ABO National Opticianry Competency Exam (NOCE)

The Basic Test Specifications divide the scored content into six domains, and the question counts tell you where the weight sits. Ophthalmic Optics carries 25 questions and is the largest; Ophthalmic Products and Dispensing Procedures carry 20 each; Instrumentation carries 15; Ocular Anatomy, Physiology, Pathology and Refraction carries 10; Laws, Regulations and Standards carries 10.

• Ophthalmic Optics (25): lens power, prism, transposition, vertex distance, aberrations
• Ophthalmic Products (20): lens materials, designs, coatings, frames
• Dispensing Procedures (20): measurements, fitting, adjustment, verification
• Instrumentation (15): lensometer, pupillometer and related tools
• Ocular Anatomy, Physiology, Pathology and Refraction (10)
• Laws, Regulations and Standards (10): ANSI standards and regulatory duties

Two thirds of the exam is optics, products and dispensing — the daily work of a dispensing optician — so a candidate who is strong at the bench and weak on theory should spend the study time on optical calculations, where most of the missed questions come from.

The NOCE costs $225 to register for on its own, or $250 if you register for the NOCE and the CLRE (contact lens) exam together. Candidates who receive a non-passing result may request a score verification for a $75 fee, and rescheduling or transferring a registration near a testing window can carry a $75 fee as well. For the current, complete fee schedule, consult the official ABO-NCLE fee schedule.

You see 125 multiple-choice questions in a two-hour sitting; 100 of them are scored and the rest are unscored pretest items you cannot identify, so every question deserves the same effort. The result is pass or fail against a criterion-referenced standard set by the Modified Angoff Method — ABO-NCLE does not publish a percentage or scaled cut score, so there is no target number to aim at beyond answering as many questions correctly as you can.

Registration is $225 per exam, or $250 when you register for the NOCE and CLRE together. A candidate who does not pass may retake after 14 days; after a third unsuccessful attempt the wait becomes 90 days. Moving a registration to a later window carries a $75 transfer fee, and a non-passing candidate may request score verification for $75. Certification, once earned, is renewed every three years.