NVQ/VCTC or not?

[ABowen]

Hello

I am interested in becoming a beauty and holistic therapist.

I have two options.
Vicki Clarke Cosmetics training school or Cardiff College.

The college offer level 2 nvq (vctc) beauty therapy in September over one year. Then proceeding to level 3 nvq.

Vicki Clarke offers level 2 and 3 training, but they are not NVQ. She is fully insured and I would find employment like her other students at the celtic resort hotel spa or self employed etc. She offers cpd training and is a member of the guild of beauty therapists. It is a beauty training school and I would prefer her to the college. I would go on to buy insurance for myself every year if I want to work she said.

I also read to work on cruise ships or international I would need an 'itec' qualification?

I need level 3 to work in a salon, but does it have to be nvq or vctc accredited?

 

[AcidPerm]

A level 2 NVQ or VRQ is the industry standard and absolute minimum qualification that you should train for if you’re looking to work in the beauty industry.

If the course isn’t assessed by a recognised body such as City & Guilds, VTCT or ITEC, (you can contact them directly to check that a course is bonafide), then best to give it a miss as you’ll probably struggle to obtain insurance or find paid work as many salons won’t be able to get you on their insurance either. Without a recognised Level 2, you’ll be limiting your options to working self employed or paid employment but with a less reputable employer.

What about doing level 2 with college so that you have the basic minimum recognised qualification then look at doing short courses to top up? College training isn’t necessarily the best quality but it is the stepping stone to many career options.

What you don’t want to do is spend a fortune on private training to discover that no-one outside of your immediate community will accept it. After all, you might want to travel and work elsewhere in the future?

 

[Leah369]

I have to disagree! I personally trained with Vicki Clarke based in Cardiff a few years back. That was after training originally in college many years ago and just didn’t have the confidence to take any skills further. The theory in college is there but practical skills just not up to par with practice based schools. VC Cosmetics have been going for ten years they have trained many salons and actually offer their own insurance links although I went with abt insurance. You don’t have to have a nvq to work in the industry that’s a very old fashioned way of looking at things or maybe, dare I say it a competitions response . Also just to clarify they are not accredited with the guild??? They have three different accreditation’s and provide the job centre with training all fully vetted for accreditation. How do I know this? Well after losing my job and being made redundant it was the job centre that choose VC training for me. I’m glad they did. My business is thriving despite lockdown... so thumbs up to Vicki Clarke cosmetics training school

 

[AcidPerm]

I live in Ireland. I moved here from the U.K. and had I not held recognised NVQ qualifications, I wouldn’t have been able to apply for any hairdressing jobs.

It’s really that simple.

 

[Leah369]

Yes hairdressing is a whole new ball game with requirements..... I think that’s because of the use of bleach, peroxide and heavy chemicals etc. I know here in the trade shop you could buy beauty supplies if you were not a member but nothing for hair because of that reason. The industry is totally changing constantly.
Merry Christmas

 

[TheDuchess]

Have a lovely Christmas break everyone and enjoy browsing threads here.

This is an old thread, but it’s always great to have feedback as beauty training, as you said, is a bit of a minefield. For those who haven’t already trained in college I’d comment (as someone who holds a private college course qualification which has been mapped to the National qualification standards which gives me the all important “levels”) that I checked out Vickiclarke’s training school website. It looks very glossy but there is no information on the syllabus, nor does she state who accredits her training which is a bit unusual. I don’t understand why you wouldn’t want to be validated by the industry nor why you wouldn’t be totally transparent about the verification process. Near me (I’m based in Bath) there are several private training schools who offer nationally/internationally recognised qualifications.

I’m also puzzled why Vicki Clarke doesn’t list her CV on linked in. It’s unusual to be a beauty trainer and not have your qualifications and work experience listed where google can find you. Vicki is listed as a director of her own cosmetics products company for salon, hotel and spa use since 2015, fair play for her ambition. However in the overall business scheme of things she’s quite a small business rather than a big name. There’s no mention of her on Companies House for this business and it’s not registered for a VAT number which means it sells less than £85,000 each year. Her cosmetics product website uses a very inexpensive template, library images and is full of spelling mistakes.

I’m surprised there’s so little information about her or her training school on google. There’s loads about me! She does have several glowing reviews from happy students, but no recommendations from anyone actually in employment who trained with her exclusively from scratch nor from anyone employing her former students or using her products.

Vicki Clarke’s school is listed on careers Wales as a training provider offering “National Beauty Training accreditation”. I’m not familiar with National Beauty accreditation and I couldn’t find it on google. There is a training school with the name National Beauty Training but they don’t accredit other schools training, their own training is accredited by ABT. I am also registered as a training provider - there were no checks in place about the quality of my training, I just had to tick a box on an online form. However I can’t apply for student funding for my “students”.

Vicki Clarke’s school doesn’t offer student loans which you pay off after qualifying as a deduction from your wages. This is just one of the advantages of following a nationally agreed syllabus with a universally recognised qualification at the end. if you have a nationally recognised qualification but need bringing up to industry standards in order to be employable it sounds like her training is perfect However it’s vital to hold valid certification and sadly her schools don’t offer this reassurance.

I certainly wouldn’t employ anyone who had only trained with Vicky Clarke as I wouldn’t know what they did and didn’t know and I wouldn’t be able to insure them on my policy as trained staff.

I hope this is helpful for anyone researching training providers in the future.

note edited on to improve grammar and layout. Content not changed.

 

[Leah369]

Surely this kind of behaviour is going against salon geeks terms. Why do you feel the need to attack someone’s business if your own is so great? Are you not busy with that???
I will be reporting this thread now, this is just very nasty, uncalled for!

 

[AcidPerm]

I’m sorry that you find the thread uncomfortable reading.
A poster asked a genuine question and the replies are based on personal experience and understanding of education providers within the industry. The poster has already realised that a Level 3 is the industry minimum standard expected in most salons around the country.

Before training in hairdressing, I worked in a senior position in awards management in several educational establishments in different areas of the UK for a total of more than 20 years. My advice reflects that experience.

I will always advise would be students to thoroughly check out any private training establishments via the usual routes before parting with any money, and especially any courses that are not accredited by recognised National or International bodies such as City & Guilds, VTCT or ITEC etc.

The fact is that when shortlisting candidates for a job interview, employers can afford to cherry pick and if they’ve received lots of applications (which in the current economic climate is highly likely), then they will only look at the applications from candidates that have met a certain minimum standard of qualification and experience that can be independently verified.

A small training school might well offer excellent quality training but unless it’s audited and verified by a national body, it’s not going to be of much use when applying for jobs outside of the immediate geographical area.

 

[Leah369]

I’m sorry that you find the thread uncomfortable reading.
A poster asked a genuine question and the replies are based on personal experience and understanding of education providers within the industry. The poster has already realised that a Level 3 is the industry minimum standard expected in most salons around the country.

Before training in hairdressing, I worked in a senior position in awards management in several educational establishments in different areas of the UK for a total of more than 20 years. My advice reflects that experience.

I will always advise would be students to thoroughly check out any private training establishments via the usual routes before parting with any money, and especially any courses that are not accredited by recognised National or International bodies such as City & Guilds, VTCT or ITEC etc.

The fact is that when shortlisting candidates for a job interview, employers can afford to cherry pick and if they’ve received lots of applications (which in the current economic climate is highly likely), then they will only look at the applications from candidates that have met a certain minimum standard of qualification and experience that can be independently verified.

A small training school might well offer excellent quality training but unless it’s audited and verified by a national body, it’s not going to be of much use when applying for jobs outside of the immediate geographical area.

I wasn’t referring to your post AcidPerm but I have reported other comments posted that slander an innocent businesses and informed the business owners also. I don’t think some of the comments made here are what salon geek want to promote.

 

[Julia Lashes]

Have a lovely Christmas break everyone and enjoy browsing threads here.

This is an old thread, but it’s always great to have feedback as beauty training, as you said, is a bit of a minefield. For those who haven’t already trained in college I’d comment (as someone who holds a private college course qualification which has been mapped to the National qualification standards which gives me the all important “levels”) that I checked out Vickiclarke’s training school website. It looks very glossy but there is no information on the syllabus, nor does she state who accredits her training which is a bit unusual. I don’t understand why you wouldn’t want to be validated by the industry nor why you wouldn’t be totally transparent about the verification process. Near me (I’m based in Bath) there are several private training schools who offer nationally/internationally recognised qualifications.

Vicki Clarke’s school is listed on careers Wales as a training provider listed as “National Beauty Training accreditation”. I’m not familiar with National Beauty accreditation and I couldn’t find it on google. There is a training school with the name National Beauty Training but they don’t accredit other schools training, their own training is accredited by ABT. I have also registered as a training provider and there were no checks in place about the quality of my training, I just had to tick a box on an online form. However I can’t apply for student funding for my “students”.

Vicki Clarke’s school doesn’t offer student loans which you pay off after qualifying as a deduction from your wages. This is just one of the advantages of following a nationally agreed syllabus with a universally recognised qualification at the end.

I’m also puzzled why Vicki Clarke doesn’t list her CV on linked in. It’s unusual to be a beauty trainer and not have your qualifications and work experience listed where google can find you.

Vicki is listed as a director of her own cosmetics products company for salon, hotel and spa use since 2015, fair play for her ambition. However in the overall business scheme of things she’s quite a small business rather than a big name. There’s no mention of her on Companies House for this business and it’s not registered for a VAT number which means it sells less than £85,000 each year. Her cosmetics product website uses a very inexpensive template, library images and is full of spelling mistakes.

I’m surprised there’s so little information about her or her training school on google. There’s loads about me! She does have several glowing reviews from happy students, but no recommendations from anyone actually in employment who trained with her exclusively from scratch nor from anyone employing her former students or using her products.

if you have a nationally recognised qualification but need bringing up to industry standards in order to be employable it sounds like her training is perfect However it’s vital to hold valid certification and sadly her schools don’t offer this reassurance.

I certainly wouldn’t employ anyone who had only trained with Vicky Clarke as I wouldn’t know what they did and didn’t know and I wouldn’t be able to insure them on my policy as trained staff.

I hope this is helpful for anyone researching training providers in the future.

Have a lovely Christmas break everyone and enjoy brows8ng threads here

Thank you for sharing