Apprenticeships · A core component of the academy

The apprenticeship, at the pace it deserves.

Employed in a salon, earning a wage, training fully funded. We deliver hairdressing and barbering apprenticeships to the Welsh Government framework in full — with one difference. Where colleges stretch delivery across two years, we compress it to the fastest timeline the framework allows.

The apprenticeship at a glance

Routes: NVQ Level 2 Hairdressing · NVQ Level 2 Barbering The same VTCT-standard diplomas as our fast-track courses — earned while employed
Your week: Working in your salon, with structured academy blocks and distance learning Real clients and real earning from the start
The cost to you: £0 Training is fully funded for eligible apprentices — your employer pays your wage, never your course
Framework: Welsh Government apprenticeship framework, in full Assessed to VTCT NVQ standard with in-house internal quality assurance
Pace: The fastest timeline the framework allows Compressed and purposeful — never stretched to fill two years
Who it’s for: New entrants joining a salon, and existing salon staff formalising their qualification
Centre status: VTCT Approved Centre application in progress Approval precedes first delivery; register now to be first in the queue

Why apprentices choose it

Earn from day one — a wage in your pocket while you qualify, with no fees and no debt at the end
The same qualification — you finish with the identical VTCT-standard NVQ our fast-track learners earn
Real salon floor, real clients — workplace practice woven together with coached academy blocks
Momentum, not drift — a compressed, structured programme keeps you progressing instead of shadowing for years
Progression mapped — Level 3, CPD masterclasses, and graduate pathways into the Charlotte Eleanor Group franchise network

£0to the apprentice — funding follows the apprenticeship, and the employer pays the wage. All funding routes →

The difference

Same framework. Half the drag.

An apprenticeship in Wales comes with clear requirements — framework content, assessment standards, workplace hours — and we deliver every one of them. What we refuse to do is pad the journey. Traditional providers run apprenticeships on a day-release drip across two years; our structured blocks, distance learning and in-house quality assurance move you through the same framework at the fastest compliant pace.

That speed is the whole point of the academy: a qualified, productive professional on the salon floor sooner — earning properly, progressing sooner, and costing the industry less drift.

Framework-compliant delivery, documented for employers and funders
Cohorts capped at ten — apprentices get the same coached intensity as every Clwydian learner
Digital portfolio evidence with internal quality assurance and unannounced workplace sampling
A dedicated point of contact for the employer, not a call centre

How it works

Four steps to an apprentice in the chair.

Register interest — apprentice or salon

Already employed in a salon? Bring your employer. Looking for a place? Register anyway — salons on our books hear first about apprentices seeking a chair.

We confirm the funded route

We check eligibility and walk both apprentice and employer through the Welsh apprenticeship funding paperwork, step by step.

Sign up under the framework

The apprenticeship agreement is set up to Welsh Government requirements — hours, content and assessment all documented from day one.

Train at pace, qualify sooner

Structured academy blocks, workplace practice and distance learning — through to a VTCT-standard NVQ at the fastest pace the framework allows.