Rebekah Benson

“Though I had always wanted to work with hair and makeup, I hadn’t worked in a salon or had any experience, so starting with the Level 2 Traineeship in Hairdressing made sense for me. I had explored the options, including an apprenticeship as my sister had done, but I thought I would learn more at my stage if I was in college every day, so the traineeship would be better for me.  We have a working salon on campus and it’s all very professional. We have great facilities; everything is all up to date and we have the latest products.  I liked the move to practical learning.  SERC is different from school:  the tutors are more laid back; and there’s no uniform except a black tunic for work in the salon.” 

“The Level 3 course not a big leap but a progression – the theory is more advanced; we are learning more techniques for colouring hair and different types of colouring, such as highlighting. I love doing the colour, learning how to create them – we have to pick the right shade for a customer and then work out how to mix colours to achieve it. I would say to anyone interested in the work; you get great training here. And it’s a friendly class. After I finish the two-year course, I want to go and work in a salon. But I want to continue learning, too – I am thinking about doing a barbering course so I can add that to my skills.”

“The support is great. I have a skin condition and staff have made adjustments so I can work with everything in the salon without the substances irritating me. And if my skin gets really bad, learning support at college sourced a laptop I can use if I can’t come into the class, so I can learn online. I would recommend SERC to anyone.”