Apprenticeships were firmly on the hairdressing agenda, with National Apprenticeship Week (3-7 March) celebrating the nation’s apprentice learners and employers, and the government announcing that hairdressers were to be involved in the next wave of apprenticeship trailblazers. The government apprenticeship trailblazer scheme aims to involve employers to map out the future of apprenticeship training within their specific industry, and March saw hairdressers, barbers and beauty salons included in the next wave of the scheme. Working with the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills, the second wave of trailblazer employers will help develop and test new models for more employer-based and employer-led standards for apprenticeships. The ambition is to develop apprenticeships that can be explained on a single sheet of A4, work for both small and large business and which, crucially, will include relevant, pratical testing and grading at the end of the training.