How to get your prescription

Have you got
a prescription?

Before you order from us, you need to have a copy of your prescription. If you have one from an eye test taken with the last two years* – or year, if you’re 70 or over – you can use that. If you need a new prescription – or are getting one for the first time – go to your local optician and get your eyes tested. Following the eye test, your optician is – by law - obliged to give you a written copy of your prescription.

There’s a chance they’ll get grumpy at this request - because they know it means you can now go off and buy your glasses anywhere - and perhaps even refuse (it does happen). So, to help you stand your ground, here’s how we suggest you might respond to an unobliging optician:

Top five things to tell an uppity optician

(who doesn’t want to give you your prescription and is trampling General Optical Council regulations)

1. 1. It’s the law. You have to give me my written prescription immediately following my eye test.
2. 2. My work needs it - receipt isn’t enough for them to pay for my eye test.
3. 3. My doctor wants a copy.
4. 4. I want to buy my glasses from Glasses Direct (our favourite).
5. 5. I want to frame it.

Remember – you’ve paid for your prescription. It’s yours, and you have every right to it.

One other important thing

We strongly recommend that you ask your optician to include your pupillary distance measurement in your prescription. It’s not part of the eye test itself – and they’re not legally bound to give it to you – but it’s worth getting if you can because it’s a key detail in achieving a perfect fit. They’ll either oblige, say no, or, in some cases, agree to take the measurement for a small fee.

You might be pressurised to buy your glasses from that store. But you can feel safe – and perhaps a little smug – that you have every right to walk out of the door, prescription in hand, and get them for far less from us. Hurrah!

*These time limits are necessary because your eyesight may change over time. Plus, they’re recommended by joint committees of the Association of British Dispensing Opticians, the Association of Optometrists, and the Federation of Ophthalmic and Dispensing Opticians.