Purpose: Normal visual acuity plays an important role in a child's development. Uncorrected refractive error (URE) is a major challenge to health care policy makers especially in school going children. We aim to report the prevalence of refractive error among the school students of North Kashmir, India. Methods: This cross-sectional study was carried out among 762 school children. The screening was conducted in 4 schools of Baramulla district which included primary, middle and secondary schools. Results: The prevalence of refractive error was 8.5% among which myopia was the most common error present in 30 children, followed by astigmatism in 24 and the remaining 11 with hyperopia. The age group between 14-17 years had high prevalence of refractive error (3.41%). Females had slightly higher refractive error (5.1% than males (4.72%). Conclusion: The study provides a useful and baseline data about the refractive error amongst the school children of North Kashmir. A larger study needs to be conducted in all the schools of the state to get a clearer picture of RE and other eye related diseases to detect vision problem as early as possible.