BABTAC Updates Standards in push for self-regulation
Safety in Beauty Campaign supports BABTAC’s New Standards
Over 150 Courses
The Safety in Beauty Campaign has welcomed news from professional association BABTAC whom have recently completed a reassessment of their Course Accreditation Standards in a bid to assure continued alignment of their required specifications to a continually evolving industry.
The process was costly in both time and resources but imperative to ensure short courses remain relevant and fit-for-purpose. The organisation, which accredits short-courses to signpost therapists to quality training that is insurable, has made the move this year to further increase application standards, which in turn has resulted in the difficult but necessary decision to stripped more than 150 courses of their accreditation going forward
Lesley Blair, Chair, BABTAC & CIBTAC comments “A review of current practice standards across the industry highlighted rising insurance claims and treatment complaints across the board, as well as dissatisfaction with the quality of many courses available in the industry. During our review of short-courses available in the market, we found a number of issues with training standards, including the fact that many short courses offer an ‘introduction’ to a particular subject, but are billed as offering a full scale qualification, which simply isn’t possible in a day or a few hours. What’s more, many courses lack pre-requisites for training, and so are introducing non-therapists to professional treatments, which undermines the reputation of the industry. Ultimately, this can leave therapists and clients with an unrealistic understanding of their skills, something which could be detrimental to the therapist, the insurer, client and the reputation of the industry.”
She continues “Looking internally at our own standards, we have always required more stringent accreditation criteria than many other accreditors in the industry; however the time has come to push standards higher and help prepare the industry for regulation, which will likely come to pass in the next few years. We have therefore taken a stand to realign our entire accreditation process, to ensure that we are promoting standards which are relevant both today and into the future and that any courses we accredit are being marketed in a way that is transparent and credible. At the end of this thorough process, we have rigorously streamlined the courses which offer training in specific skills, in a way that is fit-for-purpose and relevant to the therapist.”
As a not-for-profit organisation, while BABTAC do rely on income generated through its practices, they also feel they have a duty to uphold professional standards. Rather than using accreditation simply as an income stream like other organisations, they have voluntarily sacrificed accreditation income in their ongoing goal to ensure the highest standards. The organisation believes it is their duty to protect therapists from unfit courses, and to help future-proof quality within the industry.
Another worrying factor contributing to the in depth review of the accreditation process was the significant rise in fraudulent courses on offer. The number of cases of misuse of the BABTAC (& CIBTAC) company name and logo to promote illegitimate courses highlighted in the past year has been staggering and an unprecedented number of cease and desist notices and further investigation into some training centres has been necessary. It is hoped the focus given to eradicating this misuse will help to combat the rise in fake certificates and qualifications which have been appearing more frequently in recent years. A full review of the accepted certificates for insurance purposes is next on the agenda for the organisation.
