Starting your career through apprenticeships
At Specsavers we are passionate about developing our people so they can be the best they can be. Apprenticeships are a great example of our grow our own philosophy, and our diverse range of apprenticeships even goes up to Master’s degree level. We employ apprentices in our retail stores, in our support offices and in our manufacturing and distribution sites.
So, if you are deciding what to do after school, college or university, or if you are looking for a change in direction into something new, an apprenticeship at Specsavers could be for you. Apprenticeships are one of our key development programmes in our ambition to be famous as a great place to work.
What we expect from our apprentices and what you can expect from us:
Hear what one of our retail managers, Tracy, looks for in apprentices
Hear some advice from an apprentice, Keiran
Hear about the support you’ll receive from apprentice assessor, Kelly
90%
of successful apprentices take a role in the store they trained in
92%
of apprentices feel their career prospects have improved
60%
of apprentices who take a role in store progress to clinical qualifications or management
Get paid while you work and study
Do real work that makes a difference to patients and customers, developing your skills and your behaviours as you get more experienced.
Opportunity to progress
You will work towards nationally recognised qualifications and genuinely build a career that will provide you with a range of future opportunities.
From the day you start, your personal development will be just that – personal – enabling you to develop the skills that are best suited to your chosen career path. You could go on to develop your clinical qualifications or progress into management.
See what our former apprentice Chelsie – now a store manager – has to say.

Ofsted stated that our retail apprenticeships are Good Overall as well as in every contributory element too.

The CIPD awarded us Category Winner for Best Apprenticeship Scheme and Overall Winner at the People Management Awards.

The Princess Royal Training Awards recognised the value Specsavers has in apprentices through the support it provides in The Big Apprenticeship Promise.
A retail apprenticeship at Specsavers is a great way to start or enhance your career
All our retail apprentices focus on ‘being there’ for our customers, which literally means helping people improve their quality of life. You’ll be supporting a customer through their entire optical journey passionately delivering excellent customer service while confidently discussing Specsavers’ products and services. Our retail apprenticeships include optical assistants, customer service practitioners and spectacle makers.
After completing your apprenticeship, you could progress to professional development (in optics or audiology) or into management through the team leading apprenticeship.
Hear from one of our former apprentices, Maggie, who is now part of an audiology team.
Hear from one of our Lab Technician apprentices, Anisha, who is studying for her spectacle making advanced apprenticeship.
Hear from former apprentice Karen, who is now a dispensing optician.