Specsavers eye test cost UK 2026

A private Specsavers eye test costs £25 (commonly £20–£25 by store), an OCT retinal scan is a flat £10 on top, and a private home visit is £60. If you qualify for an NHS-funded eye test it is free.

GOC-regulated opticiansUK · Specsavers

How much is a Specsavers eye test in 2026?

A private Specsavers eye test costs £25 (commonly £20–£25 depending on store). An OCT retinal scan is a flat £10 add-on, and a private home eye test is £60. The test is free if you qualify for an NHS-funded eye test — over 60, under 16 (or under 19 in full-time education), on certain benefits, or with diabetes or glaucoma. You are always entitled to a copy of your prescription to use at any other optician.

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Important context

Healthcare prices can change without notice and may exclude consultation fees, medication, diagnostics, anaesthetic, facility fees, follow-up care or add-ons. TreatCompare summarises published or compiled pricing for comparison and planning only. Always verify the current total directly before paying.

Source type: Provider-published fee pages and public healthcare guidance
Primary source: Specsavers fee page (checked by hand — the page returns 403 to automated reads) plus live reads of four other chains' fee pages
Reporting period: June 2026
Last updated: June 2026
Figure type: Provider-published
Use: Research and comparison only

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Specsavers eye test price list

Service	Price	What it covers
Standard private eye test	£25	Full sight test with refraction and a written prescription. Commonly £20–£25 depending on store.
NHS-funded eye test	Free	For eligible groups (see below). Specsavers bills the NHS directly — you pay nothing.
OCT retinal scan (add-on)	+£10	Hospital-grade scan of the layers beneath the retina. A flat £10 on top of the eye test at most stores.
Home eye test (private)	£60	For those who cannot get to a store unaided. Free on the NHS if you are eligible and housebound.
easycare contact lens subscription	from £8.50/month	Own-label daily disposables with included aftercare and contact-lens checks.

Prices are Specsavers published figures, verified June 2026. Individual stores are independently owned and can vary — confirm the fee with your local store before booking.

When a Specsavers eye test is free on the NHS

You qualify for a free NHS-funded eye test (and Specsavers bills the NHS directly) if you are:

aged 60 or over, or under 16 (or under 19 and in full-time education)
on Income Support, Universal Credit (within the threshold), Pension Credit Guarantee Credit or other qualifying benefits
diabetic or have glaucoma, or are 40+ with a close relative who has glaucoma
registered partially sighted or blind, or have a valid HC2/HC3 certificate

In Scotland, NHS eye tests are free for all residents. If you do not qualify, the private fee is £25.

If your eye test is free, the scan is not — and the fee varies a lot

“Free on the NHS” covers the sight test. It does not cover the retinal scan, and every chain charges a separate upgrade fee to add one. Specsavers prices its OCT as a flat £10 add-on. Across the chains that publish an upgrade fee, the same step costs £6 at Vision Express and £49 at Bayfields Opticians.

Optician	What you are upgrading to	Upgrade fee
Bayfields Opticians	Advanced Eye Test — NHS clients	£39
Bayfields Opticians	Ultimate Eye Test — NHS clients	£49
Optical Express	Advanced Eye Test — NHS upgrade	£25
Vision Express	Advanced Eye Test — NHS upgrade (England, Wales, NI)	£6
Vision Express	Advanced Eye Test — NHS upgrade (Scotland)	£10

Vision Express prices its upgrade by nation, so the figure differs in Scotland. Each fee links to the page it was read from.

The Specsavers £25 against what other chains publish

Full private fees only — what an adult who does not qualify for NHS help pays. Every row is a fee the chain publishes itself, at the tier it publishes it under. Tiers with a retinal scan are marked, because comparing a scan-included tier against a scan-free one is not a price comparison.

Optician	Tier	Retinal scan	Fee
Specsavers	Standard eye test	Not included	£25
Specsavers	Standard eye test plus OCT retinal scan	Included	£35
Specsavers	Home eye test	Not included	£60
Bayfields Opticians	Advanced Eye Test	Included	£64
Bayfields Opticians	Ultimate Eye Test	Included	£77
Boots Opticians	Private eye test	Not included	£29.95
Leightons	Leightons private eye test	Not included	£39
Leightons	Leightons enhanced eye test	Included	£69
Leightons	Leightons ultimate eye exam	Included	£99
Optical Express	Essential Eye Test	Not included	£25
Optical Express	Advanced Eye Test	Included	£50
Vision Express	Advanced Eye Test	Included	£30

6 UK optical chains tracked, all publishing a fee schedule — 4 of them readable by machine, the rest checked by hand because they block automated reads. Specsavers and Boots return HTTP 403 to automated reads of their fee pages, so their figures here are checked by hand (June 2026) rather than read live; every other figure was read from the operator's own page. See the full UK eye-test fee tables or the Specsavers vs Vision Express comparison.

What is included in the £25 eye test

Refraction — the test that determines your glasses or contact-lens prescription.
Eye-health checks — pressure check and a look at the front and back of the eye.
A written prescription — yours to keep and use at any optician.
Advice on next steps — whether you need glasses, contact lenses, or a referral.

The OCT scan (+£10) and a contact-lens fitting (part of the contact-lens service) are charged separately.

Frequently asked questions

How much is an eye test at Specsavers?

A private eye test at Specsavers costs £25 (commonly £20–£25 depending on store). Adding a hospital-grade OCT retinal scan costs a flat £10 on top. If you qualify for an NHS-funded eye test, it is free — Specsavers bills the NHS directly.

Is a Specsavers eye test free?

It is free if you qualify for an NHS-funded eye test — you are over 60, under 16, under 19 in full-time education, on certain benefits, or have diabetes or glaucoma (or are advised you are at risk). Otherwise a private Specsavers eye test costs £25.

How much does an OCT scan cost at Specsavers?

An OCT retinal scan at Specsavers costs a flat £10 added to your eye test. It photographs the layers beneath the surface of the retina and can help detect conditions such as glaucoma, macular degeneration and diabetic eye disease earlier than a standard test.

How much is a Specsavers home eye test?

A private Specsavers home eye test costs £60. Home visits are free on the NHS if you are eligible and cannot leave home unaccompanied. There may be an additional domiciliary supplement if you buy glasses fitted at home.

Is a Specsavers eye test lower-cost than Vision Express?

It depends entirely on whether you want a retinal scan, and the headline figures point the wrong way. The Specsavers £25 standard test does not include an OCT scan; the Vision Express £30 Advanced Eye Test does. Compared like for like, Specsavers with the £10 OCT add-on comes to £35 against Vision Express at £30 — so Vision Express is the lower-cost option once a scan is included, and Specsavers is lower-cost only if you do not want one. Both are free on the NHS if you qualify, but the upgrade fees then differ again: £6 at Vision Express in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.

Is the OCT scan worth £10 at Specsavers?

That is a clinical judgement rather than a price one, and it is worth knowing that the £10 is among the lowest scan fees any UK chain publishes — Optical Express charges £25 to add its Advanced tier to an NHS-funded test, and Bayfields charges £39. An OCT scan images the layers beneath the retina and can show glaucoma, macular degeneration and diabetic eye disease earlier than a standard test. It is not routinely funded by the NHS as part of a sight test.

Do I get a prescription I can use elsewhere?

Yes. After any eye test you are legally entitled to a copy of your prescription, which you can take to any other optician to buy glasses or contact lenses. You do not have to buy from the optician who tested you.

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Sources & further reading

Specsavers — How much is an eye test? — Published private eye-test and OCT pricing.
Specsavers — NHS-funded eye tests — NHS eligibility and free-test rules.
Specsavers — Home eye tests — Private home-visit eye-test pricing.
NHS — Free NHS eye tests — NHS-funded eye-test eligibility groups.

How we check Specsavers eye test prices

Prices are taken from Specsavers' published price pages and verified June 2026. Specsavers stores are independently owned and prices can vary by location — confirm the fee with your local store. Comparison figures for Vision Express and independents are from each provider's public pricing. We do not accept payment for inclusion.