VCSE Hair and Beauty
VCSE Hair and Beauty from VTCT Skills asks a lot of literacy. Unit 1 is a 60 minute multiple choice examination full of specialist terms for hair, skin and nail structure, diseases and disorders, health and safety law and sustainability. The Unit 2 NEA asks learners to read a design brief, research trends, write justified rationales and a reflective journal, hold a consultation with a model in Welsh or English, and write structured evaluations. Numeracy is light and practical: budgeting for materials, giving each task a time, finishing services in the expected time, setting heated tools to safe temperatures and setting measurable SMART targets. The specification asks for no calculations.
- Awarding body
- VTCT Skills
- Level
- Level 1 and Level 2
- First taught
- September 2027
- Amount of literacy work
- High
- Amount of numeracy work
- Low
- Specification
- Open the specification
- Step before
- Foundation Hair and Beauty, Entry Level and Level 1
How this qualification is assessed
- Unit 1 (UWCO1): Introduction to the Hair and Beauty industry: MCQ External theory examination, 60 minutes, 28 marks, 30% of the qualification grade, set and marked by VTCT Skills, taken on screen with a paper option, sat by the whole cohort in the April/May series at the end of Year 10 with one resit in Year 11 (best result counts); 40 GLH
- Unit 2 (UWCO2): Bringing basic Hair and Beauty concepts to life: Non-Examined Assessment, maximum 12 hours under supervision, 70% of the qualification grade, 48 raw marks across four tasks (8, 12, 16 and 12 marks), set by VTCT Skills with a new brief each year, marked and internally quality assured by the centre with a level-based mark scheme, externally moderated by VTCT Skills; brief released to learners in December of Year 11 and submitted in April, no resit; 100 GLH
Skills that use Vocabulary, spelling, grammar
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Using specialist hair and beauty vocabulary
Unit 1 is built on specialist terms, such as cuticle, cortex and medulla, the layers of the epidermis, the Fitzpatrick scale, contra-indications, patch tests, COSHH and RIDDOR, and the multiple choice examination tests them across all five learning outcomes. In the Unit 2 NEA learners are asked to use professional language in their reflections and evaluations.
Literacy: Understanding, response and analysis, Vocabulary, spelling, grammar
Getting pupils ready
- Year 7
- Pupils label a diagram of a hair or skin cross section in Science and match each word, such as epidermis or follicle, to a one line definition.
- Year 8
- Pupils build a glossary of ten salon safety terms, such as hazard, risk, PPE and contra-indication, and use five of them correctly in a short safety notice.
- Year 9
- Pupils answer a set of multiple choice questions on skin and nail structure, then explain in writing why each wrong option is wrong using the correct terms.
Show the specification wording and the LNF statements
Where it is in the specification: Unit 1 (UWCO1), LO2 to LO4, pages 39 to 49; Unit 1 assessment requirements, page 53; Unit 2 (UWCO2), criterion 1.4, page 59; Section 11.1 unit mapping, page 74
“Carry out consultations and patch tests (allergy alert/skin test)”
Progression step 3
I can read to build my vocabulary and develop sentence structures, and use these in my own communication.
I can use varied, appropriate and precise vocabulary including area of learning and experience/discipline-specific words for different purposes.
Progression step 4
I can read to build my vocabulary and develop sentence structures, and use these effectively in my own communication.
I have experienced a range of area of learning and experience/discipline-specific and general academic vocabulary, and can use them in my own communication.
Progression step 5
I can use a range of discipline-specific and general academic vocabulary accurately and precisely.
I can use my knowledge of different reading strategies to make sense of unfamiliar words in new contexts and sentences in complex texts, and apply these in my own communication.
Good to know
- Use the codes when dealing with VTCT Skills: the qualification is "Product code CO2W1" with "Qualification number C00/5368/8" (Qualification at a glance, page 5), and the units are UWCO1 (40 GLH) and UWCO2 (100 GLH) (Section 4, page 13).
- Learners must keep up with the reading and number work: centres must make sure learners can "comply with the relevant literacy, numeracy, and academic aspects of the qualification" (Section 2.2, page 7).
- The Unit 1 examination is multiple choice only: it "will contain multiple-choice questions", 28 marks in 60 minutes (Section 5.1, page 15), so it tests reading and recall of terms, not extended writing.
- No marks for spelling, punctuation and grammar are mentioned. The NEA is marked with "a level-based mark scheme containing holistic descriptors" (Section 5.4.2, page 19), and the descriptors are in the separate VCSE NEA Teachers/Assessors Guidance and Marking Criteria.
- Welsh is encouraged, not required: learners "Use basic Welsh greetings (where appropriate)" (Unit 2, criterion 2.2, page 61) and talk to the model in their preferred language (pages 63, 66 and 68).
- The specification asks for no calculations. The unit mapping names numeracy only for Unit 2, at "LO1.3 (budget/time allocation)" and "LO3.2 (SMART measurable targets)" (Section 11.1, page 74), and lists no numeracy for Unit 1.
- Once the NEA starts, teachers "must not provide specific feedback on the evidence the learner is producing" (Section 5.4.6, page 21), so drafting and writing support has to come before the NEA. The specification does not mention artificial intelligence.
- The document contradicts itself in places. Section 5.1 calls NEA task marking "high control" (page 16), but Appendix 1 heads it "medium control" (page 78). Unit 2 skin analysis gives "Classification (types I-V)" (page 61), but Unit 1 teaches six Fitzpatrick types up to "Type 6" (page 46). There are also typos: the heading "Uniformed Mark Scale (UMS)" (page 18) and "may compliment" (page 10).
Links with other qualifications
WJEC does not offer a VCSE in Hair and Beauty, so teachers have no WJEC version to choose instead. VTCT Skills Foundation Hair and Beauty, from the same awarding body, is the closest qualification on the page. The scientific vocabulary for hair, skin and nail structure and for hazardous substances overlaps with GCSE The Sciences and GCSE Integrated Science. The written design rationale and evaluation match the portfolio writing in GCSE Art and Design and GCSE Design and Technology. The consultation talk and Welsh greetings link with the WJEC Skills Suite unit Customer Service, and the Welsh industry content links with Working in Wales; the specification names both units as complementary. Budgeting and timing use the same basic Mathematics and Numeracy skills as other practical VCSEs.
Source: VTCT Skills Level 1/2 VCSE Hair and Beauty Qualification Specification (product code CO2W1, qualification number C00/5368/8), version P2, 18/09/2026, approved by Qualifications Wales for first teaching September 2027 and first award summer 2029.