Policies & Procedures

The policies on this page apply to everyone at HBC — staff, tutors, learners, models, salon-floor clients, and visitors. They sit alongside our Terms and Conditions and our awarding-body centre agreements.

If you experience or witness anything covered by these policies, you can raise it confidentially through the routes below. Nothing on this page replaces your legal rights — you can also contact the police, ACAS, the awarding body, or the relevant regulator directly.

Last updated: 2026-05-04 (v1 — awaiting Paula sign-off + DSL confirmation + solicitor review)

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1. Appeals and complaints procedure

What this covers

This procedure applies to complaints about HBC and appeals against assessment decisions. They follow the same stages but route to different decision-makers at each step.

Stage 1 — informal resolution (target: 5 working days)

Tell us as early as you can — most issues are resolved with a conversation. Speak to your tutor, your assessor, or any member of staff. If you’d rather not raise it face-to-face, email enrol@thehairandbeautycollege.co.uk with “Complaint” or “Assessment appeal” in the subject. We acknowledge within 2 working days and aim to resolve within 5.

Stage 2 — formal complaint (target: 10 working days)

If Stage 1 hasn’t fixed it, ask for it to be escalated. Your complaint goes to Paula Ann Rothwell (Director and Head of College) who reviews it independently of the original conversation. We acknowledge within 2 working days and respond within 10.

You’ll receive a written outcome explaining: what we investigated, what we found, what we’re doing about it (or why we don’t agree with the complaint), and how to escalate if you’re still not satisfied.

Stage 3 — formal review (target: 20 working days)

If Stage 2 hasn’t fixed it, the complaint is reviewed by a second director or senior staff member who hasn’t been involved at earlier stages. They review the file, may speak to you again, and issue a final written outcome within 20 working days.

External escalation

If our internal procedure hasn’t resolved your concern, you can escalate to:

Type of issue	External route
Assessment appeal (VTCT-awarded qualification)	VTCT Customer Support — <a href=”mailto:customersupport@vtctskills.org.uk”>customersupport@vtctskills.org.uk</a>
Assessment appeal (Focus Awards)	Focus Awards Customer Services (via focusawards.org.uk)
Assessment appeal (CPD-accredited)	The CPD Group (via thecpdgroup.com)
Funded learner concerns	Department for Education (via the DfE Customer Help Portal)
Consumer issue (treatment / paid course)	Citizens Advice consumer service — 0808 223 1133
Data protection issue	Information Commissioner’s Office — see Privacy Statement
Discrimination	Equality Advisory Support Service — 0808 800 0082

We won’t take it personally if you go external. Use whatever route gets you the result you need.

What we won’t do

• We won’t penalise anyone — staff, learner, or model — for raising a complaint in good faith
• We won’t drag out responses to outlast you (we use working-day targets above so you can hold us to them)
• We won’t consider a matter closed until you’ve either accepted the outcome or escalated externally

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2. Safeguarding policy

Statement of intent

HBC is committed to creating a safe environment for everyone in the building — particularly young people, vulnerable adults, and anyone in a teacher–learner power relationship. We follow statutory safeguarding guidance and our awarding-body requirements, and we expect every member of staff to put learner welfare first.

Designated Safeguarding Lead (DSL)

Role	Name	Contact
Designated Safeguarding Lead	Paula Ann Rothwell	admin@thehairandbeautycollege.co.uk · 01925 747371
Deputy DSL	Clare (Senior Aesthetics Tutor)	admin@thehairandbeautycollege.co.uk

The DSL is the first point of contact for any safeguarding concern and decides whether to refer onwards to police, social services, or another agency.

Who this protects

• Anyone under 18 on premises (model group, occasional young learner with parent/guardian, visitors)
• Vulnerable adults as defined in the Care Act 2014 — adults who, because of need for care and support, are unable to protect themselves
• Anyone disclosing harm — historic or current — by HBC staff, learners, models, or third parties

How to raise a safeguarding concern

If you’re worried about someone’s safety:

• Immediate risk: call 999
• Concern about abuse / neglect / harm:
• Tell the DSL or Deputy DSL straight away — face-to-face, by phone on 01925 747371, or by email to admin@thehairandbeautycollege.co.uk
• If the DSL is unavailable, contact Warrington Borough Council social services on 01925 443322 (adults) or 01925 443322 (children)
• You can also call the NSPCC helpline (0808 800 5000) or Childline (0800 1111) directly

What happens next

The DSL will:

1. Listen, take a written record, and treat what you’ve shared as confidential (shared only with those who need to act on it)
2. Decide whether to refer to police, social services, or another agency
3. Tell you what’s been done unless doing so would put someone at greater risk (in some cases the DSL can’t disclose to the person who raised the concern — for example, if the concern is about an immediate family member)
4. Support you through the process, including arranging counselling or onward signposting where appropriate

Staff and learner training

• All HBC staff complete annual safeguarding training (level appropriate to their role) — currently delivered through NSPCC Learning
• The DSL completes DSL-level training every two years — also through NSPCC Learning
• Learners receive a brief safeguarding induction at enrolment covering routes to raise a concern

Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS)

All teaching staff and assessors hold a current Enhanced DBS check with both children’s and adults’ barred-list checks. Where a member of staff or volunteer is awaiting their check, they don’t work unsupervised with learners.

The DSL and Deputy DSL also hold Enhanced DBS appropriate to their safeguarding role (the requirement applies to anyone making welfare decisions about learners, not just classroom-facing staff).

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3. Equality and diversity policy

Statement of intent

HBC is committed to equality of opportunity and to creating an environment where everyone — regardless of who they are or where they come from — can learn and thrive. We comply with the Equality Act 2010 and welcome learners, staff, and clients from all backgrounds.

Protected characteristics

Under the Equality Act 2010, the following characteristics are protected. We will not tolerate direct or indirect discrimination, harassment, or victimisation on the basis of:

• Age
• Disability
• Gender reassignment
• Marriage and civil partnership
• Pregnancy and maternity
• Race
• Religion or belief
• Sex
• Sexual orientation

What this means in practice

• Reasonable adjustments for learners with disabilities or learning differences are made on request — including extra assessment time, alternative-format materials, and accessible delivery routes
• No quotas, no tokenism — selection is on merit and capacity to complete the course
• Inclusive language is the standard in all teaching and marketing material — gender-neutral where possible, person-first when describing disability
• Accessible premises — single ground-floor location with no stairs (see Terms and Conditions §6)
• Religious observance — we accommodate prayer breaks and adjusted scheduling around major religious holidays where reasonably possible

How to raise a concern

If you experience or witness discrimination, harassment, or victimisation, raise it through the Appeals and Complaints Procedure (Section 1 above). You can escalate externally to the Equality Advisory Support Service on 0808 800 0082 or — for employment matters — ACAS on 0300 123 1100.

We don’t penalise anyone for raising a concern under this policy in good faith.

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4. Student anti-bullying policy

Statement of intent

HBC has zero tolerance for bullying, intimidation, or hostile behaviour between learners, between staff and learners, or directed at models, clients, or visitors. The training environment depends on people feeling safe enough to make mistakes — bullying poisons that.

What counts as bullying

Bullying is repeated behaviour intended to hurt, intimidate, isolate, or undermine someone. It can be:

• Verbal — name-calling, mockery, humiliation, threats, hostile sarcasm
• Physical — pushing, hitting, blocking, damaging belongings
• Social / relational — exclusion from group conversations, spreading rumours, freezing someone out of practical pairings
• Cyber / online — abusive messages, posts, or images on any platform, including private chats among coursemates that target a coursemate
• Discriminatory — bullying based on a protected characteristic (see Section 3) — this is also unlawful

A one-off heated comment in the heat of practical work isn’t bullying — though it may need addressing under the Code of Conduct (Section 7).

Reporting

Report bullying to your tutor, the DSL (Section 2), or any member of staff. We acknowledge within 2 working days and respond fully within the timelines in Section 1.

Response

Substantiated bullying triggers the disciplinary stages in T&C §13:

1. Verbal warning
2. Written warning
3. Removal from the course (without refund)

In serious cases — physical violence, threats of harm, racist / sexist / homophobic abuse — we go straight to a written warning or removal. Where the behaviour is criminal, we will support the victim in reporting to police.

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5. Whistle-blowing policy

What this covers

This policy lets staff, learners, and contractors raise serious concerns about wrongdoing at HBC — including:

• Criminal offences (theft, fraud, harassment, abuse)
• Health and safety risks
• Damage to the environment
• Failure to comply with legal obligations (awarding-body rules, financial regulations, GDPR, ALL compliance)
• Miscarriages of justice
• Cover-ups of any of the above

Your protection

Workers raising concerns in good faith are protected by the Public Interest Disclosure Act 1998. We will not subject any whistle-blower to dismissal, redundancy, demotion, harassment, or any other detriment.

How to raise a concern

You have three routes — pick whichever you’re comfortable with:

Route	When to use it
Director — Paula	The default route. Direct phone or email contact.
Director — Scott Molyneux	If your concern involves Paula or you’d prefer a different ear.
Deputy DSL — Clare (Senior Aesthetics Tutor)	Also Deputy Safeguarding Lead.
External — Public Concern at Work / Protect	If you can’t raise it internally or have already done so without action. 0203 117 2520 / protect-advice.org.uk

What we’ll do

• Acknowledge within 2 working days
• Investigate independently of anyone implicated in the concern
• Update you at agreed intervals on progress
• Take action where the concern is upheld — this may include disciplinary action, reporting to police or regulators, or changing how we operate
• Keep your identity confidential unless legal proceedings require disclosure or you choose to be named

What this isn’t for

This policy is for public-interest concerns, not personal grievances. If your concern is about your own treatment as a learner or staff member, use the Appeals and Complaints Procedure (Section 1) instead.

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6. Sexual harassment policy

Statement of intent

Under the Worker Protection (Amendment of Equality Act 2010) Act 2024, employers have a positive legal duty to prevent sexual harassment in the workplace. HBC takes that duty seriously. The salon-floor environment — small spaces, intimate treatments, mixed-experience cohorts — needs explicit norms.

What counts as sexual harassment

Sexual harassment is unwanted conduct of a sexual nature that has the purpose or effect of violating someone’s dignity or creating an intimidating, hostile, degrading, humiliating, or offensive environment. It includes:

• Unwanted physical contact (including in a treatment setting where consent has not been given)
• Sexual comments, jokes, or innuendo
• Sharing or displaying sexually explicit images
• Sexual messages, calls, or social media contact between staff/learners or between learners
• Pressure for sexual activity in exchange for favours (course progression, references, additional sessions)
• Sexual assault (which is also a criminal offence)

It can happen in person, online, on premises, off premises (if HBC-related), between staff and learner, between learners, and from third parties such as models or visitors.

Prevention

• All staff complete annual training on identifying and responding to sexual harassment
• Treatment briefings explicitly include consent and the right to stop a treatment at any moment
• The salon floor and medical suite have clear sightlines so unsupervised intimate scenarios are designed out
• Staff and learner contracts include explicit conduct expectations

Reporting

If you experience or witness sexual harassment:

• Tell anyone you trust at HBC — your tutor, the DSL, any director — they will route the report appropriately
• Email confidentially to admin@thehairandbeautycollege.co.uk if you’d rather not raise face-to-face
• Report to police for any sexual assault — we’ll support you through that process. Greater Manchester Police can be reached on 101 (non-emergency) or 999 (immediate threat)

Response

Substantiated reports of sexual harassment result in the strongest available sanction — usually immediate removal from premises for the perpetrator, with onward referral to police where the behaviour is criminal. We will not negotiate this.

We will also support the affected person with counselling signposting, schedule adjustments, and — where they want it — communication with police, social services, or independent advocacy.

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7. Code of conduct

Standards we expect

Everyone at HBC — staff, learners, models, clients, visitors — is expected to:

Behaviour	Practical examples
Respect	Listen when others speak. Use the names and pronouns people use for themselves. Don’t belittle anyone’s background, beliefs, body, or skill level.
Punctuality and preparation	Turn up on time. Uniform clean, hair tied back. Ready to learn or teach, not catching up on the night before.
Honesty	Don’t pass off someone else’s work as your own. Don’t fake an absence. Don’t lie about completed practical hours.
Health and safety	Follow risk assessments. Use PPE as instructed. Keep workstations clean. Report hazards immediately.
Confidentiality	Don’t share course materials publicly. Don’t disclose model or client information outside the salon. Don’t discuss other learners’ assessments outside formal feedback channels.
Professional digital conduct	Don’t post identifiable photos of models, clients, or learners on social media without consent. Don’t bring HBC into disrepute online.
Sobriety	No alcohol, no recreational drugs on premises. Prescription medication is your business unless it affects how you can work safely — in which case tell your tutor.

Where this policy applies

This code applies on HBC premises, on placements connected to HBC, on any HBC trip or event, and online when you identify yourself as connected to HBC.

Breach response

Breaches escalate as set out in Terms and Conditions §13:

1. Verbal warning from a tutor (documented internally)
2. Written warning from the College
3. Removal from the course without refund

For serious breaches — violence, sexual harassment, theft, fraud, dealing of controlled substances on premises — we skip to immediate removal and may report to police.

Right of appeal

Any disciplinary sanction can be appealed via the Appeals and Complaints Procedure in Section 1.

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Cross-policy notes

Confidentiality

Any concern raised under any of these policies is treated as confidential. We share information only with those who need to act on it — internal investigators, the DSL, an awarding body where required, or relevant authorities. We don’t gossip and we don’t tell colleagues “off the record”.

No retaliation

We don’t tolerate retaliation against anyone who raises a concern in good faith. Retaliation is itself a disciplinary matter.

External support

If you need confidential support outside HBC	Contact
Samaritans (emotional distress, suicidal thoughts)	116 123
NSPCC (child welfare)	0808 800 5000
Refuge (domestic abuse)	0808 2000 247
Galop (LGBTQ+ abuse)	0800 999 5428
Rape Crisis England & Wales	0808 500 2222
ACAS (employment)	0300 123 1100
Mind (mental health)	0300 123 3393

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Changes to these policies

These policies are reviewed annually and updated whenever law, awarding-body requirements, or our operating reality changes. The current version always lives at this URL with the Last updated date at the top.

We notify staff and active learners of material changes by email; non-material changes go live without separate notification.

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Questions

Email enrol@thehairandbeautycollege.co.uk or call 01925 747371 (Mon–Fri 9:30am–9:30pm, Sat 9:30am–4:30pm, Sun closed).

For a safeguarding concern, see Section 2. For an assessment appeal, see Section 1.

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The Hair and Beauty College · 78 Bridge Street, Warrington WA1 2RF · 01925 747371 · ICO registration C1756707

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