Oh sure, everyone’s freaking out about non-medics injecting Botox in back rooms. It’s an easy headline: “Beauticians turning into butchers”. Cue moral panic.
But while the spotlight’s roasting Susan-from-the-salon, no one’s asking the bigger question:
Who the hell is training all these under-qualified practitioners in the first place?
Welcome to the actual Wild West—the unregulated, unqualified, unaccountable world of aesthetic training academies.
REALITY CHECK: No Rules, No Standards, Just Ring Lights and Canva Certs
Let’s break it down like a shot of hyaluronidase into a migrated lip filler:
No accreditation. No regulation. No oversight. Just a Canva certificate, a ring light, and a bank account ready for Stripe payments.
Some of these so-called “trainers” have more filters on their faces than hours of supervised practice. But hey, they can rent a clinic room (in Harley Street) or a posh central London hotel) for a weekend, so clearly that’s teaching credibility.
And for the poor sods choosing a course:
If the trainer’s IG looks like a Love Island promo and there’s no mention of actual evidence-based education—RUN.
THE STATS THEY DON’T WANT TO TALK ABOUT:
- Half of the aesthetic training academies found by Sky News were set up since 2020. That’s not growth. That’s opportunism.
- No legal requirement to be qualified in anything to open a training academy. You can literally inject once and teach the next day .
- Some courses let you inject on mannequins—and then hand you a certificate like it’s a gym class sticker book .
- Certain Academies will brag about being the only one offering injectables training with no prerequisites required. Literal fast-track to face-poking fame .
- Training "academies" offering virtual (online) full-face basic and advanced certification in two hours for £97. That’s all it takes to legally inject strangers' faces with potentially blinding products.
- Most of them skip teaching critical anatomy or complication management. So students finish these “courses” with no understanding of facial physiology .
FROM ACADEMY TO AMBULANCE: The Pipeline of Danger Here’s how the horror show runs:
- Low-bar entry – No quals needed. Just ambition and Instagram.
- Trash training – Minimal contact hours. No anatomy. No assessments. Some don’t even do hands-on practice.
- False confidence – Flashy certificates and sales pitches like “EARN NINE FIGURES OR 10X YOUR INCOME!” while hiding behind filters.
High-risk injecting – They go out injecting lips and noses without understanding arteries, vascular occlusion, or how to even handle a basic adverse reaction.
Oh, and let’s not forget the first UK fatality in aesthetics
Alice Webb, 33, died after a non-surgical cosmetic procedure in Jan 2024 . More are coming. Dr. Paul Charlson says there’ll be “more deaths and more disfigurement” without proper regulation.
THE MONEY MOTIVE: Fast Cash, Fake Confidence
These academies don’t exist to protect public safety.
They exist to cash in.
- BECOME YOUR OWN BOSS!
- 60 BILLION DOLLAR INDUSTRY!
- Nine-Figure Injector!
They sell dreams to the desperate, not skill to the serious.
And when it all goes wrong? The injector gets blamed. The academy walks free.
No refunds. No accountability. No regulator knocking on their door.
TRUTH BOMB: Training Academies Are the Problem—Not Just the Practitioners
It’s madness. We’ve created a monster:
- The injector is only as good as the training they receive.
- The training is often delivered by unqualified chancers looking to pay their flash car via your CPD budget.
- The public has no clue which certificates are legit and which are just graphic design exercises.
Meanwhile, the government’s playing regulatory hopscotch with half-measures that only cover registered professionals… not the ones teaching hundreds of others without being qualified themselves.
Sparse but promising. A few small studies and anecdotal case series show decent contouring when the platysma’s pulling power is neutralised. But no head-to-head trials, no standardised protocols, and definitely no long-term data.
So why’s everyone jumping on it like it’s the second coming of contour?
Simple.
Because “jawline” sells.
SO, WHAT SHOULD YOU ACTUALLY DO?
If you’re a practitioner thinking about training—or a trainer thinking about levelling up—here’s what you need to demand (or become):
- Minimum of 3–5 years clinical injecting experience
- Proven record of complication management
- Evidence-based curriculum (not TikTok techniques)
- Regulatory alignment (GMC, GDC, NMC)
- Ongoing support and accountability
And if you’re a policymaker or influencer in this space:
Stop pretending this is just a practitioner problem. The training pipeline is broken. Fix the pipe, not just the puddle.
Final Thought:
Aesthetics doesn’t need more injectors. It needs better mentors.
Until we regulate the educators, we’ll keep seeing disasters play out on real faces, from poorly trained hands, handed syringes by someone who probably learned from another TikTok-trained academy queen.
And if you’re still thinking of booking that £97 “masterclass” because it includes a “free ring light”…
Do your future patients a favour: don’t.
