The London College of Beauty Therapy (LCBT) has announced it is to be directly funded for further education and, as part of its continued curriculum expansion, has launched a series of new health and beauty qualifications.

The new qualifications that the college has launched include advanced apprenticeships for beauty therapy; a BTEC retail beauty consultant diploma and the BTEC award for therapeutic massage for care workers who work with dementia patients.

Principal and CEO of LCBT, Eileen Cavalier, said: “My team has worked tirelessly to achieve the most inspired and effective training available and, with 92 per cent of students achieving full employment in 2001, our results speak for themselves.

“Training to be a beauty therapist is now seen as a fabulous opportunity to be part of a dynamic industry with career opportunities, which embraces the spectacular growth in beauty and spa services around the UK. The salon services sector in particular also represents many opportunities for people to set up their own businesses, and we have many success stories here among those people who never dreamed that this would be possible for them.”

The 2004/05 academic year will also mark the 10th anniversary of the college. Details: www.lcbt.co.uk