Annual Salary
£15,500 to £22,000
Average UK salary in 2023 was £34,963
(source Office for National Statistics)
Swap to Beauty & makeup or Hair or go back to all job sectors
Swap to Beauty & makeup or Hair or go back to all job sectors
Nail technicians offer customers treatments like nail art, filing, polishing and extensions.
Average UK salary in 2023 was £34,963
(source Office for National Statistics)
You could work: evenings / weekends; flexibly
There will be
0.5% fewer Nail technician jobs in 2027.
As a nail technician, you may:
You could work in a salon, at a health spa, on a cruise ship, from home or at a client's home.
You can get into this job through:
You could begin by taking a college course, for example:
Some colleges will offer nail services as part of a beauty therapy course.
You could take a Nail Services Technician Level 2 Intermediate Apprenticeship.
This typically takes 1 year to complete and is a mix of workplace learning and day-release for study.
To do this apprenticeship, you'll need:
If you can show a real interest in nail art and have some skills in it, you may be able to get a job as a trainee with a nail salon or beauty spa and learn on the job.
You'll need to:
Working part time in a nail bar or beauty salon will help you learn about different treatments and allow you to develop your customer service and salon skills.
Nail technicians often work freelance. If you're thinking about being self-employed it's useful to find out what sort of business skills you'll need.
You can find out more about working in the beauty industry from the Hair and Beauty Industry Authority.
With experience, you could manage a salon or start your own business.
You could work with photographers, fashion designers or TV companies, preparing nails for photo shoots or fashion shows.
You may want to take further training to learn other beauty techniques or to teach nail art.
You might also move into product sales, selling nail equipment and materials to salons and nail bars.
You'll need: