Paying for it
Funding routes for spa and beauty training: the network's fee-waiver places, employer sponsorship, association member discounts, instalment plans, and government skills schemes by country — with what each actually covers.
Most people who train in spa and beauty pay in instalments from wages, which is why fees on the network's courses are set low and split three ways. Beyond that there are four routes, in the order most people succeed with them.
1. Employer sponsorship
The commonest and the best: an employer pays for the course, often in exchange for a stay agreement. Hotel groups and salon chains do this routinely; ask before you enrol, and ask the employer to invoice through the employer hub. Employers listed on the network's engines receive corporate rates.
2. Association discounts
Members of the Spa & Wellness Association of India, the Spa & Wellness Association of Canada and the Salon Association of India pay reduced fees on every course in the network.
3. The network's fee-waiver places
Each cohort of the Beautician Course and the Spa Therapist Foundation on the Institute of Spa Management holds two fee-waiver places for applicants who could not otherwise enrol, nominated by partner schools and associations. There is no separate application: tell the partner school or association, and they nominate. Places are announced on the news page each cohort.
4. Government skills schemes
Several countries subsidise vocational training — India's skills programmes, Singapore's SkillsFuture (for registered providers), UK adult skills funding through colleges, Canadian provincial grants. The Institute is not itself a registered provider in these schemes; partner schools that are say so on their pages.
Questions
Do you offer student loans?
No. We keep fees low and split them rather than lend.
Can an employer sponsor an international student?
Yes — Gulf hotel groups and cruise operators sometimes pay for the practical hours at a partner school in the candidate's home country before hiring.