A mum whose daughter quit a beauty course after being told to undergo a bikini wax is campaigning for students to have the right to say no.
Safiya removed her 16-year-old daughter from Barnsley College after being told peer-to-peer treatments were an assessment “requirement” in December.
A teacher claimed level 2 beauty therapy course students must do treatments – including bikini waxing – on each other as part of the learning process.
Following a review by management the college backed down and said Safiya’s daughter could practise on a “client”. But the teenager subsequently enrolled at another college and Safiya has launched a petition on website change.org.
TikTok protest
Safiya did not submit a formal complaint but later posted a series of critical videos on social media platform TikTok that gained nearly three million views.
She now wants colleges and training providers to make it clear to students they will not fail or be removed from courses if they refuse to undergo beauty treatments, including on “intimate” areas of the body.
The mum told FE Week: “It’s important that they’re encouraged to speak up, that children are empowered to know their voices are heard and that their bodies matter.
“They should have to consent and have rights over their own bodies – they shouldn’t be forced and coerced into doing [treatments] for the sake of their education.”
‘They need to experience it’
In a recording of a phone call with Safiya, posted on TikTok, a Barnsley College tutor says students “need” to experience treatments themselves through practice with other learners, before progressing to clients.
“They all do it”, the tutor insists. She then adds that if Safiya and her daughter have a “problem” they should “look for another programme”.
Safiya is told exceptions would only be made due to a “medical condition”.
Barnsley College principal David Akeroyd said he had since “reviewed and enhanced” practical assessment procedures to make clear that learners had the choice to consent to treatments as part of their course.
“Students also retain the right to withdraw their consent at any time” he added.
“The safety and well-being of our students is at the heart of everything we do, and we remain committed to upholding the highest standards of learning and care.”
Common practice…
Beauty therapy students undergoing treatments as part of their course, including bikini waxing, is understood to be common practice.
Other colleges told FE Week that participation in treatments was optional, since medical, personal or cultural reasons could make students feel uncomfortable.
But in comments made on Safiya’s TikTok videos, several social media users claimed they had also felt uncomfortable when undergoing bikini waxing treatments at colleges and feared they would fail their course if they refused.
Safiya said her daughter’s new college was “completely understanding” about her bringing in her own client to practise on.
…But not mandatory
VTCT Skills, the awarding body for Barnsley College’s level 2 beauty therapy course, told FE Week it “does not mandate” how learners source models for treatments.
It said: “These decisions are made by individual training providers in line with their own policies and educational approach.”
City & Guilds, a market leader in beauty therapy courses alongside VTCT Skills, does not stipulate whether learners must practise on each other.
Becky Priest, an Essex-based waxing specialist and teacher, said Safiya’s daughter’s initial experience with the college tutor was “shocking”.
She explained that while bikini waxing is not technically considered intimate, it is in a part of the body that many women are “really self-aware” about.
Priest added: “These children should be protected – they might be in a room where they feel uncomfortable – you don’t know how that could damage them.
“Colleges have to respect that there are many factors, like scars from self-harm, that young students might not feel comfortable about.”
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