Mala McAlpin Yet another Australian beauty college has permanently closed its doors – the National Academy Of Beauty formally announced last week that it would be shutting down, leaving hundreds of students stranded, and for many, just weeks out from completing their studies at the end of this year.
Brooke Bird Insolvency Practitioners released this formal statement, advising they had been appointment joint administrators for the National Academy Of Beauty (or its trading name, Pragmatic Training) due to reported ‘significant losses’.
In their statement, Brooke Bird states “due to significant losses incurred by the group and a shortage of available cashflow to enable ongoing trade it has been necessary for us to cease trading immediately. As such no further courses or training will be provided. No marking of work will be conducted.”
The college, based in Melbourne, was established in 2003, and offered beauty and makeup courses including Certificates 3-4 in Beauty Therapy, Certificate 3 in Makeup, Diploma of Beauty Therapy, Diploma of Salon Management, and Diploma of Screen and Media. Its student capacity was around 1,300, and course fees ranging from $6000-$16,000.
Very sadly for the industry, this news simply adds to a string of recent beauty college closures, including ultra-stylish Melbourne college Beauty EDU, which was only established in 2014. Co-founded by Bec Judd, its umbrella company Republica Education Pty Ltd went into liquidation mid-2017. Chief executive Ryan Trainor claimed the sale of Beauty EDU along with 4 other specialist training colleges was part of a restructure, heading away from accredited education.
Another was the Australasian College Broadway, who announced to their 800+ students and faculty members that they had gone into administration just two days before Christmas, 2016. Cash flow issues were also the cause of the voluntary closure.
The news from NAOB will have caused particular distress among many Melbourne students who already suffered a transfer last year from Beauty EDU.
National Academy Of Beauty, or Pragmatic Training Group, was an approved Vet Fee Help student loan provider, which means that under the Commonwealth Department of Education and Training arrangements, ongoing loan students will be assisted in completing their course with another provider, or if not, give students a re-credit for units of study commenced but not completed.
