How to Start a Beauty Training Academy: Your Complete Guide

How to Start a Beauty Training Academy: Your Complete Guide

If you're reading this, it's likely because you're ready to take the next big step: launching your own face-to-face training academy. Whether you're an experienced beauty therapist or a course creator looking to formalise your offerings, starting your own academy can be one of the most rewarding and empowering moves you make.

It’s not just about teaching—it’s about building a business that uplifts others, sets new standards in the industry, and creates a lasting legacy.

But where do you start?

Step 1: Make Sure You’re Qualified to Teach

Before anything else, you'll need to ensure you're qualified to teach and assess others. The minimum recommended teaching qualification in the UK is the Level 3 Award in Education and Training (AET), formerly known as PTLLS. This qualification covers essential teaching methods, planning lessons, and assessment techniques.

It’s also important that you have experience in the treatments you plan to teach. Most accreditation bodies require trainers to have a minimum number of years in the industry—typically two or more—before you can apply to become an accredited training provider.

Step 2: Decide What Type of Training You’ll Offer

Next, think about what kind of training you want to deliver. Will your courses be:

  • Beginner-friendly, advanced, or both?

  • Short, intensive workshops or full-day qualifications?

  • Accredited or unaccredited?

  • Designed for CPD (continued professional development)?

  • Focused on a specific niche (e.g. lash lift, brows, intimate waxing)?

Choosing a direction early helps you decide on course structure, pricing, and content. You don’t need to offer everything straight away—many successful academies start with just one high-quality course and build from there.

 

Step 2: Decide What Type of Training You’ll Offer

Next, think about what kind of training you want to deliver. Will your courses be:

  • Beginner-friendly, advanced, or both?

  • Short, intensive workshops or full-day qualifications?

  • Accredited or unaccredited?

  • Designed for CPD (continued professional development)?

  • Focused on a specific niche (e.g. lash lift, brows, intimate waxing)?

Choosing a direction early helps you decide on course structure, pricing, and content. You don’t need to offer everything straight away—many successful academies start with just one high-quality course and build from there.

 

Step 3: Choose a Name and Branding

Your academy name should reflect your training style, aesthetic and values. Is it modern and professional? Creative and feminine? Expert-led and clinical?

Once you’ve chosen a name, consider creating a logo, colour palette and brand fonts. You’ll use these across your manuals, certificates, social media, website and marketing materials to build recognition and trust.

 

Step 4: Get Accredited

Accreditation isn’t required by law, but it’s often essential for attracting students who want professional, insurable training. Being an accredited educator means your courses have been independently reviewed and meet a recognised standard.

Popular beauty course accreditation providers include:

  • ABT

  • Professional Beauty Direct

  • The CPD Certification Service

  • IPHM

  • Centre of CPD Excellence

Each provider has slightly different requirements, but most will ask for copies of your qualifications, manuals, lesson plans, certificates and business policies.

If this feels overwhelming, you're not alone—which is exactly why we created the Beauty Academy Blueprint, a complete, editable toolkit to help you plan, build and launch your face-to-face academy with confidence. With guided templates, policy documents, course planning tools and more, it’s designed to remove the guesswork and save you hours of admin.

 

Step 5: Write Your Training Materials

You’ll need to create or purchase training manuals, worksheets, assessments and certificates for each course you plan to teach. These materials should be thorough, easy to follow, and professionally formatted.

Don’t forget to include key sections such as:

  • Anatomy and physiology

  • Health & safety

  • Consultation & contraindications

  • Treatment protocol (step-by-step)

  • Aftercare

  • Product knowledge

To save time and maintain a consistent, professional image, many educators now opt for editable training materials. At Beauty Masterclass, we’ve created a wide range of ready-to-edit beauty training resources—from fully customisable manuals to worksheets, assessments, certificates and more.

These templates are perfect for saving hours of design work, ensuring your documents look polished and professional, and allowing you to focus on teaching instead of formatting. Everything is editable in Canva and designed with beauty educators in mind, so you can tailor each resource to suit your brand and course content with ease.

 

 

Step 6: Sort Your Legal and Admin Documents

You’ll also need a range of supporting paperwork. This often includes:

  • Student code of conduct

  • Complaints and appeals procedures

  • Terms and conditions

  • Privacy policies

  • Patch test records

  • Model consent forms

  • Induction materials

  • Submission or assessment evidence

These not only help with accreditation but also protect you legally and keep your training professional and organised.

 

✨ How Beauty Masterclass Can Help: Launch Your Academy with Confidence

If you're planning to open your own training academy and want a complete roadmap, the Beauty Academy Blueprintbundle is your ultimate toolkit.

Inside, you'll find:
– A guided 8-week planner to help you map out your business
– Editable business strategy and course planning templates
– Pre-written policies and onboarding documents
– Editable training manuals, theory exams, certificates and more

All templates are easy to use in Canva, fully editable, and designed specifically for beauty trainers delivering face-to-face education. Trusted by hundreds of academy owners, these resources will help you launch with professionalism, polish and purpose.

 

 

Step 7: Prepare Your Training Space

You’ll need to find a location suitable for face-to-face teaching. This could be:

  • A room within your existing salon

  • A rented studio or treatment space

  • A purpose-built home studio

  • A shared workspace or academy

The space should be clean, professional, and large enough to accommodate both theory and practical elements. Consider things like lighting, access to sinks or power, student comfort, and storage for kits and resources.

You’ll also need insurance that covers you for teaching—not just treatment. Check with your insurer or broker to confirm that you're covered.

 

Step 8: Promote Your Courses

Once everything’s in place, it’s time to launch! Start by:

  • Creating a page on your website for training

  • Adding a Google Business Profile for your academy

  • Announcing your new course(s) on social media

  • Sharing testimonials and student work

  • Reaching out to past clients or local salons who may want upskilling

Offer an incentive for your first few students, such as a discount or free starter kit. Keep things small to begin with while you gain confidence and build your reputation.

You can also list your courses on training directories, Eventbrite, or even Facebook groups to increase visibility.

 

You’ve Got This.

Your beauty academy doesn’t need to be perfect before you launch—but it does need structure, professionalism, and a clear plan. If you're ready to turn your training vision into reality, explore the full Beauty Academy Blueprint today.

Your academy could be the next one to inspire a generation—and with the right resources behind you, there's nothing stopping you.

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