Some background information; I would, at some point, like to work as a nail technician and I'm currently looking for some courses that will gives me that qualifications I need. I mostly live in Sweden and the courses here are really expensive. They are about 25,000-45,000SEK which is roughly £2,000-£4,000 and they are only basic courses. Because of this I'm now looking into courses in England because they seem to be a lot cheaper there, I've seen everything from £200 to £1,400. In Sweden there are not many courses that are professional so it's fairly easy to find a course that's proper and of a high quality, but in England there seem to be lots of courses and a lot of different qualifications you get when you've finished and I think it's all very confusing. My sister recently applied for a distance acrylic nail course and she got tricked out of a lot of money so I'm quite wary.

I'm wondering if you can help me with what qualifications salons want you to have and what to look for in a course. Also, do you have any school suggestions for me that are located in Hampshire? I've found one that looks good in Basingstoke college, it's called NVQ nail services 2, have anyone heard of it? It's hard for me to tell if it's good or not.

Thanks.

Hi

I'm still a student but not in England.
Check this link for tips on what to look for in the course profile.
Basic artificial nail course requirements

I hope this helps you a little. Also I would go with a course that uses a well name brand like CND or LCN or NSI you know the well known brands. Check out their websites to find their training centers in the areas you want.

Good luck.
An

Hi PR,

One reason that the courses in Sweden cost more is that they are longer - from 10 to 20 days depending on the school.

Now of course you could save money on training in the the UK, but perhaps you should ask yourself which would give you the best value for your money on the basis that this investment will be the foundation of your new career?

You should also make sure that you compare like with like - many schools in Sweden include materials and tools in the price. I am not sure if that's a common practice in UK schools.

I don't know where you live, but the two schools that you should definitely consider are Nail Team in Göteborg (naglar salong, nagelvård, nagelutbildningar, nagelterapeut utbildningar / Nail Team Sweden) and NH Nails in Stockholm (NH - Nails) - both are owned by international competition champions who have then trained additional champions, and offer truly excellent education.

One final thing to mention. There are two organisations in Sweden called SANSA and SEYF that give schools accreditation - often you will find their logo's on the schools website. I personally have little confidence in either organisation and would not join them with a loaded gun against my head. Look deeper at the schools experience and history, and then visit them to make a choice. You can also ask to talk to former students.

Bob

Hi Bob.

The course I'm considering the most is a lot longer than 20 days, it's full time for 1 year. It cost about 700 pounds and it includes materials. It's a foundation course and you'll learn the basics such as anatomy, safety, health, manicure and also the glass fiber/silk system. This seems fishy for us Swedes, but it seems like common, even expensive, prices in England... I'm trying to figure out whether the course is bad, if the English nail education standards are bad or if it's actually this good!

An, thanks! I had a look at that thread and the Nvq course I'm looking at doesn't cover all of those things, which I find strange. Doesn't everyone say that NVQ courses are good with a good content? Maybe the NVQ 3 nail services will cover the rest... Anyway, thanks! I got a list now with things to check about the course and it looks like this: What qualifications does the teacher have? What brand are they using? I'll also look into if there's any health organisations or such that have approved of the course...

One other thing to consider is whether UK qualifications will be recognised in Sweden for insurance or employment purposes? This may affect which qualifications you choose to study.

Hi

I´ve been considering that too, if the qualifications will "work" in Sweden. The thing is that I´m planning on moving to England since I have a boyfriend there but I might wish to return sometime. I´ve mailed lots of people this morning asking about this so hopefully I´ll figure out what to do.

Could anyone enlighten me about the CND foundation courses? I´m wondering if it´s really only 6 days short and why everyone here are raging about it, because how can a 6 day course be as good as a one year full time course? I´m quite confused. What exactly makes it good, apart from teaching how the CND systems work. The NVQ courses seems to me like they are nationally recognized, but what about the CND courses? My gut feeling is telling me that the CND foundation course is of a much higher quality but the 6 days only are putting me off. On the other hand, the college I´m thinking of seems to be quite chavy and tacky which isn´t a good sign...

So many questions!

Hiya, I live in Spain and am an Educator for ITEC International Diploma Courses level 2 mani/pedi and level 3 Nail technology.The ITEC Diploma is recognized world wide and offers courses in any countries.ck them out at ITEC Home. If you need any advice about them drop me a private message...

Really, worldwide - have you checked with nail techs in California and Russia?

There is no worldwide certification that is recognised - wish that there was!

PR,

You don't need a diploma to work as a nail tech legally in most countries except the USA where you need State licensing.

There is no international standard, and even the education given by the most well known brands is different in other countries.

Find the best education available to start, and then take education with recognized Masters, if you have ideas to develop your career.

I did my training in the uk....with Creative Nail Design and the price did include the kit....It was by no means a simple course...it was very in-depth and gave me the best possible start to my career.

They give full after support and you can train right up to masters level with them....and your using high quality products.

ITEC is recognized in 33 countries worldwide, including Sweden and Russia.
I agree with all you have said, I did my training in Chicago USA State law requirement,but the question was where would the asker obtain a recognised certificate in more than one country.My suggestion to seek out an ITEC course was to give her that option.Just one more point regarding the USA..HABIA have recently made a reciprocal agreement with many of the States in the US regarding acceptance of NVQ standards....All said and done tho training with a good industry leader ie CND or NSI, either as a foundation or skills mastering course is always beneficial as their knowledge and standards are industry leaders..

Hi Bob

I've been reading about the different qualifications since my last post,and I´m wondering what you think about CIBTAC and ITEC? And what about CIDESCO, do they do nail techniqian qualifications?

I don't really need a truly worldwide certificate, just one that will work in Sweden and U.K. What's your suggestion? Is it even possible to find a course like that that is within my small budget of 14.000 crowns?

Thanks for telling me that you don't need a certificate to work in a salon legally in most countries, but personally I think that it'll be hard to get a job without qualifications and isn't it so that you can't buy professional products from most brands without proof of education?

See, the thing is that I think that it'll be possible to find a good education in U.K that will give me a job, within my budget, but it seems impossible to get one in Sweden. From looking at the course tables for Swedish and English courses they seem to cover the same thing, just that the NVQ 2 and 3 courses I want to take is 2 years long in total, full time, while the Swedish courses are a lot shorter.

The more I read about qualifications and courses the more annoyed I get, I think people that want to become nail techniqians really need more easily available information, right now it's really hard to find information that's good, and I think that's why lots of people end up being scammed or taking courses that lock them to a single distributor because they can't buy products anywhere else with their qualification... And what's up with all the thousands of different qualifications? It's so confusing and it's just plain dumb, if you do any other serious education then your grades and diplomas most certainly "works" in other countries! For example if you do a college education in Sweden then you can go in and study at university in England or get a job there. But not if you take a nail course... Is it because the beauty industry isn't considered to be as important?

Sorry about all the ranting, I just needed to react myself. I know I sound annoyed but it have nothing to do with you.

I think you are confused about the NVQ qualification.

First of all the NVQ is the bare minimum qualification you can get. The CND Foundation is just that a foundation that goes beyond the NVQ qualification even though it is 5 days ... the point is YOU GO ON FROM THERE!! It take s a least a year to complete the CND courses. YOU have the option to go further or not.

So the only nationally (For England that is.) recognized education about nail technology is the bare minimum? This seems odd to me for two reasons:

1. Shouldn't there be another nationally recognized course that's more than just the bare minimum? If that makes sense.
2. NvQ 2 and 3 would take 2 y'ears to finish, how can that be bare minimum? The Swedish foundation courses are less than one year (The ones I've seen at least) and they are supposed to be very good, in other words so that you can go to work straight after.

And how do you "go from there"? If I understand what you're saying correctly, then the cnd foundation course is what you take after NVQ 2 and 3? Please develop what you're saying.

There are other qualifications that offer more than the bare minimum...both ITEC and CIBTAC offer courses, and ITEC is recognised internationally, but as Geeg says the NVQ is only the mandatory basic and the CND Foundation offers more than that.If you continue with their courses at your own pace giving you time to build your skills, you will cover pretty much everything that the others cover.Its really down to whether you want it ALL at once or a slow progression.PM me if u want...and Im not a newbie got 30 yrs under my belt , but cant change the heading on this!!!