Beauty course after GCSE

[Juliet57]

Hi. My daughter is in Year 11, due to start her GCSEs in a few weeks. The revision period has been really hard and emotional for all of us. We are starting to question whether Sixth form is the best route for her. She has a strong interest in Beauty and so studying a beauty course in a college (or even Sixth Form college if that's possible) could be a better option.

Can anybody recommend a college in London to study beauty at 16?
Thank you.

Google Level 2 or 3 beauty qualifications (there's various ones - Btec, City and Guilds etc) and then see which colleges near you offer them.
Also look at apprenticeships on offer.

You can do both GCSEs and A levels in beauty - just google schools near you or ask around at your local beauty saloon and ask the therapists there if they know of anything.

Thank you for your responses.

@ittakes2 what A levels or GCSEs can you do in beauty?

You really can't.

What about Bromley College (now part of London South East Colleges)? A lovely girl who cuts my hair studied hair and beauty there and has made a real success of her life. She loved working part time and studying part time. For a number of years she would go back to do another certificate in a different treatment and can now do a range of beauty offerings. Don’t know how easy it is for you to get there from where you are but just one suggestion.

https://www.lsec.ac.uk/courses/hair-beauty/283-level-2/1545-beauty-level-2-diploma?highlight=WyJiZWF1dHkiXQ==

What part of London? There's a college on the London/Surrey borders that does beauty.

London college of beauty therapy is good. Is it possible for your DD to do a work experience in a salon/hair and beauty place? My DD is in Y10 and was dead set on working in this field. Her school does work experience in Y10 and after a week of working in a salon she's changed her mind completely. I had a Saturday job in this industry for 4 years as a teenager and it is a really antisocial and badly paid field.

We told my DD we'd rather she had another backup whilst she's still able to study full time and she agrees now. It is quite easy to learn and qualify in this field on a part time basis when older. Much more difficult to go back to school full time and get a more academic qualification. We also offered to buy her everything she needs to learn to do nails herself and are buying it slowly for her as she learns. She's already taught herself how to do lash and brow tints and the ladies at the salon she did work experience in even showed her how lash lifts are done.

This time of year is really difficult for all Y11s. I would look into other things she's interested in and see if there's BTECs in those. They're much less stressful and just as respected by most unis as A Levels. Business might be a good one to look into as it'll really help her if this is genuinely what she wants to do. For the most part you're self employed and will need to be very savvy around marketing, budgeting and taxes.

It's the toughest time of year for them.

IF she doesn't get the results she wanted, on results day, there should be members of staff on hand to talk to about alternative routes - which could include alternative 6th form/colleges and courses or resits. I'd be very surprised if there isn't somewhere within easy travelling distance that offers H&B anywhere in London.

Just google your nearby colleges and their course prospectuses. That way you can be very reassuring and point out, quite rightly, that although you are sure that she will be fine, as almost everybody feels like this at this time of year, if it came down to it, once she has her results, it's perfectly normal for students to change their minds about courses, locations and to enrol in late August/early September, so she doesn't need to worry about it, her life is not set in stone aged 15-16, there are always choices she can make and be happy about.

Thank you so much for all your replies. It's such a stressful time and it's really helpful to read your replies.