NVQ & VRQ help please

[Charlie D]

Oh my gosh, panic stations!!! My college sent me a form with my course details and a date for enrolment etc and it says I'm on the Level 2 VRQ in hairdressing. I applied for the NVQ which I thought I would be on, but apparently all the colleges are moving over to the VRQ instead of the NVQ.

But I've done some research and apparently employers won't employ someone with a VRQ, they only want people who have trained to NVQ standard. When I called the college to question this I was told not to be silly and they said what they'd said before.

Can anyone help please?

 

[sunnigdale2014]

Oh my gosh, panic stations!!! My college sent me a form with my course details and a date for enrolment etc and it says I'm on the Level 2 VRQ in hairdressing. I applied for the NVQ which I thought I would be on, but apparently all the colleges are moving over to the VRQ instead of the NVQ.

But I've done some research and apparently employers won't employ someone with a VRQ, they only want people who have trained to NVQ standard. When I called the college to question this I was told not to be silly and they said what they'd said before.

Can anyone help please?

Hi I had this problem last year when doing my course my tutor told me that nvqs will only be available on an apprentice via salons and colleges are doing vrq been told the only difference is with an nvq you can get assessed on blocks wheres as a vrq it has to be clients not sure how much truth is in this but I qualified with vrq level 2 and have no problem so far hope that helps

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[AmberExt]

The nvq tends to be apprentice. Colleges do vrq as the assessment structure is more 'favourable' ie. You perm blocks if needs be. The modules are very similar though.

Basically, I understand the thing being employers will always lean towards apprentice trained (18months usually) over college (9months) and you will need level 3 vrq from college to be considered (as you'll then be 18m in, the difference in attitude & confidence at level 2 vrq to level 3 is immense)

Level 2 vrq will enable you to work self employed mobile so it is worthwhile if apprenticeship isnt available to you

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[Charlie D]

Thank you, I think its strange as on their website they were advertising the NVQ but as you say it's more for the apprenticeship route. I will go with it and see what happens, I wanted to do the level 3 as well anyway so hopefully I'll be more employable by then xx

 

[coco.]

Hi, I've just dealt with this with my college and the tutor explained it like this.
She said the VRQ could be completed on the dolly heads but the NVQ has to be 100% completed on human heads.
She also said the online exams were different as the Nvq you needed 100% pass rate but the VRQ was about 60% pass rate.
She said if you start on the VRQ you can not go Onto the Nvq level 3 you have to do the VRQ level 3 but if you start on the Nvq 2 you can drop down to the VRQ level 3.

She also said the Nvq is classed as work ready qualification but the VRQ is classed as just knowledge based as you can of gained the qualification on the doll heads.

She said employers will prefer the Nvq qualification

My college does both NVQ and VRQ for all levels

It's a bit of a vague subject really because different colleges tell different stories, but that's what I've been told by my tutor anyway!

 

[surf girl]

I did the vrq and not 1 assesment was done on a block. Everything was on real people in a real salon environment (college salon& placement) the nvq was for people who were doing work based learning & the vrq was done in college, their both the same in an employers eyes tbh, I will say tho they changed the vrq recently and there's a hefty amount of theorey now involved compared to when I trained and it was thorough then! As long as you can pass a trade test at the end of your course & can cut, colour, etc confidently at the end, don't worry what name the qualifications got

 

[Charlie D]

I did the vrq and not 1 assesment was done on a block. Everything was on real people in a real salon environment (college salon& placement) the nvq was for people who were doing work based learning & the vrq was done in college, their both the same in an employers eyes tbh, I will say tho they changed the vrq recently and there's a hefty amount of theorey now involved compared to when I trained and it was thorough then! As long as you can pass a trade test at the end of your course & can cut, colour, etc confidently at the end, don't worry what name the qualifications got

That sounds allot more positive Yes my tutor said that we would be working on block heads, on each other and be working on the college salon clients by Christmas. I've just been on their website and they seem to have changed it since I filled out my application as it now only has level 2 (no mention of either NVQ or VRQ) or level 3.

Thank you X

 

[surf girl]

That sounds allot more positive Yes my tutor said that we would be working on block heads, on each other and be working on the college salon clients by Christmas. I've just been on their website and they seem to have changed it since I filled out my application as it now only has level 2 (no mention of either NVQ or VRQ) or level 3.

Thank you X

Yea it bugs me a bit when people undermine the vrq, I did the vrq for level 1 & 2 but because I was employed when I started my lv3 I did the nvq, the vrq is definatley more intensive which I preferred I hope you enjoy your course & keep us updated of how your getting on, and any questions were all here to help out good luck! X

 

[coco.]

Everything's what you make it, you could do the NVQ and be rubbish at it, or do the VRQ and be great

As long as your willing to learn, pay attention and put in the time and effort, you'll be fine

 

[Charlie D]

Everything's what you make it, you could do the NVQ and be rubbish at it, or do the VRQ and be great

As long as your willing to learn, pay attention and put in the time and effort, you'll be fine

Thank you, yes I will definitely give my all X

 

[Charlie D]

Yea it bugs me a bit when people undermine the vrq, I did the vrq for level 1 & 2 but because I was employed when I started my lv3 I did the nvq, the vrq is definatley more intensive which I preferred I hope you enjoy your course & keep us updated of how your getting on, and any questions were all here to help out good luck! X

Thank you, I'm sure I'll have plenty more questions as I'm going through so I'll definitely be keeping you up to date X

 

[AmberExt]

Ive just done the l2 vrq, we had 1 full day theory, 2 full days block lessons or bring models in (werent to work on each other really as you should all be working) and 2x 1/2 days in the college salon. I agree its what you make of it, some girls were still refusing to do real people in the last week!

We could only do perms on block for assessment as theres no reason everything else couldnt get done on (paying) clients, perm clients were few & far between, purely availability not incapability x

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[daydreams01]

Hi I teach and assess on both qualifications. The delivery and structure is more or less the same depending on what option units are chosen so you will learn the basics regardless which one you do. The main difference is NVQ is more for apprentices, has a lot more assessments to complete than the vrq so can take up to 2 years. Vrq is completed in a year and as someone else posted you don't need to get 100% in the theory exams, it's something like 60%! You would def need to progress to vrq 3 to work as a stylist in a salon as it covers more creative colour, cutting, bridal, men's, colour correction - again different centres pick different unit routes but these are the ones ours covers. You would not be any where near ready to go on the floor after just doing the vrq 2 as you wouldn't have had enough client contact yet. For example you only need to do 3 haircuts compared to 7 on the NVQ! NVQ must be paying clients, vrq you can also be assessed on peers, family but no blocks at all except for perming if there is a lack of models. All assessments must be timed but there is a little more flexibility with times on the vrq. I have had really talented students come through the vrq but also ones who just scrape a pass doing the bare minimum. It's up to you how much you get out of it but if you want to learn and are committed to your training, there's no reason you can't do as well on a vrq then an NVQ. I would recommend you find a placement or a saturday job in a salon somewhere on your non college days as it will benefit you no end. The majority of our students that found regular placements had no problem finding a job when they qualified and many were kept on by their placements but the ones who weren't really that bothered about work experience are the ones still without a job now! Good luck, it's a fantastic industry to work in with lots of different career routes to progress into and hairdressers are amongst the happiest in their jobs according to some research!



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[Dani88]

Hi, I've just dealt with this with my college and the tutor explained it like this.
She said the VRQ could be completed on the dolly heads but the NVQ has to be 100% completed on human heads.
She also said the online exams were different as the Nvq you needed 100% pass rate but the VRQ was about 60% pass rate.
She said if you start on the VRQ you can not go Onto the Nvq level 3 you have to do the VRQ level 3 but if you start on the Nvq 2 you can drop down to the VRQ level 3.

She also said the Nvq is classed as work ready qualification but the VRQ is classed as just knowledge based as you can of gained the qualification on the doll heads.

She said employers will prefer the Nvq qualification

My college does both NVQ and VRQ for all levels

It's a bit of a vague subject really because different colleges tell different stories, but that's what I've been told by my tutor anyway!

I've recently completed a city and guilds vrq 2 and I was worried I wouldn't be able to do nvq 3 as I have a salon placement so I emailed vctc (as that's who the salon would like me to go with) and they emailed back to say it's absolutely fine to go onto nvq 3. Xx


Danielle Trainee Hairdresser 😘

 

[Hairflair'xo]

I did VRQ level one, NVQ level two and three, I did it all in college and did everything on people apart from a few blowdries on blocks in lvl1, had no problems getting jobs it's more about your skills than what's on paper! Xxx

 

[Charlie D]

Ive just done the l2 vrq, we had 1 full day theory, 2 full days block lessons or bring models in (werent to work on each other really as you should all be working) and 2x 1/2 days in the college salon. I agree its what you make of it, some girls were still refusing to do real people in the last week!

We could only do perms on block for assessment as theres no reason everything else couldnt get done on (paying) clients, perm clients were few & far between, purely availability not incapability x

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How can some people not want to work on people? That's the whole point lol. I can't wait, I'm itching to get stuck in and I've already just got myself some upgrades for my kit (in pretty pink lol) & I'm forever browsing to see what else I can afford, or will have to save up for getting the right tools X

 

[Charlie D]

Hi I teach and assess on both qualifications. The delivery and structure is more or less the same depending on what option units are chosen so you will learn the basics regardless which one you do. The main difference is NVQ is more for apprentices, has a lot more assessments to complete than the vrq so can take up to 2 years. Vrq is completed in a year and as someone else posted you don't need to get 100% in the theory exams, it's something like 60%! You would def need to progress to vrq 3 to work as a stylist in a salon as it covers more creative colour, cutting, bridal, men's, colour correction - again different centres pick different unit routes but these are the ones ours covers. You would not be any where near ready to go on the floor after just doing the vrq 2 as you wouldn't have had enough client contact yet. For example you only need to do 3 haircuts compared to 7 on the NVQ! NVQ must be paying clients, vrq you can also be assessed on peers, family but no blocks at all except for perming if there is a lack of models. All assessments must be timed but there is a little more flexibility with times on the vrq. I have had really talented students come through the vrq but also ones who just scrape a pass doing the bare minimum. It's up to you how much you get out of it but if you want to learn and are committed to your training, there's no reason you can't do as well on a vrq then an NVQ. I would recommend you find a placement or a saturday job in a salon somewhere on your non college days as it will benefit you no end. The majority of our students that found regular placements had no problem finding a job when they qualified and many were kept on by their placements but the ones who weren't really that bothered about work experience are the ones still without a job now! Good luck, it's a fantastic industry to work in with lots of different career routes to progress into and hairdressers are amongst the happiest in their jobs according to some research!



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Wow thanks so much for all the info, I'm lucky enough that my daughters Grandad owns a salon only about 15 minutes away from where I live so getting a placement won't be a problem. I think you're right, it's great to have some proper experience in a salon, even if it's just sweeping up, making the tea and shampooing as you get to see such a variety of services.

I wanted to continue on to level 3 anyway, so it's not such a big deal to do that. I want to try and get the best I can from college so I can be a confident stylist. I'm willing to throw myself in to it & thanks ever so much for your advice X

 

[Charlie D]

I've recently completed a city and guilds vrq 2 and I was worried I wouldn't be able to do nvq 3 as I have a salon placement so I emailed vctc (as that's who the salon would like me to go with) and they emailed back to say it's absolutely fine to go onto nvq 3. Xx


Danielle Trainee Hairdresser 😘

Oh that's encouraging, so if I can get a placement I may be able to do level 3 in the NVQ? Ooh fingers crossed I can do that next year then X

 

[Charlie D]

I did VRQ level one, NVQ level two and three, I did it all in college and did everything on people apart from a few blowdries on blocks in lvl1, had no problems getting jobs it's more about your skills than what's on paper! Xxx

Yes you're absolutely right, as someone mentioned earlier it's about me and how much I put into it as both of the course sound very similar. Eeekkk I can't wait! X

 

[beckstar!]

A NVQ is recognised world wide it's a stronger qualification than a VRQ x