Hair and Beauty Studies

Sue Reynolds, Head of Hair and Beauty, Walsall College
Craig Davies, Training Manager, Francesco Group
Lesley Chantler, Head of Hair and Beauty, Havering College
Pat Dudley, Assistant Dean of Sport and Leisure, Kingston College

Narrator: Practitioners delivering courses within the Hair and Beauty sector have a history of having good links with employers. These relationships are a good starting point when it comes to developing the strategy of engaging employers. The Diploma in Hair and Beauty Studies extends this relationship to a higher maturity; engaging employers with the development of the Diploma delivery, mentoring learners, supporting and identifying learner progression and sharing their professional experience within each industry within the sector.

Sue Reynolds, Head of Hair and Beauty, Walsall College: Across the consortium, we have access to a wide variety of employers anyway - one of which being Francesco Group; the product supplier Wella; Hoar Cross Hall to support beauty therapy; and then the private training provider that we‘re working with locally I know has access to in excess of 40 salons and smaller employers, SMEs. Through our apprenticeship programme, we have access to 50 employers, again SMEs - some hair, some beauty - which allowed us the starting point really. And it was through those employers, that we’ve exploited, through working with them, through partnerships. They also have connections with product suppliers and manufacturers, and what we’ve done has kind of had a spider-like effect through the industry.

Narrator: As part of their strategy for employer engagement, Wasall Consortium is working with the Francesco Group, who are not only supporting Diploma learners, but also providing practitioners with industry-standard training.

Craig Davies, Training Manager, Francesco Group: We provide a partnership. We have a partnership with Walsall College, where we provide training for their lecturers and teachers. We are teaching them the up-to-date, up to the minute hairdressing techniques and training, so they can pass and disseminate that through to their learners. It’s industry-led so it’s very relevant to what’s happening out there in the workplace, so that the students are given skills and provided with skills to be ready to meet the needs of industry when they come to seek employment after getting their qualifications.

Narrator: The Diploma in Hair and Beauty Studies will give the employer a chance to showcase their business and ensure future employees have breadth of knowledge that will prepare them for a career in any of the six industries. To develop these links further, and nurture new ones, the Havering consortium has taken the approach of highlighting the benefits that the Diploma will bring to the employers.

Lesley Chantler, Head of Hair and Beauty, Havering College: Here at the college we’ve already been involved with employers for the last five years. We have Continual Professional Development weeks for our students, where employers come in twice a year to speak to the students. So the employers have already set up a partnership with us, so we’re just expanding that partnership to further develop the Diplomas. Employers coming in gives them an overview of what we’re doing in education and training, because obviously sometimes they’re left out of the loop, so they find out what’s going on. We also give them the opportunity to come and join us on CPD weeks so they can develop their skills as well.

Narrator: In Kingston they’ve been working with practitioners and employers across London as part of the network group. The aim of the group is to support each other in the delivery of the Diploma, pinpointing which areas are better delivered within a college environment and which lend themselves to being delivered within industry, giving the learner a good mix of both applied and experiential learning, supporting innovative teaching and learning.

Pat Dudley, Assistant Dean of Sport and Leisure, Kingston College: Through working with the employers, planning the curriculum and getting their contributions, what we’re trying to do is really cherry-pick where the best delivery would be for the learner. So e.g. some of the things are better for them to be delivered in the work placement. So if it’s looking at a career in, say, artistic director or fashion, then it’s working with the employer to make sure that it meets industry needs as well as meeting the curriculum.

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