FREE Children's Eye Care Review with Optical Express (Paid Partnership).

In the UK children under 16 are all entitled to free eye care, including FREE EYE TESTS, but not everyone uses it, in fact 1 in 10 people don't take their children for a regular eye test. We are working in a paid collaboration with Optical Express to show that taking your child for an eye test is easy, quick and entirely painless - in fact my children have always seen it as something of an adventure!

In their 2019 survey, Optical Express found that children are using screens for an average of 4 hours a day, twice as much time as was reported only 2 years ago. This is leading to an increase in headaches and can also influence the development of short sightedness. Some estimates suggest that by 2050 half of the world’s population will be myopic.

We visited the Optical Express store inside intu Trafford Centre, Manchester for our free children's eye test. Booking is essential. I booked my eye test online and received a follow up call, when I was able to give more information about my son and his health.


f your child has a vision or eye health problem, the earlier you catch it, the less they will fall behind their friends. Many eye conditions can be corrected permanently or changes made so that your child has an easier life. It has a massive effect on confidence.

There are many other eye conditions an optician can spot, including colour vision deficiency. Colourblindness can be an issue if children can't see all of the information on a page or screen and they can struggle right from the start with colouring in and even being expected to learn colours. I've written about this before, because 3 of my sons are colourblind.

My children have visited the optician every 2 years since they were 5 years old, so this wasn't entirely a new experience for my 9 year old son. He can be a livewire, but he enjoys going to the optician and finds it fascinating, so he has no problem staying still for once and says his favourite part is "the machines".

The first test measures pressure in the eyes. I know how important this is because I was recently diagnosed with high blood pressure and the pressure test results during my eye test were the first sign something was wrong.

Next my son was asked to read a chart a little distance away using both eyes and when covering an eye. We've never had any worries about his eyesight thankfully and he read the letters confidently.

The optician performs a series of tests and checks for your child's sight and eye health. My son often has a lot of eye bogies 'sleepydust' in his lashes and the optician gave us advice for this. His 3D and colour vision were also checked. I'd confidently told the optician he has Deuteranopia and thankfully I was proven correct, or it would have been embarrassing.

Deuteranopia  colourblindness - lack of green vision

Poor eyesight can prevent children being able to see the board or their school books. They can miss out because they can't see the TV or catch a ball. They can trip because they can't see where they are walking or running and it can really affect their confidence and ability in many ways. It isn't always easy for a parent to spot something is wrong, but symptoms to look out for include:

• Your child complaining of headaches, dry eyes or blurred vision
• Noticing your child squinting or regularly rubbing their eyes
• Your child sitting too close to the TV or holding their books/ tablets too close or too far away

After your appointment Optical Express have a great service whereby they send you a detailed eyecare report, called iScan. For anyone who always feels they need to know more, it's fascinating. I'm sure my son won't mind me sharing the first few pages of his.

My children would happily spend all day on screens if I let them, especially when it's rainy or cold outside. If your child spends an hour or more on small screens a day then the advice from Optical Express is:

• Encourage them to have regular breaks at least every half an hour for 10 minutes
• Tell them to look up from their screens every few minutes to allow their eyes to focus on something in the further distance. This only needs to be for a few seconds at a time and can make a big difference
• Encourage them to take part in sport and activities without screens
• Don’t allow phones or tablets at the dinner table
• Encourage children to wear their glasses if they are prescribed. 

The advice for all children is that their eyes are tested regularly, every 2 years as standard. If they need any treatment, including glasses, then they can also receive this free of charge with the NHS. 

You can book an eye test in your local store, or it only takes 2 minutes to book an eye test on the Optical Express website.

We were working with Optical Express in a paid collaboration to cover expenses and time taken. My son's eye test was, of course, free! Advice and statistics are from the Optical Express 2019 survey of 2000 UK parents, Optical Express and Stephen Hannan, Clinical Services Director at Optical Express.