I've done it. It's hard work and a bit like wading through treacle at times. It depends very much on who you are taught by and how easy/hard they want to make it for you.
If you want to work in FE it's a pre-requisite, if you want to train in your salon it's useful.
You need to have two candidates to assess, but your assessing tutor may be able to help you find these.
The best thing is probably to contact your local provider - FE college or similar - to talk about the requirements and cost. Make sure they tell you exactly what it is involved in terms of time and cost.