‘Post-16 Skills Plan’ is good news, and will give salons a greater say in training, says NHBF

The NHBF has welcomed the government’s “Post-16 Skills Plan”, published today, arguing that its blueprint to simplify routes into vocational training and to make it more relevant to the workplace is good news.

The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills has agreed to recommendations outlined in a review by Lord Sainsbury to scrap the current complicated system whereby GCSE school leavers wanting to go into technically-based careers are faced with a choice of thousands of qualifications when deciding their next step.

Instead, from 2019, there will be just 15 straightforward routes or “pathways” into technical employment. School leavers will choose between doing an apprenticeship or going to college where their learning will be closely aligned to apprenticeships, include mandatory work placements and lead to a single nationally recognised certificate for Level 2 and Level 3 qualifications.

Hairdressing, barbering and beauty will be one of these 15 pathways. Combined with the government’s ongoing “trailblazer” reforms of apprenticeships, this means there is now a real opportunity to ensure all trainees coming into the industry, whether through college training or via an apprenticeship, are “salon ready”, the NHBF said.

NHBF chief executive Hilary Hall said: “The NHBF, the sector skills body Habia and grassroots salons all gave evidence to Lord Sainsbury’s review, and we are very pleased to see that our strong views were reflected in his report.

Apprenticeships are highly valued by salons. But college-based qualifications have been less highly regarded because they often fail to provide the same practical, hands-on workplace experience and learning.

“These government proposals go a long way towards addressing this imbalance between apprenticeships and college-based qualifications, and we’re delighted that employers, through the new Institute for Apprenticeships, will continue to play a prominent role in working out the detail of these reforms.

“However, if the new college-based technical qualifications are going to be supported by public subsidy, we call for the new ‘trailblazer’ apprenticeships to be supported in the same way, reducing the cost for small businesses.”