Weeks after completing an app-renticeship in hair-dressing, Bridie Thorne found herself in the spotlight at an international competition in the Middle East, taking on the best young stylists from across the globe.

Thorne, a stylist at Pride salon in Gloucester, emerged from the 2017 WorldSkills competition in Abu Dhabi with a medallion of excellence, awarded only to those competitors who achieved the highest professional standards. “You’ve got to work hard to get somewhere in hairdressing, and it is hard work,” she says.

“With more competitions like WorldSkills showing that it’s not just about standing behind a chair and gossiping all day, that might help change attitudes. We have a lot of apprentices come straight from school and they are very shy but they blossom into very confident people.”

And there are plenty of opportunities for them to progress, too. According to labour market analysts Emsi, there are currently more than 112,000 jobs in hairdressing in the UK - and this is expected to top 117,000 by 2023.

Hairdressing is a diverse sector, with many specialisms that people can go into, as well as opportunities for self-employment and flexible part-time work. Not only that but it provides transferable skills that can see people move into other forms of work, ranging from reception and call centre businesses to the care sector.

Not cut and dried

Yet, in public discourse, hairdressing remains arguably the most maligned area of vocational education. It was once again singled out last month by education secretary Damian Hinds. In what was trailed as a landmark speech to raise the prestige of technical education, he claimed the current system fails “to match skills with the labour market need” and that the number of people training should be “in proportion to the number of opportunities likely to be available”.

He added: “We know, for example, that Germany trains around 11,000 hairdressers per year - in England, around 40,000 people train in hairdressing each year, in a country with fewer actual heads.” Ironically, he referred to the “snobbery” that surrounds technical education in the same speech.

It turned out that Hinds was playing fast and loose with the figures, which were released by the Department for Education (DfE) on the day of his speech. They revealed that the data, from 2015-16, for the two countries was not directly comparable. While the statistics for England included “those already working as a hairdresser and learning new skills for their occupation” as well as those starting out, the German statistics “include only new starters on a formal vocational training route”, admits the DfE.

The argument, however, is a well trodden one. Previous research by the Local Government Association indicated that there were more than 94,000 people completing hair and beauty courses despite there being just 18,000 new jobs in the sector.

But that report was published in 2012 and based on 2010-11 data. The government no longer keeps vacancy data according to industry/occupation level. The figures did not account for people leaving existing jobs, nor those not recorded in the statistics, such as the many hairdressers who are self-employed.

There are more than 42,000 hair and beauty businesses in the UK and the industry generates almost £7.5 billion in turnover each year, according to the latest figures released by the National Hairdressers’ Federation (NHF). And any suggestions of a wholesale oversupply of hairdressers also appear to be wide of the mark. The latest figures show a fall in the number of people on hairdressing courses and apprenticeships in FE, according to the Association of Colleges, declining from 36,910 in 2015-16 to 31,680 in 2017-18.

While Hinds’ focus on technical education - not least the introduction of T levels and a “new generation” of level 4 and 5 qualifications for students to progress to - has been welcomed by many, his attitude towards what is a thriving part of FE is a cause for concern to many in the sector and in industry.

Nicky Clarke, one of Britain’s best-known hairdressers, says Hinds “couldn’t actually be more wrong” in suggesting that too many hairdressers are being trained. “This is probably the one time in my 45 years in this business that we are having the most problem recruiting...I find it an incredibly ill-judged statement to make.”

And shadow FE minister Gordon Marsden has also accused Hinds of “using lazy stereotypes”, advising him to “take a snip to the hackneyed and out-of-date lines his speechwriters and officials in the DfE have been feeding him”.

Marsden added: “It’s no good him lecturing people about snobbery as regards technical skills, as he did recently in his recent T-levels speech, and then being guilty of a similar thing when talking about service and creative sector skills like hairdressing.”

Mark Dawe, chief executive of the Association of Employment and Learning Providers, says: “It is not the first time this sort of elitist anti-service industry - and, to be honest, anti-female - comment has been made: construction good, hairdressing bad.

“One is dominated by women, the other by men; and this from a secretary of state who specifically said this sort of language needs to stop - apart from his own prejudices, clearly.”

Keith Conniford, chief executive and registrar of the Hair and Barber Council, adds: “I get very upset when our industry is denigrated like this by people who don’t know what they’re talking about.”

An appreciation of the career opportunities available in the hairdressing industry is not limited to those who work in it. A report by Ofsted into level 2 study programmes, released in November, revealed that hair and beauty was cited by colleges as the subject most likely to lead to getting a job in the relevant industry - above subjects such as engineering, catering and construction.

Hair and beauty has long been a mainstay of FE provision. It provides a potential career path, as well as transferable skills, that can be used in other occupations, ranging from retail to care work. The achievements of Britain’s trainee hairdressers are regularly recognised in international competitions. And FE colleges have close relationships with some of the country’s best-known hairdressers.

Many colleges have salons that are open to the public, which not only enables students to hone their skills but also promotes the colleges to their local communities.

There is concern over the pipeline of talent into the sector, with around 11,500 people starting hairdressing and barbering apprenticeships in England in 2017-18 compared with 15,450 in 2016-17. The drop of more than a quarter is down to changes in apprenticeship standards and funding, the NHF says.

Wendy Cummins, vice-chair of the trailblazer steering group that developed the level 2 apprenticeship standard, warns: “There haven’t been enough young people coming into hairdressing at 16, due to the lack of informed careers advice, especially about apprenticeships in schools. The general consensus in the industry is that not enough are doing apprenticeships.”

The funding for the apprenticeship standard has been slashed from £9,000 to £7,000 in a change that came into effect this month. Attempts by the trailblazer group to get the government to reverse its decision have been rejected, Cummins says. “We wanted the qualification to take 24 months and, unfortunately, there is not enough money to deliver it in that time span.”

Compared with apprenticeships, “college courses often don’t give enough real work experience for them to be well-prepared for working in a salon”, Hilary Hall, chief executive of the NHF, says. A survey of its members last year found that 97 per cent of respondents said they prefer apprenticeships to any other form of training, including college courses.

John Widdowson, principal of New College Durham, disagrees. At his college, 97 per cent of students finishing hairdressing courses this year progressed into a positive destination. “Like all other vocational courses, hairdressing develops the mind as well as the skills of manual dexterity and creativity,” he says. “Particularly at higher levels, hairdressing and related disciplines require knowledge of anatomy, chemistry and use of technology.”

Not only that, but courses such as hairdressing develop personal skills valued by employers, such as confidence, resilience and teamwork, he adds: “Many hairdressing students will go on to use those skills in a range of other customer service occupations, including retail, hospitality and leisure, marketing and promotion.”

Style and substance

A case in point is Dawn Ward. Having started out as a hair and beauty therapist, Ward went on to become a senior college leader, and has been principal of Burton and South Derbyshire College for more than a decade. “Nobody questions the fact that universities train more law graduates than there are jobs, that they have more archaeology graduates than there are jobs for them,” she says.

Like Widdowson, Ward believes that many of the skills in hairdressing - such as customer service, managing budgets, time management and problem solving - are transferable to other occupations, .

“I don’t think we are training too many of anything, because what we are doing is offering a range of qualifications or career paths and, within that, we give people advice and guidance. This is about an individual’s choice, it should be a choice with guidance.”

In a bid to improve the supply of up-and-coming hairdressers, celebrity stylist Lee Stafford is investing his time in colleges across the country.

“After spending many years doing CPD days up and down the country, it was clear to me that young people undertaking hair courses in colleges were generally being let down by the system,” he says.

He describes the teachers as “passionate, caring and committed people” but adds: “There’s no consistency in what they teach students...this inconsistency makes it difficult for employers, who have to spend time re-training college students to work to commercial standards.”

Stafford has created partnerships with 11 colleges in England, where staff are trained up in his 17 “recipes” that make up a level 2 course (equivalent to GCSE), and additional elements for level 3 (equivalent to A level).

And another option for training up young people to work in the industry will soon be available. In 2022, a new T level in hair, beauty and aesthetics is due to be introduced.

Alan Wood, chief executive of awarding body VTCT, says that the new qualification “will become the gold standard for vocational education at level 3”.

However, he fears that finding employers who will be willing and able to offer the three-month work placements required will be a “challenge” for a sector where the majority of employers are small businesses.

In general terms, though, the prospects for budding hairdressers are bright.

At Gateshead College, for instance, some 75 per cent of the level 3 hairdressing students who left this year have already secured employment in the sector. Of the level 3 hair and media make-up artistry students, an impressive 83 per cent have either found jobs in the industry, set up their own businesses or are continuing their studies.

Deputy principal Chris Toon says: “As these encouraging figures show, students who complete these courses have a great chance of getting a job, launching a business venture or continuing with their studies.

“We work with employers from different sectors to plan our curriculum and create courses that give companies the skills they need now and in the future.”

Jonathan Owen is a freelance journalist

‘I have improved my self-esteem’

Kayleigh McIlwraith is studying for a level 3 diploma in women’s hairdressing at New College Durham and has a placement at a hair salon where she goes one day a week. 

“During my time in college I have improved my self-esteem and I am able to use my initiative when on work placement,” she says. “The course has allowed me to interact with other students, staff and members of the community of all ages. This has given me the confidence to apply for a job and work effectively on my own or as part of a team.”

‘You never stop learning’

Erica Czerny left Strode College this summer with a level 3 NVQ and was highly commended for hairdressing in the WorldSkills UK national competition in November.  

She is now working as a stylist at Sense salon in Wells, Somerset. “I’ve only been here for a few months but it’s absolutely amazing,” she says. 

“I don’t have a qualification in specialising in a certain thing, however, I would say I’m more of a colourist. 

“But then, with WorldSkills, the whole point of it is that you are an overall hairdresser, so you do everything. It gives you that all-round confidence.

 “I think that one thing in hairdressing is that you are always learning, you never stop learning and I’m a massive believer in that.”