Hairdressing - level 3 apprenticeship framework

About the framework

This framework specifies the standards and the criteria for the delivery of Level 3 apprenticeship training to achieve qualified status within the hair and beauty sector.

Successful completion of the apprenticeship will lead to the award of a Level 3 qualification and recognition as a qualified stylist or hairdresser within the sector.

Mandatory outcomes

Achievement of a Level 3 apprenticeship in hairdressing will be assessed by verification through the appropriate awarding body.

You must complete a combined competence and knowledge-based qualification, along with the mandatory essential skills qualifications.

Mandatory essential skills

To successfully complete the apprenticeship, you must achieve the following essential skills qualifications as part of the apprenticeship or already hold a recognised equivalent:

• application of number – level 2
• communication – level 2
• information and communication technology – level 2

However, any qualifications you already have are assessed against the framework requirements and may result in an exemption from the above.

Competence and knowledge qualifications

You need to complete a combined competence and knowledge-based qualification, chosen from the list below.

Combined competence-based and knowledge-based qualification:

• City & Guilds Level 3 Diploma for Advanced and Creative Hair Professionals 603/5495/1
• VTCT Level 3 Diploma in Hairdressing 610/4309/6  

Eligibility and entry to the programme

You must be a new employee, or an existing employee taking on a new role to take part in the programme.

Entry to the level 3 apprenticeship is by progression from the apprenticeshipsni level 2 framework in hairdressing. Employers may also apply their own criteria at the recruitment stage.

You may also enter the level 3 apprenticeship, subject to assessment by the training contractor and employer, if you:

• have already gained significant work experience in your occupational area, which could be considered as meeting the requirements of the level 2 hairdressing framework and can show the capacity to achieve a level 3 standard
• have previously achieved a relevant level 2 recognised vocational qualification that is a mandatory requirement of the Level 2 apprenticeshipsni hairdressing framework

Employers may apply their own criteria at recruitment stage and as the hairdressing industry has high client expectations and relies on repeat business, importance is given to:

• Appropriate personal presentation, including attire, hairstyle, and personal hygiene.
• Possession of practical, organisational, and social skills.
• Attentiveness to detail and commitment to cleanliness.
• Possession of empathetic and friendly demeanour along with effective communication abilities.
• Availability to work flexible hours or days as outlined in the employment agreement.
• Demonstrated high level of dexterity and coordination.
• Awareness of potential apprentices' predisposition to certain skin conditions or allergies such as occupational dermatitis, eczema, or asthma must be aware that certain chemicals, liquids, and aerosols used in hairdressing can have significant health effects.

Additionally, colour blindness may limit opportunities in using artificial colouring products and services in the industry. Units related to hair colouring require the ability to discern subtle tones, shades, and colour changes to ensure safe and effective chemical use on hair.

It is recommended that apprentices should undergo interviews with potential employers and training providers.

Training providers and employers should conduct initial assessments to identify any support needs for apprentices from the start of the apprenticeship. This ensures that those who start the program have the potential to complete it.

Employers and training contractors must ensure that learners have the potential and opportunity to gain the apprenticeship successfully.

See also the DfE operational requirements

Occupational profile

This occupation is typically found within the hair and beauty sector. Professionals in this role work in a customer-facing environment, which can vary in size, style, and ambiance. These environments range from small micro salons to large high street premises.

The main purpose of the occupation is to offer a variety of hairdressing services tailored to meet the needs of clients. This involves conducting thorough consultations, administering relevant industry tests, and ensuring exceptional customer care.

Hairdressing Professionals are self-motivated individuals who possess creativity and passion for their craft. They work independently, delivering high-quality services while adhering to safety standards, legal requirements, and industry regulations. These professionals continually enhance their skills and knowledge, striving for excellence in their work.

They take ownership of their tasks, demonstrate accountability, and exhibit proactive and adaptable traits. Working in a dynamic and innovative industry, Hairdressing Professionals pride themselves on their work ethic and commitment to client satisfaction.

In their daily work, an employee in this occupation interacts with a wide and diverse range of clients, the salon team, other associated hair and beauty professionals. They should also be able to promote themselves, their organisation, products and services using a variety of channels.

Hairdressers or Stylists undertaking a level 3 Apprenticeship are defined as creative, passionate, and self-motivated professionals who excel in their craft. They operate independently, often managing themselves and others when necessary. Committed to delivering top-quality service, they adhere to the highest standards while continuously honing their personal and professional skills.

Working within the dynamic hair industry, they take pride in their work and demonstrate ownership over their clientele, embracing responsibility and demonstrating proactive, flexible, and adaptable qualities. These professionals excel in time management and meticulously plan their work to achieve excellence in their field.

The work environment for hairdressers or stylists can vary greatly, ranging from boutique salons to media industry settings, cruise ships, product houses, and luxury high-end salons.

Renowned for their expertise, they are highly skilled and experienced individuals who stay abreast of fashion-forward trends. Drawing inspiration from current images and their own creativity, they craft innovative styles that reflect their individual flair, imagination, and interpretation.

As a Hair Stylist or Hairdresser typical activities would include:

• Client Consultation
• Creative Hair Styling and Dressing
• Innovative Hair Cutting
• Innovative Hair Colouring and Lightening
• Advanced Perming and Relaxing
• Contribution to Salon Promotion of Products and Services
• Salon Health & Safety

Knowledge

• Incident Handling: Leading on recording of workplace incidents, problems, accidents, and recording as legally required
• Risk Assessment: Ability to conduct and implement health and safety risk assessments for oneself and others in the workplace.
• Professionalism: Embracing hairdressing professionalism, values, industry codes of conduct, and ethics.
• Client Care: Practicing client care principles, including promoting and respecting equality, diversity, and inclusion through effective communication, confidentiality, discretion, comfort, privacy, and welfare considerations.
• Mental Health Support: Providing support for the mental health and wellbeing of both oneself and clients.
• Service Guidance: Offering advice and guidance before, during, and after services, including maintenance tips, complementary services, and retail product recommendations available in the salon.
• Social Media Use: Evaluating the benefits and drawbacks of using various social media channels and leveraging social media effectively to promote the business.
• Front of House Functions: Understanding the role and function of the front of house or reception area in a hairdressing business, including managing services, bookings, payments, retail, and sales, as well as upselling techniques
• Client Records: Knowing how to complete and maintain client records in compliance with legal and organisational standards.
• Teamwork: Understanding teamwork principles and knowing how, when, and to whom to report problems within the team.
• Environmental Practices: Implementing methods to promote environmental and sustainable working practices, such as recycling, reducing single-use plastics, conserving energy and water, and selecting environmentally friendly products.
• Hair and Skin Science: Understanding the scientific principles behind hair and skin in the context of hairdressing services.
• Hair Classification: Understanding the four hair classification types (straight, wavy, curly, very curly) and their implications for service, product, tool, and equipment selection
• Complying to Legal and Organizational Requirements: Ensuring compliance with legal and organisational standards for the safe use of products, tools, materials, and equipment in hairdressing services.
• Safe Working Practices: Applying safe, hygienic, and effective methods of working and infection control throughout the completion of hairdressing services.
• Communication Skills: Utilising communication and etiquette that aligns with industry requirements and is suitable and appropriate for the organisation.
• Client Confidentiality and Comfort: Maintaining client confidentiality and ensuring their comfort, including modesty and privacy, at the beginning and throughout the service.
• Client Advising: Providing advice to clients, both new and regular, before, during, and after the service on maintaining their look, complementary services, and retail products available in the salon.
• Social Media Promotion: Promoting oneself, the organisation, products, and services through various social media channels, requiring transversal digital skills (not specific to hairdressing qualifications).
• Salon Support: Undertaking wider salon duties to assist the salon business, including managing services, bookings, payments, retail, and sales, as well as upselling techniques.
• Product and Equipment Usage: Using a range of products, tools, and equipment in accordance with legal and organisational requirements for hairdressing services.
• Implement working methods that foster environmental and sustainable practices.
• Conduct consultations, assess hair, skin, and scalp conditions, and perform relevant industry tests such as hair classification type and characteristics tests.
• Recognise and address any contraindications or limiting factors that may impact the service through questioning or observation.

Skills

• Client Consultation: Offering an extensive consultation and advisory service to clients is essential. Client consultation serves as the foundation of successful technical services, ensuring thorough engagement with clients to fully understand and meet their needs and expectations. It is crucial to maintain effective and safe working methods and communicate effectively while conducting consultation services. This includes conducting tests and performing in-depth, complex consultations of the client's hair and scalp to meticulously plan and agree upon the hairdressing service. Evaluating factors influencing the service and planning accordingly are integral aspects of this process.
• Creative Hair Styling and Dressing: Creating unique hairstyles involves blending technical proficiency, artistic expression, and attention to detail to deliver exceptional and personalised looks for clients. Enhancing creative hairdressing skills and combining researching fashion trends to inform the planning, design, creation, production, and presentation of a fashion-forward hairstyle collection. This collection showcases a diverse range of creative hair styling and dressing looks achieved through various techniques. Evaluating factors influencing the design and creation of the hairstyle collection, including considerations for the target audience, aligns with the planning and implementation of promotional activities.
• Innovative Hair Cutting: Using advanced cutting techniques to craft a personalised and unique restyled appearance, elevating the individual's personal image. This process will involve conducting in-depth consultations and complex analyses of the client's hair to thoroughly plan, create, and style cutting looks. Employing a diverse range of technical skills, including sectioning and cutting guidelines, precision cutting techniques customised to individual characteristics, and creative finishing and dressing techniques, results in a collection of hairstyle looks tailored to meet diverse client needs and preferences.
• Innovative Hair Colouring and Lightening: Use a variety of techniques to achieve diverse fashion effects through personalised colour treatments. This includes weaving and colouring techniques such as slicing and block colouring, as well as proficiency in providing a full head and regrowth lightener application. Advanced skills are honed to tackle complex colouring issues, including restoring depth and tone, neutralising colour tones, and managing resistant hair. Additionally, providing creative colour conversion services involves changing the depth and tone of the hair while adhering to legal requirements and manufacturer's instructions. These services encompass using creative sectioning techniques to personalise the colour result and enhance the finished look, toning through bespoke creative formulation, and resolving any problems that may arise during the process. Advanced colour correction techniques include removing artificial colour, addressing bands of colour, recolouring hair treated with lightener, employing pre-pigmentation and colouring, rectifying highlights and lowlights, all while adhering to legal requirements, manufacturers' instructions, and salon policies.
• Advanced Perming and Relaxing: Providing perming and/or relaxing services involves adapting and customising a variety of sectioning and winding techniques to achieve fashionable permed or relaxed effects. Proficiency in working with sensitised hair is essential, along with the ability to assess and address issues related to relaxing, chemically treated hair, and devise appropriate solutions. Maintaining effective and safe methods of working and clear communication while performing perming and/or relaxing services is paramount. Conducting in-depth and complex analysis of the client's hair and scalp to thoroughly plan and agree upon the perming and/or relaxing services is crucial. Using and applying products, tools, and equipment to smooth, strengthen, or curl clients' hair to the desired degree of straightness or curl is integral to the process. Resolving any problems that may arise during or after the procedure is essential. Using a range of products, tools, and equipment in accordance with legal requirements, manufacturers' instructions, and salon policies is imperative. Evaluating the results of the service and offering advice on future services and products completes the process.
• Contribution to Salon Promotion of Products and Services: Playing a role in the planning, implementation, and evaluation of promotional activities within the salon involves adeptly presenting information and interacting with the public while showcasing one's expertise, such as exhibiting a collection of hairstyle looks. Implementing the principles and stages of planning, researching, and developing fashion-forward trends across various media types and platforms. Promoting a fashion-forward collection of hairstyle looks through diverse media channels to target specific markets, individuals, or groups. Understanding how a collection of hairstyle looks can be leveraged to promote individuals and salons. Adhering to legal responsibilities when using images and employing various models and methods to create and record the collection of hairstyle looks. Upholding health and safety legislation, safe working practices, and effective communication while engaging in the process of creating a collection of hairstyle looks.

Behaviours

The following behaviours are fundamental to delivering services for hairdressers/stylists, ensuring that clients/customers receive a positive impression of the organization and the individual:

• Facilitates Safe Working Practices: Ensures the safety of oneself and others by actively challenging safety issues and promoting safe practices in the workplace.
• Problem Solving: Works diligently to identify and resolve root causes of problems, demonstrating a persistent and tenacious approach to finding solutions.
• Flexible and Adaptable: Exhibits flexibility in response to changing working environments and demands. Encourages curiosity and embraces new ways of thinking and working to adapt effectively.
• Creativity: Demonstrates individual flair and imagination by incorporating fashion-forward trends in hair and applying innovative approaches to their work.
• Professional Development: Takes initiative in promoting personal and professional development, embracing opportunities for continual growth and improvement in skills and knowledge.
• Demonstrates professionalism and a genuine enthusiasm for the industry, maintaining a steadfast commitment to quality while efficiently completing services within commercially viable timeframes and under time constraints.
• Upholds professional ethics by exemplifying traits such as time management, self-discipline, integrity, respect, empathy, client confidentiality, and discretion in all interactions and tasks.

Transversal Skills Level

• Self-management - Advanced
• Working with others - Advanced
• Citizenship / participating in society - Advanced
• Work professionalism - Advanced
• Problem solving and decision making - Advanced
• Numeracy - Intermediate
• Digital Literacy - Intermediate
• Communication & Literacy - Intermediate

Progression

Following completion of the Level 3 Apprenticeship learners can progress into employment as a hairdresser or pursue other job roles within various sectors of the hairdressing industry.  There is also the opportunity to explore opportunities for higher education, including pursuing a Foundation Degree in Hairdressing and Salon Management or enrolling in other relevant programs to further develop skills and knowledge in the field.

Assessment

The Quality Assurance (QA) aspect of Assessment is the responsibility of the Awarding Organisation. For this Apprenticeship, the Awarding Organisations are: VTCT and City & Guilds.

In general:

• Evidence of competence (skills) must come from the workplace or a realistic working environment (RWE) and may be gathered into a single portfolio in hard or soft copy. This portfolio will then be assessed by a qualified assessor and then subject to the QA systems of the Awarding Organisation.
• Evidence of knowledge may be identified during the skills component and/or through formal assessment via tests and exercises.

Enhancements

Whilst there is no formal requirement for enhancements to the framework, employers have the option to offer additional training related to the products and equipment used in the salon. This supplementary training can further develop employees' skills and knowledge, ensuring they are proficient in using the specific tools and products relevant to their workplace and/or specific industry brand.

Duration

Apprenticeship duration can vary and will be agreed between the apprentice, training contractor and employer.

Related knowledge

For this framework, the participant is required to complete a suitable employee rights and responsibilities (ERR) workbook. Framework certification is issued on confirmation from the training contractor that the ERR has been completed.

Responsibilities

It is the responsibility of the training contractor/college to ensure that all components of this framework are delivered in accordance with apprenticeshipsni operational requirements.

The apprentice must be employed from day one.

Further information

The content of this framework (Framework No 336 Issue 7: 11/24) has been agreed by the Department for the Economy.  For further information, contact:

• Department for the Economy - Apprenticeships Delivery and Performance Branch