The fee, by nation

England — £24.13 from 1 April 2025
Mandatory services, or additional services at a day centre. Practice expense component £6.12 for OMP superannuation purposes. No 2026/27 determination published as at August 2026.
Wales — WGOS 1 £46.20
WGOS 2 eye examination Band 1 £72.88, Band 2 £55.18, Band 3 £27.07.
Scotland — banded
Primary eye examination from £46.53 (under 60, undilated) to £57.80 (dilated). 60+ undilated £50.52. Supplementary standard £30.83, enhanced £47.80. Applies to examinations on or after 19 January 2026.
Northern Ireland — £25.52
HS sight tests performed on or after 1 April 2025. CET grant £697.

The backdating problem

The 2025/26 England fee was determined eight months into the year and backdated to 1 April 2025, with contractors told they need take no action. That is the historic pattern rather than an aberration, and it makes GOS forecasting genuinely difficult. Budget on the operative fee and reserve for a backdated correction; do not build a year on an uplift that has not been announced.

Domiciliary in England

£40.80 and £10.21
On top of the £24.13, and only where the additional-services test is at a residential centre or the patient's home. £40.80 for each of the first and second tests in any one visit; £10.21 for the third and each subsequent. A day centre test attracts £24.13 with no additional fee.

Common questions

What is the sight test fee where I am?

England £24.13 from 1 April 2025, with a practice expense component of £6.12 for OMP superannuation purposes. Wales £46.20 under WGOS 1, with WGOS 2 eye examinations banded at £72.88, £55.18 and £27.07. Scotland is banded rather than flat: £46.53 for an undilated primary examination under 60, £57.80 dilated, £50.52 for 60 and over undilated. Northern Ireland £25.52. Those are four different businesses, not four versions of one. The gap between England at £24.13 and Wales at £46.20 is nearly double, which changes how much NHS work is worth taking on before it displaces private testing.

Why has no 2026/27 England fee been announced?

Because determinations in England have historically arrived late. The 2025/26 fee was determined eight months into the year and backdated to 1 April 2025, with contractors told explicitly that they need take no action. As at August 2026 there is no published 2026/27 determination, so £24.13 remains operative. The sensible planning position is to budget on the operative fee and reserve for a backdated correction, rather than assuming an uplift that has not been announced. A backdated lump is a good problem; a budget built on a phantom uplift is not.

How do domiciliary fees work in England?

They are payable on top of the £24.13, and only where the additional-services test is at a residential centre or the patient's home. Each of the first and second sight tests provided during any one visit attracts £40.80; the third and each subsequent test during that visit attracts £10.21. A day centre test is different again — it attracts the standard £24.13 with no additional fee at all, which is a distinction that catches people out. Check how your domiciliary visits are categorised before assuming the additional fee applies, because the classification of the setting decides it rather than the fact of travelling.

How should optical vouchers be recorded?

Separately from the sight test fee and separately from private dispensing income, because they are a different income stream with a different collection profile. Merging them into general sales makes it impossible to see whether the NHS side of the practice is carrying its own costs, which is precisely the question an owner needs answered before deciding how much NHS work to take on. Chair time is finite, so every GOS test is a private test not done. Model it per chair rather than across the practice.