Do I need a qualification or accreditation

Do I need a qualification or accreditation

How do you know what to choose with so much conflicting advice? 

By Helen Ward 

The Hair and Beauty Directory 

This really depends on what you plan to learn and what you want to do with it

I would always recommend starting out with a nationally recognised qualification.

This means the course is approved by OFQUAL and is part of the government set learning levels.

You will normally see these as one of the following

  • VTCT
  • City and Guilds
  • CIBTAC
  • QUALIFI
  • FOCUS
  • ITEC

It is much easier to guarantee insurance coverage if you have one of these qualifications.

Its also worth noting that you only have an official qualification if it has the OFQUAL stamp on it. All other courses are accredited and in many cases this means you are perfectly fine to carry out the service but you are not actually qualified.

For example

Student 1 – completed a VTCT nationally recognised course with a OFQUAL stamp. They will be classed as fully qualified and hold a qualification that will be instantly recognised as a qualified treatment provider.

Student 2- has completed a 2 week nail tech course with a private training school. The certificate has the training centres details on and its approved by professional beauty. The person is trained to carry out the services and will gain insurance cover but this is not nationally recognised

When would this matter?

If you plan to teach in the future you will need a qualification if you plan to teach OFQUAL approved courses. 

Some will state you must have a qualification as a starting point to gain insurance for accredited courses. For example, they may request that you have a level 3 beauty therapy for your accredited course in microneedling or dermaplaning to be covered by insurance. It can also be down to the accreditation company who approved it, some have very poor standards.

It really comes down to what would be looked at in the event of a claim and many insurances companies won’t tell you this as they just want to take your money!

One of the key things they will look for was how you were assessed to gain your certificate, so this is why online courses are often a no, no.

What I will add is that an OFQUAL qualification does not guarantee good training, in fact some of the best treatment providers I’ve seen have come via the none qualification route. I’m not someone who believes short course equals poor training. You will often find the expert educators teach the shorter courses. College lectures are often not specialist and can be teaching many types of courses. I was once asked to teach hairdressing because I had a qualification but had never worked in a salon as a stylist. I also worked with a tutor who couldn’t do a full set of nails herself but could demo each step, she taught nail tech for years…

  • Key points

    • What do you want your courses for? Is it a core subject, skills building, to tick a box?
    • What can you afford, can you save if needed
    • Really research the treatment and find the key leaders
    • Find out what you should learn in a course, then ask what’s included. This can also indicate if the courses is current.
    • Who is accrediting the courses? You can also research into this
    • Is your tutor qualified and does it matter?
    • Do you know if you need accreditation or a qualification

 What’s next..

Please read our guide on is your teacher qualified?