What Exactly Does the Optician Check in the Eye Test?

You walk into an optician shop, sit down in front of a chart, and ten minutes later you walk out with a certificate for your driving licence. It feels quick and simple, but a lot happens in those ten minutes. If you have ever wondered what exactly the optician check in the eye test involves, this guide explains each step in plain English, what the optician is measuring, and what your result actually means.

The optician eye test check is a standardised procedure that every optician in Germany follows for the driving licence. It is not a full eye examination and it is not a health check for eye disease. It measures three things: how sharply you can see, how wide your field of vision is, and whether your colour vision is good enough for the road. Understanding each part takes away the mystery, and it helps you prepare for the test instead of worrying about it.

The Optician Eye Test Check: A Short Overview

When you arrive, the optician first asks for your identity card or passport and for the glasses or contact lenses you normally wear. They will ask whether you have had an eye test before, whether you have an eye condition, and whether you have had surgery. These questions matter, because they tell the optician how to run the test and what to watch out for. You do not need a referral and you do not need to prepare anything special.

The test itself takes place in a room with a chart on the wall or on a screen, at a fixed distance of usually five metres. You will be asked to cover one eye at a time and read rows of letters, numbers or Landolt rings, which are circles with a gap on one side. The rows get smaller as you go down the chart, and the optician notes the smallest row you can read reliably. The whole process takes around ten minutes, and you get the result straight away.

At the end, the optician fills in your certificate, the Sehtestbescheinigung, and hands it to you. The certificate states your name, your date of birth, the date of the test, and the result. If you meet the legal standard with your usual correction, the certificate is valid for two years. If you do not meet the standard, the optician will explain what to do next, which is usually a refraction test to find the right glasses.

Visual Acuity: The Core of the Test

Visual acuity, called Visus in German, is the sharpness of your vision, and it is the main thing the eye test measures. For a standard car licence, your vision with both eyes together must reach at least 0.7. That number means you can see at seven metres what a person with normal vision can see at ten metres. It is measured with a decimal scale, so 1.0 is normal vision and higher numbers mean sharper vision.

The optician measures your acuity by asking you to read rows on a chart. Each row corresponds to a value, such as 0.5, 0.7 or 1.0. You read the row with both eyes open first, then with each eye separately. The tester will ask you to read whole rows, and a row counts as passed only if you read most of it correctly. Guessing one letter does not count, and neither does reading a row after several tries. The test is designed to measure what you can see reliably, not what you can guess.

If you wear glasses or contact lenses, the test is taken with them on, because the result should show how you see when you drive. If you reach 0.7 with your correction, you pass and the glasses code is noted on your licence. If you do not reach 0.7 even with your glasses, the optician will usually measure your eyes again to see whether a new prescription would help. You can read more about the numbers in our guide to visual acuity 0.7, which also explains what happens at each value on the scale.

The Visual Field Check

Seeing sharply in the centre is not enough for safe driving. You also need to notice what happens at the edges of your vision, such as a cyclist coming up on your right or a child stepping out between parked cars. The optician therefore checks your visual field, which is the area you can see while looking straight ahead without moving your eyes.

The visual field check in the driving licence eye test is a screening, not a full medical examination. The tester may ask you to look straight ahead while lights or objects appear at the sides, or use a simple confrontation test in which they move a hand or a small target into your field of vision. If the screening shows a clear problem, you will be sent to an ophthalmologist for a fuller test with a perimeter machine, which maps your visual field in detail.

Most healthy people pass the visual field screening without noticing it, because the check is short and the targets are easy to see. Problems are more likely if you have an eye condition such as glaucoma, a retinal problem or a neurological condition. If you know you have one of these, tell the optician before the test, and bring any report from your eye doctor. It can save time and it helps the tester decide whether the standard screening is enough.

Colour Vision Screening

The third part of the test checks your colour vision. On the road, you need to tell red from green and from amber, to read traffic lights and to recognise coloured road signs and signals. The optician checks this with a short screening, usually with a set of plates in which numbers or shapes are made of coloured dots. If you can read the numbers, your colour vision is good enough for the standard licence.

Colour vision screening is not a diagnosis of colour blindness, and it does not tell you exactly which colours you confuse. If you cannot read the plates, the optician will note the result and may suggest a fuller test with an ophthalmologist, who can use more detailed plates or a lantern test to find out how much your colour vision differs from normal. For a standard car licence, a colour vision weakness does not usually stop you from driving, but it is recorded and it can matter for some professional licences.

Many people discover a colour vision weakness for the first time at the driving licence eye test, because they have never been tested before. If that happens to you, do not worry. Most colour vision weaknesses are mild, and most people with them drive safely for many years. What matters is that the tester has checked it and that you know about it, so that you can be extra careful at traffic lights and when reading coloured signals. Our guide to the colour vision test for the driving licence explains the plates and the rules in more detail.

Trial Frame and Prescription: Finding the Right Correction

If the chart shows that you do not reach 0.7 with your current glasses, or that you reach it only just, the optician may put a trial frame on you. A trial frame is a pair of heavy spectacles with empty frames into which different lenses can be slotted. The optician changes the lenses while you look at the chart, until you can read the smaller rows clearly. That tells the optician what prescription you need.

The trial frame measurement is not part of the official eye test itself, and it is not on the certificate. It is a service the optician offers so that you can order new glasses straight away. If you decide to order glasses, the optician will measure your eyes properly, which takes a little longer and is called a refraction. You are free to take the prescription elsewhere, and you are free to say no to new glasses, although it makes little sense to refuse them if you need them to pass the test.

Remember that the certificate is only issued once you meet the standard with a correction you will actually use. If the optician finds a new prescription, you should get the glasses made, come back, and take the test again wearing them. The repeat test is quick and usually cheap, and in some shops it is free if you ordered the glasses there. Bring the new glasses with you and the test takes only a few minutes.

What the Optician Does Not Check

The standard eye test is a screening for driving, not a full examination of your eye health. The optician does not look at the back of your eye with a dilated pupil, does not measure the pressure inside your eye, and does not check for cataracts, glaucoma or changes in the retina. Those checks belong to a fuller examination by an ophthalmologist, which is a different appointment and takes longer.

That distinction matters if you have symptoms such as flashes, new floaters, a shadow in your vision, sudden blurring, or pain in the eye. The standard test will not find the cause of those symptoms, and you should see an eye doctor promptly instead of waiting for a routine eye test. It also matters for older drivers, who should have a full eye examination from time to time even if they pass the driving licence test easily.

If the optician notices something unusual during the test, such as very different vision in the two eyes, a large difference between your old prescription and your new one, or a result that is much worse than expected, they will usually advise you to see an ophthalmologist. That is not a failure of the test and it is not a refusal of the licence. It is the optician doing their job and making sure your eyes are healthy as well as sharp enough to drive.

How the Optician Records Your Result

Your result is recorded on the Sehtestbescheinigung, which is a small official form. The optician writes your name and date of birth, the date of the test, your visual acuity with both eyes and with each eye, and whether you passed with or without a correction. The form is stamped and signed, and in many shops it is also printed from a computer system. Without the stamp and signature, the certificate is not valid.

The certificate is valid for two years from the date of the test, and you can use it at any licensing authority in Germany. Keep the original safe with your other licence documents, and take a photo of it as a backup. If you lose it, the optician can usually issue a replacement from their records, although that may take a day or two and may cost a small fee. Our article about a lost or expired eye test certificate explains how to get a new one and what it costs.

Finally, the optician may also note whether you need glasses or contact lenses for driving. If the test was passed with glasses, the code 01.01 is usually entered on your licence, and for contact lenses the code is 01.02. These codes are part of your licence conditions, so wear the correction whenever you drive. The optician cannot remove a code that is already on your licence; only a new test or a doctor report can do that.

Conclusion

The optician checks three things in the driving licence eye test: your visual acuity, your visual field and your colour vision. The acuity check is the core of the test, with a minimum of 0.7 for a car licence, while the field and colour checks make sure you can notice hazards at the edges of your vision and read traffic lights correctly. The test is quick, inexpensive and straightforward, and if you do not pass, the usual reason is a prescription that needs updating. With new glasses and a repeat test, most people pass on the second attempt.

Frequently Asked Questions

What does the optician check in the eye test?

The optician checks your visual acuity, your visual field and your colour vision. Visual acuity must reach at least 0.7 with both eyes together for a car licence. The field check makes sure you can see to the sides, and the colour check makes sure you can tell traffic light colours apart.

Does the optician check the health of my eyes?

No, the standard test is a screening for driving, not a full eye health examination. It does not check eye pressure, the retina or cataracts. For a health check, you need an appointment with an ophthalmologist.

What is a trial frame?

A trial frame is a set of empty spectacle frames into which the optician slots different lenses while you read the chart. It is used to find the prescription that gives you the sharpest vision, so that new glasses can be made for you.

Do I need an appointment with the optician?

Usually not. Most opticians offer the driving licence eye test without an appointment during opening hours, and the test takes about ten minutes. It is worth phoning ahead if you need a test at a specific time.

What if I fail the optician eye test?

The usual reason is that you need glasses or a stronger prescription. The optician can measure your eyes, you order the glasses, and you repeat the test wearing them. If the optician finds a medical problem, they will send you to an ophthalmologist.

How long is the certificate from the optician valid?

The certificate is valid for two years from the date of the test. You can use it at any licensing authority in Germany, and you should keep the original safe with your other licence documents.