Pink Academy

💗 Got an EHCP and not enjoying mainstream college?

A big college environment isn’t right for everyone — and that’s okay.

At Pink Academy, we offer a smaller, supportive and nurturing environment where you can learn Nails & Beauty, build your confidence and work towards your future at your own pace. ✨

If you’ve started somewhere this September and already feel like it’s not the right fit, you still have options.

💅 Practical, hands-on learning
💗 Small groups
✨ Supportive environment
🎓 For young people with an EHCP

There’s still time to join us for September!

📩 Message Pink Academy to have a chat or arrange a visit — sometimes a smaller setting can make a BIG difference. 💕

BeautyTraining AlternativeEducation Salford Manchester

💗 WE’RE BACK! 💗

It’s 1st September and we are SO excited to welcome our students back to Pink Academy tomorrow! 🎀✨

We’ve been very busy behind the scenes over the summer. We’ve been working on some really exciting things for Pink, planning for the year ahead and even giving the Academy a little glow-up ready for everyone coming back. 👀💕

We honestly cannot wait to see our returning students and, just as importantly, welcome all the new faces joining the Pink family this year. 🥹🌸

Here’s to a new academic year filled with confidence, new skills, qualifications, friendships and plenty of Pink! 💅🏼✨

And remember… if you’re 16+ with an EHCP and a large mainstream college environment doesn’t feel right for you, there are other options.

Pink Academy offers a smaller, nurturing and supportive learning environment, where young people can build their confidence, develop their skills and work towards their future at a pace that works for them. 💗

If you think Pink Academy could be the right place for you or your young person, speak to your SEN caseworker about requesting Pink Academy as your preferred education setting.

2026/27… we’re ready for you. 🎀💗

🌸 GOOD LUCK TO EVERYONE GETTING THEIR GCSE RESULTS TODAY! 🌸

Whatever is written on that piece of paper today, remember — your journey is only just beginning. 💗

College doesn’t have to mean a huge mainstream environment.

If you have an EHCP and feel that a large mainstream college isn’t the right place for you, Pink Academy could be an option for your next step. 🎓💅

We offer a smaller, supportive learning environment where young people can work towards qualifications in Nails & Beauty, alongside support with Maths & English where needed.

✨ Speak to your EHCP caseworker
✨ Tell them you would like to consider Pink Academy as your education setting
✨ They can discuss the next steps with you and your family

Your GCSE results do not define what you can achieve.

There are different routes, different ways to learn and different ways to succeed. 💕

Good luck today — and be proud of how far you’ve come. 🌸

AlternativeEducation NailsAndBeauty Salford PinkAcademy

Today we were delighted to welcome Councillor Michele Barnes, Salford City Council’s Lead Member for Skills and Work, Workforce and Industrial Relations, to Pink Academy. 💗

It was a really important opportunity for us to talk about something we feel incredibly passionate about – the gap that still exists for young people who struggle within mainstream education.

Not every young person thrives in a large school or college environment.

There are girls who want to learn and want a future, but who need a smaller, nurturing and vocational environment to help them stay engaged. Our concern is what happens when there isn’t an appropriate pathway available for them.

We don’t want to wait until these young women become NEET before we find a way to support them.

At Pink Academy, we’ve seen what can happen when a young person who has struggled with traditional education discovers something they are genuinely interested in and good at.

And we also want to challenge the idea that beauty and nails are somehow “just beauty and nails.”

This is a real industry and a real trade. It develops practical and technical skills, communication, confidence, client care, professionalism and employability, with progression opportunities into further qualifications, salons, employment and self-employment.

For some young people, finding this industry can be the thing that makes education finally feel relevant to them.

We’re incredibly grateful to Councillor Barnes for taking the time to visit us, see our environment and listen to what we’re experiencing first-hand.

We hope conversations like today’s can help us work towards something that fills that missing space – supporting young people before they disengage from education altogether and showing them that there is another route to a successful future. 💗

Who agrees our outside area is just lovely? Our students have another place to sit when the weather is nice. 💕

Some young people don’t need less education. They need a different kind of education. 💗

Today, on Vocational Celebration Day, we’re celebrating the learners who thrive when they’re given the opportunity to learn through doing.

At Pink Academy, we’ve seen first-hand what happens when practical skills, qualifications, confidence and a nurturing environment come together.

Vocational education isn’t a second choice. For some young people, it’s the route that finally makes education make sense. 💗

💕 WE’VE BEEN A LITTLE QUIET… BUT WE HAVEN’T BEEN QUIET BEHIND THE SCENES.

In fact, we’ve probably been louder than we’ve ever been.

We’ve been in meetings.
We’ve been having conversations.
We’ve been knocking on doors.
And most importantly…

We’ve been fighting for our girls. 💗

For too long, nails and beauty can be looked at as “just something girls like doing.”

It isn’t.

The UK beauty and personal care industry supported a staggering £30.4 BILLION contribution to the UK economy in 2024.

£30.4 BILLION.

This is a real industry.
These are real careers.
These are real businesses.
And these are real opportunities for young people.

A young girl saying she wants to become a nail technician, beauty therapist or work within the beauty industry should be taken just as seriously as any other young person choosing a vocational trade.

And that is something we feel incredibly strongly about at Pink Academy.

Because for some of the young people who come through our doors, education hasn’t always been easy.

Some need smaller groups.
Some need more practical learning.
Some need a nurturing environment.
And some simply need somebody to recognise what they ARE good at rather than constantly focusing on what they struggle with.

That’s what we’ve been fighting for.

We’ve been proving that Pink Academy isn’t “just somewhere to learn nails and beauty”.

It is a provision that young people need.

A place where practical skills can build confidence, engagement, qualifications, progression and ultimately a career.

And although we can’t share everything just yet…

You honestly wouldn’t believe how far we’re getting in this fight. 👀💗

There have been moments over the last few years when we could have given up.

We didn’t.

And we certainly aren’t giving up now.

We will keep banging the drum for our industry.

We will keep banging the drum for practical education.

And most importantly…

we will keep banging the drum for our girls. 💕

Because their future deserves to be taken seriously.

Pink Academy 🎀

✨ We’ve had lots of people asking what our Summer Programme is all about… ✨

Our Summer Programme has been organised by Salford Council, who approached Pink Academy to deliver the programme throughout the summer holidays for school leavers.

The main aim is simple – to keep young people engaged, active and connected over the summer, during that important transition between leaving school and taking their next steps.

It’s about helping reduce the risk of young people becoming NEET (Not in Education, Employment or Training) by giving them somewhere positive to attend, new experiences, structure to their week and the opportunity to build their confidence.

💗 And they absolutely do not have to be interested in a career in nails or beauty!

We simply use our industry as a fun, practical and creative way to engage young people. They get a little insight into nails and beauty, try something different, meet new people and hopefully enjoy themselves along the way.

For some, it might spark an interest in the industry. For others, it might simply get them out of the house, help them feel more confident and keep them engaged over the summer – and that is just as important.

We’re incredibly grateful to have been given the opportunity to deliver this programme for the second year, and we’re proud that Salford Council has approached Pink Academy again to support their young people.

Sometimes it’s not about knowing exactly what you want to do next.

Sometimes it’s just about having somewhere to go, something to get involved in and people who believe in keeping you moving forward. 💗

That’s what our Summer Programme is all about.

Thinking about your next step?
Collect your FREE Information Pack today.

Discover our:
🌸 Alternative Provision (Pre-16)
🌸 Post-16 EHCP Provision
🌸 Small, supportive learning environment
🌸 Vocational qualifications
🌸 Functional Skills & personalised support

Your future starts here.