Apprentice
Apprenticeship£15.6k
Typical range £12,480–£15,600
Cylfaa · Y Salon · The Salon
Gwallt a HarddwchHair, Beauty & Wellbeing
This is the hair, beauty & wellbeing home of Cylfaa. It is for employers taking hair, beauty and wellbeing into a classroom, schools planning careers sessions, and students who want to know what the jobs are really like.
Name this owl · A new neighbour in Cylfaa. Students in our pilot schools are choosing the name. Send an idea
Pack coming this term
Rydych chi yma · You are here
Y Salon in the village
Y Salon is one of the newest homes in Cylfaa. Each home is a sector of Welsh work, with its own pack and its own skills gap to close.
- Tŵr Codi Construction
- Melin Ynni Green Energy
- Gweithdy Lunio Manufacturing
- Tŵr Fflach Digital
- Fferm Arad Agriculture & Food
- Glan Atom Nuclear
- Neuadd Mentro Enterprise
- Gardd Lliw Inclusion & Green Skills
- Canolfan Iechyd Health, Care & Safety
- Y Salon Hair, Beauty & Wellbeing
- Cae'r Her Cylfaa Challenge
The skills gap
The gap Y Salon is closing
Current figures for Wales, and North Wales where they exist. Every number links to where it came from.
10,000hair and beauty workers in Wales
More
Hairdressers, barbers and beauticians in Wales. About 8,000 are women and almost half work part-time, so hours can fit around life.
55%of them are self-employed
More
About 5,500 of Wales's 10,000 hair and beauty workers work for themselves: renting a chair, going mobile or running a salon.
460registered salons in North Wales
More
Wrexham 105, Flintshire 90, Conwy 80, Gwynedd 75, Denbighshire 70, Anglesey 40. Wales total: 2,215, almost all small local businesses.
Where employers are short
- Qualified stylists and therapists are hard to find
69% of UK hair and beauty employers said recruitment was harder than a year ago in 2025, and hiring difficulty was described as acute.
Source: NHBF, Nov 2025
- Fewer apprenticeships are being offered
In NHBF's Autumn 2025 survey, 43% of businesses had cut back on apprentices in the previous three months.
Source: NHBF, Feb 2026
- Business and money skills for the self-employed
55% of Wales's hair and beauty workers are self-employed, yet 44.7% of UK businesses are only breaking even and 19.3% are making a loss.
- Digital marketing and booking skills
More than half of one-person hair and beauty businesses now use tech to sell or manage, and SMEs are adopting accounts, payroll and booking tools fast.
Source: NHBF, Sep 2025
- Safe, properly trained aesthetics
Government plans licensing for Botox and fillers, with high-risk procedures limited to healthcare professionals. Recognised qualifications will matter more.
Source: NHBF, Aug 2025
Jobs and pay
What the jobs pay
Six real roles, from a first apprenticeship to a degree route. Salaries are typical yearly pay, with the usual range.
Hairdresser
Entry Level£24k
Typical range £19,000–£30,000
How to get in
Beauty Therapist
Apprenticeship£24k
Typical range £23,000–£29,000
How to get in
Nail Technician
Entry Level£21k
Typical range £19,000–£23,000
How to get in
Beauty Advisor
Entry Level£23k
Typical range £21,000–£25,000
How to get in
FE Lecturer
Degree Route£42k
Typical range £28,000–£47,000
How to get in
Welsh pay figures are used where they exist. Cards marked UK-wide or England use national figures because no Welsh breakdown was found. Apprentice pay uses the UK apprentice minimum wage from April 2026 unless an employer's own rate is shown.
Through every Byd
Green and digital in hair, beauty & wellbeing
Green and digital skills are changing every job in Wales, so every pack has a slide for each, written for this Byd.
Lliw's green path
Hair & Beauty Is Going Green.
Read more
Salons use lots of water, energy, foil and chemicals. Greener salons now recycle hair and foil, cut energy use and choose kinder products, and clients notice.
- 1,000+salons in Green Salon Collective
Salons and freelancers across the UK and Ireland recycle hair, foils, colour tubes and towels instead of binning them.
Source: Salon Business, Feb 2026
- 100tof salon waste kept out of landfill
100 tonnes of salon waste diverted by Green Salon Collective. Cut hair is even made into booms that soak up oil.
Source: Salon Business, Feb 2026
- 50%of salon employers hit by energy
Half of small hair and beauty employers say energy prices are a major obstacle. Saving energy and water saves money too.
Source: NHBF, Sep 2025
Fflach's digital spark
Your Phone Is Your Portfolio.
Read more
Clients find, choose and book stylists online. Salons run on booking apps, social media and digital colour tools, and over half of solo pros use tech to sell or manage.
- Online booking systems
Apps like Fresha, Phorest and Treatwell take bookings day and night, send reminders and cut no-shows. Someone has to run them.
- Instagram & TikTok portfolio
Your before-and-after photos are your CV. Stylists, barbers and nail techs win new clients by posting their best work.
- AR colour and make-up try-on
Augmented reality apps let a client preview a new hair colour or make-up look on their own face before any product is used.
- Smart colour scales
Systems such as Vish weigh every bowl of colour so salons mix only what they need. Less waste, lower costs, better records.
Gemau Cylfaa · The Cylfaa Games
Play in Y Salon
Free games for students, families and classes. Presenters: they make a good last five minutes.
Job ExplorerFlip the job cards in Y Salon: what the jobs pay and how to get in.Which Owl Are You?Eight questions. Find out which home in Cylfaa is yours.
All the Cylfaa games
Enwi'r dylluan · Name this owl
This owl needs a name.
A new neighbour has moved into Y Salon, and nobody has named the owl who lives here yet. The students in our pilot schools are choosing.
Every Cylfaa owl has a Welsh name that means something. Codi means “to build”. Fflach means “spark”. Mentro means “to dare”. What would you call the owl who looks after hair, beauty and wellbeing?
- Send your ideaA Welsh name is best. Tell us what it means.
- We make a shortlistWith the teachers in the pilot schools.
- Pilot students voteThe winning name moves into Cylfaa, and your school gets the credit.
Send your name idea
We don't ask for your name or email. Just your idea, your school and your year.
Routes in
Four ways in
Real courses and schemes at North Wales colleges, universities and employers.
Apprenticeship
Earn while you learn in a salon. Coleg Cambria runs Level 2 Hairdressing and Barbering and Level 3 Hairdressing; Grŵp Llandrillo Menai adds Beauty and Nail Services.
College
Coleg Cambria (Yale, Wrexham and Deeside) offers Barbering, Beauty, Nails and Media Make-Up. Grŵp Llandrillo Menai teaches at Rhos-on-Sea, Rhyl, Bangor and Dolgellau.
University Degree
After Level 3, step up to the FdA Management and Business at Grŵp Llandrillo Menai or BA Business Management at Wrexham University. Ideal if you want your own salon.
Higher / Degree Apprenticeship
Grŵp Llandrillo Menai lists a Level 4 Higher Apprenticeship in Hairdressing for experienced stylists moving into senior, training or management roles.
Employers in this Byd
- Bodysgallen Hall & SpaLlandudno
- The Quay Hotel & SpaDeganwy, Conwy
- PortmeirionGwynedd
- Bodelwyddan Castle Hotel (Warner)Bodelwyddan, Denbighshire
- Château RhianfaMenai Bridge, Anglesey
- Coleg CambriaWrexham and Deeside
- Grŵp Llandrillo MenaiRhos-on-Sea, Rhyl and Bangor
The pack · for employers
Walk into a classroom ready.
The hair, beauty & wellbeing pack is being built now and is coming this term. This is what will be in it.
What's in the pack
- The full deck with speaker notes · scripted, timed and ready to present
- A clean deck · the same slides without notes, for the screen
- A 25-minute version · for a tight assembly slot or form time
- Printables · role cards, myth busters, guess the salary, and activity sheets for Explorer (Years 7 to 8), Investigator (Years 9 to 10) and Strategist (Years 11 to 12)
- A run sheet and a feedback form · so you know what happens when, and the school can tell you how it went
Built for Welsh classrooms. Mapped to Curriculum for Wales and the Four Purposes, with Gatsby Benchmarks evidenced. Bilingual, Welsh and English. Neurodiverse-friendly by design. From September 2026, careers and work-related experiences are a legal requirement under Curriculum for Wales.
Log each session in Owl Impact® and it becomes verified social value evidence.
Register interest. Be first when it's ready.
Leave your details and we'll tell you the moment the pack is ready.
Cae'r Her · The Cylfaa Challenge: young people solve Wales's skills gaps themselves, and the winning idea gets funded and built for real.
Bring the Challenge to your schoolFor students and parents
Which Byd are you?
Real Welsh jobs in hair, beauty and wellbeing, what they pay and how to get in. The student pages for every Byd live here.
Explore your futureFind your Byd
Byd is Welsh for "world". Every home in Cylfaa is a Byd: a world of work. Join your school's team for the Cylfaa Challenge and send your Gofyn, your ask, to the Cylfaa panel.
Sources
Where the figures come from
Every figure on this page comes from one of these. Checked October 2026.
See all sources
- ONS UK Business Counts via Nomis, SIC 9602 Hairdressing and other beauty treatment (Wales and local authorities) · 2026 (released 24 Sep 2026)
- ONS Annual Population Survey via Nomis, SOC2020 622 Hairdressers and related services, Wales · Apr 2025-Mar 2026
- ONS ASHE Table 14 (occupation, SOC 2020), 2025 provisional · 2025
- Business Wales: National Minimum Wage and National Living Wage rates 2026 · April 2026
- National Careers Service: Hairdresser · accessed Oct 2026
- National Careers Service: Beauty therapist · accessed Oct 2026
- National Careers Service: Nail technician · accessed Oct 2026
- National Careers Service: Beauty consultant · accessed Oct 2026
- National Careers Service: Make-up artist · accessed Oct 2026
- National Careers Service: Massage therapist · accessed Oct 2026
- National Careers Service: Further education teacher · accessed Oct 2026
- NHBF: Response to Autumn Budget · 27 Nov 2025
- NHBF: In Westminster for Apprenticeships Week (Autumn 2025 State of the Industry survey) · 12 Feb 2026
- NHBF: UK liquid BBL ban and aesthetic regulation · 18 Feb 2026
- NHBF: Response to licensing consultation for aesthetic practitioners · 6 Aug 2025
- NHBF: Respect our Sector, Small Business Survey 2025 · 30 Sep 2025
- NHBF: Calls for urgent action to protect jobs and apprenticeships (LPC: hair and beauty highest minimum wage coverage, 43.3%) · 14 Jul 2026
- Salon Business: Green Salon Collective celebrate major milestone · 3 Feb 2026
- Green Salon Collective (recycling projects, green fee) · accessed Oct 2026
- Business Gateway: Market Report Hair & Beauty Therapy (YouGov Nov 2024 men's grooming) · May 2026
- Coleg Cambria: Hairdressing & Barbering · accessed Oct 2026
- Coleg Cambria: Beauty, Spa & Complementary Therapies · accessed Oct 2026
- Coleg Cambria: Hairdressing & Barbering apprenticeships (employers) · accessed Oct 2026
- Grŵp Llandrillo Menai: Hairdressing and Beauty Therapy · accessed Oct 2026
- Grŵp Llandrillo Menai: Hairdressing Level 3 (progression to FdA Management and Business) · accessed Oct 2026
- Wrexham University: courses (BA Business Management) · accessed Oct 2026
- Bodysgallen Hall & Spa · accessed Oct 2026
- The Quay Hotel & Spa · accessed Oct 2026
- Portmeirion · accessed Oct 2026
- Bodelwyddan Castle Hotel, Warner Hotels · accessed Oct 2026
- Château Rhianfa · accessed Oct 2026