PURPOSE AND RATIONALE OF THE QUALIFICATION

This qualification enables learners to develop towards becoming professional hairdressers. This is the first of three qualifications which culminate in a professional hairdressing qualification. This Qualification is designed to serve as an introduction to the hairdressing industry and provide the learner with the basics of hairdressing. In particular, the NQF Level 2 qualification should result in the learner becoming a competent Operator, capable of:

• Operating safely within the salon environment.
• Maintaining professional standards of hygiene and image.
• Completing straightforward hairdressing services, such as shampooing and conditioning, unsupervised.
• Competently assisting the professional stylist with more complex services.

The elective unit standards provide for a wide range of possible areas of focus from providing an early opportunity to tackle units standards such as dreadlocks and braiding which are core unit standards at later levels, through some computer-oriented unit standards on email, the internet, and word-processing, to more specialised salon areas such as advanced massage.