Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department plans to make eye tests mandatory for primary school children.

There are currently no plans to make eye tests mandatory for primary school children. The UK National Screening Committee recommends vision screening in school for children aged four to five years old, to look for reduced vision in one or both eyes.

In addition to vision screening, free sight tests are widely available for children under 16 years old and under 19 years old in full time education. Free sight tests are also being made available for children and young people with special educational needs, attending special educational settings across England, where those settings choose to host a service.