Help! CIBESCO+CIBTAC or CIBESCO+ITEC combo?

[elodierxx]

I would like to venture into the beauty field but I’m having a dilemma on which course combo I should enrol as I’m very new to this industry.

Combo A : CIDESCO Diploma in Beauty Therapy + ITEC L2 Beauty Specialist Certificate + ITEC L3 Facial Electrical Treatments Diploma

Combo B : CIDESCO Diploma in Beauty Therapy & CIBTAC Level 2 Diploma in Beauty Therapy

Combo C : CIDESCO Diploma in Beauty Therapy + CIBTAC Diploma in Aesthetician Treatments

I hope fellow beautician/esthetician will able to give me some enlightenment/guidance here. Thank you very much.

 

[TheDuchess]

CIDESCO is the beauty equivalent of a Norland Nanny Training. It’s considered to be the gold standard and you can get a job in a top International Spa straightaway or get on to the best Cruise ships. It follows the same syllabus as CIBTAC/ITEC which are the U.K. industry standards (CIDESCO is internationally recognised), so the classes are usually combined as the basics are taught together. There are small differences between CIBTAC and ITEC in terms of when you complete. You finish quicker with ITEC I believe because you need less work experience. If you have a CIDESCO qualification, you don’t need to mention the CIBTAC/ITEC course, it’s like saying you have GCSE maths and A Level maths. If you have a CIDESCO qualification no employer will give a damn about whether you have an ITEC or a CIBTAC

Whether a college offers a combined ITEC or CIBTAC qualification will just be a marketing decision on their part as to whether they have students that will want just the CIBTAC qualification or the ITEC qualification. If you are setting up in competition with another college then you might want to offer a different combination to your competitor, or you might already be offering ITEC courses and not wish to take on another accreditation body. ITEC has a very good reputation for complementary therapy whereas CIBTAC is more beauty focussed. I would assume (speaking as an employer) that an ITEC student will have excellent, practical anatomy knowledge and good massage skills. I’d assume that a CIBTAC student’s massage would be a bit wishy washy and they wouldn’t have any holistic knowledge or much grasp of physiology (how a body moves). A CIBTAC course will have very good beauty lecturers. My CIBTAC college had a tie in with Harrods. We learned Spa treatments, did manicures at the BBC and makeup for London Fashion week.

Choose the course based on the modules you will be learning and the reputation of the college. If you are going for a CIDESCO, it’s a bit like Uni in that where you trained is important. I’m sure it’s just snobbery and that standards are uniformly high but the smaller colleges in the U.K. and Ireland tend to be very “white” and the staff are not at the top of the reputation totem pole. I was taught by the current head of Examinations at CIBTAC and by a woman who’d set up the Harrods Spa and then run her own training school in Spain, and the former massage trainer for Steiner. My teachers had worked all over the World, they were International and had experience of many different beauty cultures. I’ve never worked Internationally (where standards are much higher than in the UK), but I am completely confident that I could cope, not so much because of my qualifications but because of the excellent quality of the teaching I received. All but 4 of my fellow students were International, they weren’t planning to work in the UK, they’d come to the “best” school, but didn’t actually rate the U.K. Beauty/Spa/Wellness Industry

I hope that’s helpful

 

[Fabeauty]

Hello The Duchess,
I am currently also researching (early days) and trying to decide on the right course and obviously where would be the right school to attain my beauty qualification. I was really intrigued by your experience, and was hoping you could share the school you trained at? I’m based in London so would love to know which school is considered “the best”. The teachers who taught you also sound exactly like the kind of mentors I would want to be around.
Many thanks!

 

[TheDuchess]

I trained at the London School of Beauty and Makeup. This was a few years ago. There are 3 big names in London for Beauty Education and they all offer a CIDESCO qualification.

I’m sure the quality of experience changes a bit depending on whether you have an experienced team of tutors or a few new “girls” - so make the decision that feels right based on your visit to the college and any research you do with recent past students. Find out where they are working. If you have similar plans, great, if not, ask yourself whether the college is the best place for you.

 

[Fabeauty]

Thank you so much for your helpful response. LSBM is definitely on my list so I’m glad I’m on the right tracks. I’m just looking at course options to decide on what to apply for! Hopefully through this forum and speaking directly to admissions I can learn more about their programs and I’ll be sure to include questions on their current roster of tutors!

 

[user 156262]

CIDESCO is the beauty equivalent of a Norland Nanny Training. It’s considered to be the gold standard and you can get a job in a top International Spa straightaway or get on to the best Cruise ships. It follows the same syllabus as CIBTAC/ITEC which are the U.K. industry standards (CIDESCO is internationally recognised), so the classes are usually combined as the basics are taught together. There are small differences between CIBTAC and ITEC in terms of when you complete. You finish quicker with ITEC I believe because you need less work experience. If you have a CIDESCO qualification, you don’t need to mention the CIBTAC/ITEC course, it’s like saying you have GCSE maths and A Level maths. If you have a CIDESCO qualification no employer will give a damn about whether you have an ITEC or a CIBTAC

Whether a college offers a combined ITEC or CIBTAC qualification will just be a marketing decision on their part as to whether they have students that will want just the CIBTAC qualification or the ITEC qualification. If you are setting up in competition with another college then you might want to offer a different combination to your competitor, or you might already be offering ITEC courses and not wish to take on another accreditation body. ITEC has a very good reputation for complementary therapy whereas CIBTAC is more beauty focussed. I would assume (speaking as an employer) that an ITEC student will have excellent, practical anatomy knowledge and good massage skills. I’d assume that a CIBTAC student’s massage would be a bit wishy washy and they wouldn’t have any holistic knowledge or much grasp of physiology (how a body moves). A CIBTAC course will have very good beauty lecturers. My CIBTAC college had a tie in with Harrods. We learned Spa treatments, did manicures at the BBC and makeup for London Fashion week.

Choose the course based on the modules you will be learning and the reputation of the college. If you are going for a CIDESCO, it’s a bit like Uni in that where you trained is important. I’m sure it’s just snobbery and that standards are uniformly high but the smaller colleges in the U.K. and Ireland tend to be very “white” and the staff are not at the top of the reputation totem pole. I was taught by the current head of Examinations at CIBTAC and by a woman who’d set up the Harrods Spa and then run her own training school in Spain, and the former massage trainer for Steiner. My teachers had worked all over the World, they were International and had experience of many different beauty cultures. I’ve never worked Internationally (where standards are much higher than in the UK), but I am completely confident that I could cope, not so much because of my qualifications but because of the excellent quality of the teaching I received. All but 4 of my fellow students were International, they weren’t planning to work in the UK, they’d come to the “best” school, but didn’t actually rate the U.K. Beauty/Spa/Wellness Industry

I hope that’s helpful

Dear Duchess,

You seems very knowledgeable regarding beauty industry I would love to get career advice from you. If that’s ok!

I just completed my Cidesco Beauty Diploma and I’m in Ireland to get a job as Beauty Therapist do I need to get licensed here? I’m so lost and new to this Country if you know anything regarding this. I have work as massage therapist for more than 7 years in Dubai but i wanted change it into skin care specialist which i why i take Cidesco and open to add another course not decided which one.

 

[TheDuchess]

Hi Sail and welcome

I’m not familiar with the regulations for Southern Ireland I’m afraid. I’d have assumed it was similar to the U.K. but that might be a silly assumption to make. In general Southern Ireland and Northern Ireland try and have friction free boundaries as far as possible for residents. If you trained in Ireland, ask your school for advice.

In the U.K. licensing is at the discretion of the local Council. There are no standardised National regulations. The licensing regulations apply to the business not the individual. If you want to apply for a job you will need to be working legally in that country, but that’s usually about passports snd visas rather than professional registration.

If you want some ideas about what else to study, do some market research and look at the treatment menus of the companies that would be your ideal employer. There are level 4 skincare qualifications you can study which cover the science of skin ageing. You would need at least level 4 to work in a clinic offering more science based skincare.

I’d suggest you apply for the jobs that interest you and ask what they will want from you in terms of documentation. I’ve trained in Dublin and I was very favourably impressed with the professionalism of the students. I’d always interview anyone applying to me with an Irish school training so good luck and go for it!

 

[user 156262]

Hi Sail and welcome

I’m not familiar with the regulations for Southern Ireland I’m afraid. I’d have assumed it was similar to the U.K. but that might be a silly assumption to make. In general Southern Ireland and Northern Ireland try and have friction free boundaries as far as possible for residents. If you trained in Ireland, ask your school for advice.

In the U.K. licensing is at the discretion of the local Council. There are no standardised National regulations. The licensing regulations apply to the business not the individual. If you want to apply for a job you will need to be working legally in that country, but that’s usually about passports snd visas rather than professional registration.

If you want some ideas about what else to study, do some market research and look at the treatment menus of the companies that would be your ideal employer. There are level 4 skincare qualifications you can study which cover the science of skin ageing. You would need at least level 4 to work in a clinic offering more science based skincare.

I’d suggest you apply for the jobs that interest you and ask what they will want from you in terms of documentation. I’ve trained in Dublin and I was very favourably impressed with the professionalism of the students. I’d always interview anyone applying to me with an Irish school training so good luck and go for

Hi Sail and welcome

I’m not familiar with the regulations for Southern Ireland I’m afraid. I’d have assumed it was similar to the U.K. but that might be a silly assumption to make. In general Southern Ireland and Northern Ireland try and have friction free boundaries as far as possible for residents. If you trained in Ireland, ask your school for advice.

In the U.K. licensing is at the discretion of the local Council. There are no standardised National regulations. The licensing regulations apply to the business not the individual. If you want to apply for a job you will need to be working legally in that country, but that’s usually about passports snd visas rather than professional registration.

If you want some ideas about what else to study, do some market research and look at the treatment menus of the companies that would be your ideal employer. There are level 4 skincare qualifications you can study which cover the science of skin ageing. You would need at least level 4 to work in a clinic offering more science based skincare.

I’d suggest you apply for the jobs that interest you and ask what they will want from you in terms of documentation. I’ve trained in Dublin and I was very favourably impressed with the professionalism of the students. I’d always interview anyone applying to me with an Irish school training so good luck and go for it!

Dear Duchess,

Thank you very much. I did my Cidesco in Dubai and Laser Therapist Course (NCLC US accredited) not sure again what level this course would be consider here. Dubai any certification we’re not qualified still have to be licensed from Dubai health authority. Definitely you’re right i have to do alot of research firstly what’s in the market .

Thanks for being very helpful much appreciated.