down.
30:00Findings explained to the adult, and to the child
Both, separately if that helps. Children take glasses far better when someone has explained why.
If they need glasses
A funded frame with single vision lenses costs £0 under the scheme
Free repairs and re-adjustment for as long as the prescription lasts
One free frame replacement in the first year if they break them
A letter for school if they need to sit closer to the board
(02) — What we do not do
Three things the fee does not buy.
Price transparency has to work in both directions. These are the limits of what a Clearview appointment covers, said plainly rather than discovered at the counter.
Not included 01
Treatment
We examine, we detect and we refer. We do not perform surgery, prescribe most medication, or manage a condition the hospital eye service has taken on. If you need treating, our job is a same-day referral letter and then a check that it happened.
Not included 02
An exam inside a lens fitting
The £120 fitting fee is for the fitting. If your prescription is over two years old you need a £65 examination first. We book them back to back on the same morning so it is one trip, but it is two fees and we say so when you book.
Not included 03
A same-day emergency slot, guaranteed
We hold two appointments every morning for people who need to be seen that day, and 98% of bookings are within the week — but we are a two-optometrist practice, not an eye casualty department. For sudden vision loss, call us and we will send you where you will be seen fastest.
(03) — Side by side
The four exams, compared.
Effective 1 April 2026. Funded-care and workplace-voucher values are set nationally and may change; what we charge does not change between the website and the counter.
All four appointment types at Clearview Optical, Wychwood Green.
Appointment
Fee
If funded
Chair time
Retinal scan
Repeat every
Standard Eye Exam
£65
£0
20 min
Viewed, not scanned
2 years
OCT Advanced
£95
£30
35 min
Cross-section + photo
2 years
Contact Lens Fitting
£120
£120
45 min
Not included
On change
Children's Vision (under 16)
£45
£0
30 min
Viewed, not scanned
1 year
You qualify for a funded examination if you are under 16, under 19 in full-time education, over 60, diagnosed with diabetes or glaucoma, or receiving certain income-related benefits. The full entitlement list and what to bring is on the booking page.
4
Appointment types, all priced
20
Minutes for a standard exam
11,000
Eye exams since 2002
98%
Booked within the week
(04) — Book an exam
Twenty minutes now. Thirty years of sight.
Book online in about a minute, or call the practice. We hold two appointments every morning for people who need to be seen the same day.