Foundation Hair and Beauty
VTCT Skills Foundation Hair and Beauty is a two-year Entry Level to Level 1 work-related qualification for learners in Years 10 and 11, assessed by two VTCT-set assignments marked by the centre. Literacy carries most of the weight: in Unit 1 learners identify, list and outline job roles, hazards, the structure of hair, skin and nails, and consultation and customer care, using technical terms and some Welsh greetings and safety signs. In Unit 2 they read sources to explore a theme, write a plan, talk with their model during the practical work and write a reflection. Numeracy is light: timing each step of a plan, ordering coats and layers, and dividing hair into equal sections. There are no calculations.
- Awarding body
- VTCT Skills
- Level
- Entry Level and Level 1
- First taught
- September 2027
- Amount of literacy work
- Medium
- Amount of numeracy work
- Low
- Specification
- Open the specification
- Next step up
- VCSE Hair and Beauty, Level 1 and Level 2
How this qualification is assessed
- UWCO3 (Unit 1): Foundations of the Hair and Beauty industry: Non-examined assessment, an assignment brief set by VTCT Skills and changed every year, completed under supervision within a maximum of 6 hours 30 minutes, four tasks of 8 marks each (32 raw marks), 30% of the qualification (75 UMS), marked by the centre with a level-based mark scheme and externally moderated by VTCT Skills, 40 guided learning hours, taken in Year 10 with one resit allowed in Year 11
- UWCO4 (Unit 2): Introduction to Hair and Beauty techniques based on a theme: Non-examined assessment including practical hair styling, face-painting and nail finishes, an assignment brief set by VTCT Skills and changed every year, completed under supervision within a maximum of 8 hours 30 minutes, three tasks of 12, 16 and 12 marks (40 raw marks), 70% of the qualification (175 UMS), marked by the centre with a level-based mark scheme and externally moderated by VTCT Skills, 100 guided learning hours, taken in Year 11 with no resit
Skills that use Strategic competence
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Working out the time needed for each step
The plan in Unit 2 must include the time needed for each part, and the Curriculum for Wales mapping links numeracy to this criterion. Learners estimate times for each step so the service fits the time available, which is simple time planning rather than calculation.
Numeracy: Measurement, Strategic competence
Getting pupils ready
- Year 7
- Pupils time how long it takes to paint one nail with a stopwatch and record it in minutes and seconds.
- Year 8
- Pupils write a time for each of five steps in a nail service and add them up to check the total fits a 30 minute slot.
- Year 9
- Pupils plan a schedule for a themed face-painting service starting at 10.15, with start and finish times for each step, then compare planned and real times after the practical.
Show the specification wording and the LNF statements
Where it is in the specification: UWCO4 (Unit 2), LO2, taught content 2.2, page 61; assessment criterion 2.2, page 73; Curriculum for Wales mapping, page 76
“Time needed for each part”
Progression step 3
I can use and interpret calendars, timetables and schedules to plan events and activities, and make calculations as part of the planning journey.
I can carry out practical activities involving timed events and explain which unit of time is the most appropriate.
Progression step 4
I can prioritise and organise the relevant steps needed to complete the task or reach a solution.
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Ordering coats and layers in a nail finish
Nail finishes follow a set order of base coat, thin layers of polish, stickers and topcoat, with a three-stroke method and drying time between coats. Assessment criterion 3.4 requires the service, and the Curriculum for Wales mapping links numeracy to the number of coats and order of layers.
Numeracy: Strategic competence
Getting pupils ready
- Year 7
- Pupils put cards for base coat, two colour coats, sticker and topcoat into the right order and count the layers on the finished nail.
- Year 8
- Pupils work out how many brush strokes are needed to paint ten nails using three strokes per coat and two coats.
- Year 9
- Pupils plan a nail finish with drying times between each layer and work out the earliest time the stickers and topcoat can go on.
Show the specification wording and the LNF statements
Where it is in the specification: UWCO4 (Unit 2), LO3, taught content 3.4, pages 69 and 70; assessment criterion 3.4, page 73; Curriculum for Wales mapping, page 76
“Use three strokes: one in the centre, one on each side”
Progression step 3
I can prioritise and organise the relevant steps needed to complete the task or reach a solution.
Progression step 4
I can prioritise and organise the relevant steps needed to complete the task or reach a solution.
Good to know
- There is no examination. Both units are a "Non-Examined Assessment" that is "Externally set, internally marked, internally quality assured externally moderated" (Section 5.1, page 16), so literacy and numeracy are shown through written tasks, practical work and talk with a model.
- Unit 2 counts for 70% and has no resit: "There is no resit opportunity for the Non-Examined Assessment (NEA) UWCO4 (Unit 2)." (Section 5.4.4, page 22).
- Welsh language is part of the content: learners "Use foundational Welsh greetings" with clients (Unit 1, taught content 4.3, page 52) and learn bilingual safety signs such as "Llawr gwlyb" (taught content 2.3, page 45).
- Learners do not interpret law: "learners are not expected to interpret legislations/regulations" (Unit 1, taught content 2.2, page 43), and in Unit 2 reflection "learners are not expected to repeat or improve the hair and beauty skills during the session" (taught content 4.3, page 72).
- No marks for spelling, punctuation and grammar are mentioned. Teachers mark with a "level-based mark scheme" and "holistic descriptors" (Section 5.3.2, page 19) and may not give specific feedback on evidence during the assessment (Section 5.4.7, page 23).
- The numeracy is light. The Curriculum for Wales mapping links numeracy only to Unit 2 "LO2.2 (time needed for steps)" and the number of coats and order of layers in LO3.4 (Section 11.1, page 76), and nothing in Unit 1.
- Centres must check learners can cope with the "relevant literacy, numeracy, and academic aspects of the qualification" (Section 2.2, page 7), though there is no formal entry requirement.
- The document has leftover errors from other VTCT Skills specifications: Unit 2 reflection asks learners to link answers to "the finished dish" (taught content 4.1, page 71), it refers to the "VCSE NEA Teacher/Assessor Guidance and Marking Criteria" (Section 7.4, page 28), and the Unit 2 assessment requirements read "externally set, set" (page 73).
Links with other qualifications
There is no WJEC Foundation or VCSE in Hair and Beauty, so this VTCT Skills qualification has no WJEC version to compare with; it leads on to the VTCT Skills Level 1/2 VCSE Hair and Beauty, which the specification names as a progression route. The consultation, customer care and bilingual greetings link with the WJEC Skills for Work units Customer Service and Working in Wales and the Skills for Life unit Understanding Self and Others, all suggested in the specification, and with WJEC Foundation Retail and Customer Service. The technical vocabulary for hair, skin and nails builds on GCSE The Sciences or Integrated Science, the written outlines and reflections on GCSE English Language and Literature, and the Welsh greetings on GCSE Core Cymraeg or Cymraeg Language and Literature. The light numeracy of timing and sequencing sits well below GCSE Mathematics and Numeracy.
Source: VTCT Skills Entry Level/Level 1 Foundation Hair and Beauty, Qualification Specification CO1W1, qualification number C00/5369/0, version P1, first published 01/09/2026, approved by Qualifications Wales for teaching from September 2027.