QQI Level 5 Hairdressing

It is a major further-education award on the Irish National Framework of Qualifications, placed at Level 5. It certifies that you can carry out salon hairdressing tasks to a professional standard and is normally built from several components, each assessed separately, rather than a single exam.

Typically through a written theory examination plus practical skills demonstrations, a portfolio or collection of work, and a learner record. The precise combination and weighting are set by the centre and the award specification, so check your centre's assessment schedule at the start of the programme.

Those figures are set by the awarding body and the delivering centre and can change between sessions. QQI and your centre publish the current specification and timetable, so confirm the question count, duration, and marking structure there rather than relying on second-hand numbers.

Pass standards and repeat arrangements are set out in the current QQI award specification and your centre's assessment policy. Ask your tutor early about the compensation rules between components and the deadline for repeating a failed component, because these vary by centre and session.

Most learners find the theory manageable with steady revision; the practical work is where people lose marks. Timing, sectioning, tension, and hygiene are judged strictly. Candidates who practise full services on real models under salon conditions usually cope far better than those who only rehearse isolated techniques.

Weak consultation records, missing or vague patch-test documentation, poor sectioning and uneven tension, colour applied inconsistently or left without accurate timing, and unsafe or untidy working practices. In written answers, vague one-line responses that do not use correct technical vocabulary also cost marks.

Start with health, safety, and hygiene, then consultation and communication, because every practical service depends on them. Move to shampooing and scalp care, then cutting and styling, then colouring and lightening, then perming, and finish with long hair, salon business, and work experience. Revise each topic alongside the practical task it supports.

Work experience is normally a required component, and it is where much of your portfolio evidence comes from. Keep a structured record of tasks, products used, and your own reflections as you go, since reconstructing it at the end is far harder and produces weaker evidence.

Yes. Many learners are salon assistants building formal recognition for skills they already use. Discuss recognition of prior learning and any exemption arrangements with your centre before enrolling, as decisions rest with them under the award's rules.

Run timed full services end to end, including consultation, set-up, and clean-down, and get someone to check your sectioning and tension. For theory, practise short written answers using correct terminology and review your own portfolio for gaps before submission deadlines.