AOP opens student rep applications

The AOP has opened applications for its 2026–2027 student representative roles, giving optometry undergraduates across the UK the opportunity to get involved, share their views and represent their peers.

The role, which seeks to appoint a representative from each optometry department in the UK, provides students with the chance to be involved more closely with the profession, while gaining insight into how the AOP supports students and early career optometrists.

The AOP is seeking applications from those who are second and third-year optometry undergraduates from the 2026/2027 academic year. Those who are appointed will serve a two-year term as a student representative.

Applications open today (22 April) and close on 17 May.

Reflecting on the experience of being an AOP student representative, current rep for Aston University, Ikrah Mahmood, said that it had been a “really rewarding experience.”

“It has given me the opportunity to connect with other students and better understand how the AOP supports us when making career choices from the very beginning of our optometry journey through to qualification and beyond,” she said.

Mahmood noted that she had “especially valued seeing how the student voice is listened to and represented, as well as learning more about the additional resources available to students, and the awareness the AOP creates around important and emerging topics.”

For Bashir Mutyaba, a student representative for the University of Highlands and Islands, the experience “has been a truly rewarding part of my optometry journey.”

“Working with the AOP had allowed me to connect with other students, share our experiences, and contribute to conversations around clinic, study pressures, and student life,” he shared.

The role has helped Mutyaba develop confidence, communication, and leadership skills, “while also making me feel more connected to an organisation that will be part of my professional career,” he said.

“I would definitely encourage other students to get involved if they have the opportunity,” he added.

For more information and to apply, visit the AOP website.

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