Hearing-impaired children use vision to compensate for impaired auditory information. This fact, and the relatively high incidence of visual defect among the deaf population, render regular visual screening essential. The Royal School for Deaf Children, Margate, caters for children with a wide range of needs; screening involving a single-assessment structure for all pupils is felt to be inappropriate. This paper describes the implementation of a 'tiered' screening system, and the factors affecting allotment of pupils to particular 'tiers'. The screening structure is illustrated by a case study, and generalization of the system to other educational settings is discussed.