Free NHS sight tests and optical vouchers: who qualifies and voucher values

Two separate entitlements

NHS help with eye care comes in two parts. The first is a free NHS sight test, paid by the NHS to the optician. The second is an optical voucher towards glasses or contact lenses. The lists of people who qualify overlap but are not the same. Age 60 or over, diabetes and glaucoma give a free test but no voucher. Children, students and people on low incomes get both.

Who gets a free sight test in England

Leaflet HC11 and the NHS website give these groups:

• Under 16.
• Aged 16, 17 or 18 and in full-time education.
• Aged 60 or over.
• Diagnosed with diabetes.
• Diagnosed with glaucoma, or told by an ophthalmologist you are at risk of glaucoma.
• Aged 40 or over and the parent, brother, sister, son or daughter of someone diagnosed with glaucoma.
• Registered severely sight-impaired (blind) or sight-impaired (partially sighted).
• Eligible for an NHS complex lens voucher.
• A prisoner on leave from prison.
• Holding a valid HC2 certificate, or named on one.
• Receiving, or the partner of someone receiving, Income-based Jobseeker's Allowance, Pension Credit Guarantee Credit, or Universal Credit with take-home pay of £435 or less (£935 with a child element or limited capability for work). Dependants under 20 on those awards count too.

People named on an HC3 certificate may get help with the cost of a private sight test, with the amount set on the certificate.

Who gets an optical voucher in England

The voucher list drops the age 60, diabetes and glaucoma groups. You qualify if you are under 16, under 19 in qualifying full-time education, eligible for a complex lens voucher, a prisoner on leave, an HC2 holder, or on one of the benefits above. HC3 holders may get a reduced voucher.

Voucher values from leaflet HC11

The voucher band is set by the strength of the lenses on your prescription. The optician tells you which letter applies. Values are the maximum the NHS pays per pair.

The HC12 quick guide adds hospital eye department vouchers I at £217.58 and J at £61.77, complex lens supplements of £15.81 for single vision and £40.57 for bifocal, prism supplements of £13.67 and £16.67 per lens, tint supplements of £4.77 and £5.28 per lens, and a small glasses supplement of up to £69.60. If the glasses cost more than the voucher you pay the difference. Many opticians stock a range priced at or below the voucher value so a child's glasses cost nothing.

Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland

Scotland is different. Every patient resident in Scotland gets a free NHS eye examination, and NHS National Services Scotland extends the same to UK residents visiting Scotland. The Scottish Government says Scotland is the only UK nation providing free universal NHS-funded eye examinations. Help with glasses or contact lenses in Scotland depends on circumstances and follows a voucher system for children, students, low income groups and complex lenses.

Wales uses a longer list than England. Alongside under 16s, people aged 60 or over, diabetes, glaucoma and its risk groups, Wales gives a free sight test to under 19s in full-time education, under 18s in local authority care, people with sight in one eye, people with a hearing impairment, people with retinitis pigmentosa and anyone clinically assessed as at risk of eye disease. Welsh vouchers follow the same pattern as England and refunds use form HC5W(O).

Northern Ireland gives free sight tests to people aged 60 or over, glaucoma patients and risk groups, people with diabetes, registered blind or partially sighted people, complex lens voucher holders, people on Pension Credit Guarantee Credit or income-based ESA, HC2 and HC3 holders, and war pensioners for the related disability. Nidirect states all glasses and contact lenses are provided privately, with vouchers for under 19s in full-time education, adults on certain benefits and complex lens patients.

What a free test saves

Specsavers prices a routine eye test at £25 on its own help page, with comprehensive tests between £20 and £25 and some variation by store. An adult who qualifies for a free NHS test saves that amount each time. A child's glasses on a band A voucher save £42.40 against the private price, and a complex bifocal on band H saves £233.56.

How to claim

1. Check the lists above, or run the NHSBSA checker, before booking. Tell the optician you qualify for an NHS sight test when you book.
2. At the appointment, sign the NHS form the optician gives you, stating which group you fall into. The optician may ask for proof: a benefit letter, an HC2, or a hospital letter for glaucoma risk.
3. If you qualify for a voucher, the optician tells you the band after the test. Choose glasses, and the voucher value is deducted from the price at the till.
4. If you paid and later found you qualified, get a receipt showing the amount and date, complete form HC5(O) and send it to the NHSBSA by post or email within 3 months. Include the prescription if claiming for glasses.

Mistakes that cost money

Paying for a test at 60 because the optician's booking page defaulted to private. Age alone qualifies.

Assuming the voucher is a fixed amount. It ranges from £42.40 to £233.56 depending on the lenses, and the band is on the prescription.

Claiming the difference between the voucher and the price of designer frames. The NHSBSA refunds up to the voucher value and no more.

Letting the 3-month refund window pass. It runs from the date of the test or the payment for glasses.

Where the figures come from

The sight test groups and voucher values A to H are from NHSBSA leaflet HC11 (V28), April 2026, and the NHS website eye tests page. Supplement values and vouchers I and J are from the NHSBSA HC12 quick guide, April 2026. The HC5(O) refund route and the voucher cap are from the NHSBSA sight tests page. Scotland's universal free examination is from NHS National Services Scotland and the Scottish Government eyecare policy page. Wales groups are from the Welsh Government eye care costs page. Northern Ireland groups are from nidirect. The £25 private price is from the Specsavers help page.