Qualification Number: 610/2870/8
The objective of the OTHM Level 3 Diploma in Beauty Therapy qualification is to develop your skills as a beauty therapist to a high level of occupational ability to enable you to provide beauty therapy treatments.
This is a technical level qualification designed to extend your knowledge and develop your practical beauty therapy skills to learn the most up-to-date treatment procedures in the beauty industry. Learners will acquire the knowledge, skills, and competence to administer treatments safely and appropriately.
The mandatory units cover a range of advanced treatments and essential skills, which include:
The selection of the optional units cover a range of different areas you will require to work in the Beauty Therapy industry. These include specialist areas such as:
The OTHM Level 3 Diploma in Beauty Therapy qualification can be offered to learners from age 16. It is recommended that learners hold a Level 2 Diploma in Beauty Therapy or equivalent qualification.
OTHM centres must ensure learners are recruited with integrity onto appropriate qualifications and that they possess the required knowledge, understanding and skills to enrol and successfully achieve this qualification. The qualification is offered in English.
English requirements: If a learner is not from a majority English-speaking country must provide evidence of English language competency. For more information visit English Language Expectations page.
OTHM qualifications at Level 3 represent practical knowledge, skills, capabilities and competences that are assessed in academic terms as being equivalent to GCE AS/A Levels.
The OTHM Level 3 Diploma in Beauty Therapy consists of 7 units for a combined total of 60 credits including 600 hours Total Qualification Time (TQT) and 460 Guided Learning Hours (GLH) for the completed qualification.
When combining units for this qualification, it is the centre’s responsibility to ensure that the following rules of combination are adhered to:
Learners must complete all 5 mandatory units, a total of 44 credits and choose a minimum of 2 optional units totalling a minimum 16 credits.
Teaching staff
This includes those who develop and/or deliver the course content.
This may be undertaken by a team who must demonstrate that within the team, provision is made for subject-specific knowledge.
OTHM recommend it is standard best practice for the qualification to be delivery by qualified teachers. Additionally, in the interest of best practice, teachers should themselves have an accredited academic qualification relating to the core and modality specific knowledge/competence.
Centres must demonstrate that the teaching team possess the required subject knowledge and have achieved academic qualifications of the relevant level to inform, develop and deliver high quality program content in the specific subject, at the required level.
The currency of their practice should also be verified in the application, through explanation of how teachers/educators maintain and update their knowledge skills and competence, through for revalidation, peer review, appraisal or application for recognition from a relevant authority.
In order to deliver this qualification, it is standard best practice teaching staff:
All those delivering units and/or observing and assessing practice for the OHTM Level 3 Diploma in Beauty Therapy must have all of the following:
Centre staffing will be checked as part of the centre approval process, in which we will ask for copies of CV’s and teaching certificates. Centres are required as part of their signed centre agreement to inform OTHM if there are any changes. The external quality assurer will also review and confirm this at the time of EQA.
Centre staff may undertake more than one role, e.g., tutor and assessor or internal quality assurer but cannot internally verify their own assessments.
Assessors and Internal Quality Assurers
Assessor/Internal Quality Assurer TAQA qualifications are valued as qualifications for centre staff, but they are not currently a requirement for the qualification.
Assessors
To be approved as an assessor, the individual must provide evidence to show they meet the occupational competence criteria specified for the qualification(s) they will be assessing.
Internal assessment includes the synoptic assignment and clinical case studies.
To assess learners working towards this qualification, it is standard best practice assessors:
Internal Quality Assurers (IQA)
Centres must have a rigorous internal quality assurance system in place.
Centres must have an IQA to ensure assessment decisions are consistently applied between assessors, and that learner’s work meets the required standard. Each assessor’s work must be checked and confirmed by the IQA. Assessment decisions must be standardised to ensure that all learners’ work has been assessed to the same standard and is fair, valid and reliable.
The IQA must observe assessors carrying out assessments, review assessment decisions from the evidence provided and hold standardisation meetings with the assessment team to ensure consistency in the use of documentation and interpretation of the qualification requirements. Evidence of internal quality assurance must be recorded, retained and made available for the External Quality Assurer (EQA)
Continuing Professional Development (CPD)
Centres must support their staff to ensure that they have current knowledge of the occupational area, that delivery, mentoring, training, assessment and verification is in line with best practice, and that it takes account of any national or legislative developments. CPD records of all staff members must be available for external quality assurance.
Record Keeping
Centres must produce and retain records that include:
OTHM will include a clear outline of the assessment method required for each unit within the qualification specification. Where a particular assessment method can be delivered across a range of units this will be highlighted.
The qualifications are criterion referenced, based on the achievement of all the specified learning outcomes and assessment criteria. Quality assured assessment material are made available to centres by OTHM.
Delivery of this qualification should be a combination of practical and theory activities. Tutors are advised to use a variety of different delivery methods to engage and motivate learners.
Centres are required to undertake standardisation activities between assessors, internal quality assurance staff and evidence made available to OTHM at the time of external quality assurance or upon request.
To achieve a ‘pass’ for this qualification a learner must have successfully achieved all the assessment criteria for each unit of the qualification.
Award will be confirmed following confirmation by OTHM that all assessment has been undertaken appropriately and internal quality assurance has confirmed application of all required reliability and validity of quality procedures.
At this point, OTHM will undertake external quality assurance to confirm that award can be recommended in accordance with the published OTHM Quality Assurance Policy.
Specific assessment guidance and relevant marking criteria for each unit are made available in the Assignment Brief document. These are made available to centres immediately after registration of one or more learners.
Assessment will be both formative and summative and will be recorded in a learner logbook to provide a dynamic learning account.
Formative Assessment
A range of skills must be assessed formatively and summatively. The purpose of formative assessment is to provide opportunities for learners to practice their skills to a level where they are deemed ‘ready’ to be assessed summatively. This is crucially important to minimise the risk of poor practice on real people that will also form part of the learner’s summative assessment.
Centres must provide clear evidence that each learner has practiced all required skills in a suitable environment.
The centre will use an internal assessor to observe the learner’s performance and to sign off learners’ performance.
Learners will receive feedback at each formative opportunity to provide learning opportunities in keeping with the principles of formative assessment.
Formative assessment will also be recorded in a learner logbook to provide a dynamic learning account.
Summative Assessment
Summative assessment is used to evaluate learner competence and progression at the end of a unit or component. Summative assessment should take place when the assessor deems that the learner is at a stage where competence can be demonstrated.
The purpose of summative assessment is to evaluate learners’ competencies and capabilities at the end of a course of study.
This can be achieved using a variety of assessment methods, as follows:
Successful completion of the OTHM Level 3 Diploma in Beauty qualifications provides learners with the opportunity for workplace and academic progressions. Including further OTHM Beauty and complimentary therapy qualifications.
By complying with our regulators and meeting university progression requirements we ensure the high-quality standards of all our qualifications and assessments.
The local and global recognition has enabled our graduates to enhance their employability skills as well as to join degree and master top-up programmes.
If you are a college or a private training provider wishing to offer our qualifications, you will need to become an approved centre first.
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