25 July 2014

The publication of new employer-led training and assessment standards for hair and beauty apprentices has been delayed until the autumn.

Hellen Ward, managing director of Richard Ward Hair and Metrospa, who is leading the strategic ‘trailblazer’ group on hairdressing, said:

Developing standards has been an intense process of debate and discussion within the industry and the timescales set by the government have been challenging right from the start.   We’d rather spend more time in the development phase than rushing something which is so important to our industry.   So we’ll be submitting the hair and beauty standards in the autumn instead.”  

George Hammer, chairman of beauty salon Urban Retreat, who is leading the strategic ‘trailblazer’ group for beauty said: “Employers on both groups have given up a lot of time already, but more discussion with training providers and awarding organisations is time well-spent as the standards are crucial to the success of Apprenticeships.”    

Hilary Hall, Chief Executive of the National Hairdressers’ Federation added, “The announcements about Apprenticeship funding reforms have been a massive distraction. It’s been enormously difficult to focus on the standards without being drawn into the wider debate about the impact of funding changes on employers.”

Stuart Turner, Head of Standards & Qualifications at SkillsActive said: “We’d like to thank everyone involved in the standards development for their continued support and commitment.”