As both a college lecturer and a salon owner who runs a busy column, I think she has a point but also comes across as unsympathetic and snobby.
Many students come in to beauty at level 2 and we can't know at what point of the course Liz visited this 'salon'. Of course the girls would have been very nervous and could very possibly have made errors due to the pressure. I've had very capable students do the same when picked to attend EV visits and be scrutinised.
Now on the other hand, over eight years of teaching I have witnessed a dumbing down of courses (in my opinion) and sadly have become increasingly irritated with politics getting in the way of teaching. Funding plays a huge part in FE and unfortunately it distracts departments/course managers from concentrating solely on the students who suit the course. For this reason I'm looking to teach away from colleges in the future.
Some students will excel at college and be very successful. Beauty therapy isn't an easy job and Liz claiming she could teach a perfect pedicure in a week was ridiculous, so she's qualified to teach A & P? It's like saying I could teach journalism in a week as I read a paper daily.
I could continue my rant but I'm heading to London to gaze at red soled shoes. Maybe I could teach Louboutin how to design shoes as I wear them all the time...:-/