THE GLAM 70-20-10 FRAMEWORK
You cannot learn a craft by reading about it. Our courses are built around how people actually learn one — you practise it, someone who has done the job looks at your work and tells you what to change, and you go again until it is yours.
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Jump to what the model is, the four stages, why it works, or what it looks like on a course.
What Is The GLAM 70-20-10 Framework?
Think about anything you are genuinely good at. You did not get there by reading about it. You got there by doing it badly, finding out why, and doing it again. That is the whole idea behind this page.
We Did Not Invent These Numbers
The 70-20-10 split came out of research at the Center for Creative Leadership in the 1980s, by Morgan McCall, Michael Lombardo and Robert Eichinger. They asked successful people where their skill had actually come from. The answer was roughly 70% from doing the job, 20% from the people around them, and 10% from formal study. It has been a reference point in professional training ever since.
We did not make it up and we are not claiming it as a trade secret. We built our courses around it because it describes what really happens when somebody learns a practical trade — and because most beauty training still gets the ratio the wrong way round.
GLAM is our name for the four stages that put it into practice: Gain knowledge, Learn by doing, Apply and assess, Move forward.
It describes how a course is built, not a timetable. The balance shifts from one course to another, and a technique that needs more practice gets more practice.
The Four Stages
Read down the spine: Gain, Learn, Apply, Move forward. Three stages carry the percentages. The pink one has no share of its own because it happens all the way down.
Gain Knowledge10%
The theory behind the technique and the essentials of working properly — why a treatment is done the way it is, and what good practice looks like.
Learn By Doing70%
Recorded demonstrations and guided practice. You work through each technique yourself and build the hours, at your own pace, with lifetime access to come back to it.
Apply & AssessThroughout
You submit case studies, our assessors mark them and write back, and you resubmit as many times as you need. It is not a stage you reach and leave behind — it is how you find out whether the practice is working, at every step. Complete the assessments and you receive an accredited certificate.
Move Forward20%
The 20%: the people around you. Business training, written tutor feedback and the private student groups — the guidance that keeps you going after the certificate.
Why It Works
The honest worry about online training is whether you can really learn a practical skill at your own table, without a tutor standing over you. This is our answer to it.
- You practise the technique yourself, as many times as it takes — nobody is watching the clock
- An assessor looks at your actual work, not a multiple-choice quiz
- Feedback comes back in writing, so you know exactly what to change
- You can resubmit as often as you need — there is no one-shot pass or fail
- Lifetime access, so you can come back to a technique a year later
- You set the pace, around work, children or whatever else you have on
What it will not do is make you a technician overnight, and we would not claim otherwise. The hours are yours to put in. What this model does is make sure every one of them is pointed in the right direction, and that somebody who has done the job is checking.
What It Looks Like On A Course
The same shape, every time.
Enrol
You get the course on our training portal straight away, with lifetime access.
Watch
Victoria demonstrates each technique on video, start to finish.
Practise
You work through the technique yourself, as many times as you need.
Submit
You send in your case studies through the portal.
Feedback
An assessor marks the work and writes back. Resubmit as often as you need.
Certificate
Complete the assessments and your accredited certificate is issued.
See it on a real course: most people start with our beginner nail courses or the Complete Nail Technician Course. You can also browse all nail courses and beauty courses.
What Our Students Say
I am currently doing the Ultimate Nail Course which covers all nail techniques. The courses have step by step videos and PDF documents giving you all the information you need to build up your skills and confidence. You can do each course in your own time without any deadlines. Once each course is completed and passed, you can download your certificates from the online learning portal.
Alix
I am currently doing the full nail tech course from home. I've found all the information very helpful, the video tutorials are extremely helpful and very clear, I always refer back to them when I need a little reminder. There is no pressure to finish a course within a certain time. Being a stay at home mum this makes me achieve my goals at my own pace without added pressure.
Rochelle Oconnell
I was losing hope of becoming a nail technician as it was hard, until I got to this course. The course gave me lots of knowledge which I always thought I didn't need to do nails, which I was mistaken about. Everything is explained and shown in a really amazing way and I'm happy that I found this place. For sure I will do more courses and I would recommend it to everyone.
Atka
Taught by Victoria Arpels
Founder of Next Step Beauty since 2008
Victoria trained in beauty therapy, worked in a busy spa and lectured in further education colleges before founding Next Step Beauty. She demonstrates the techniques in the nail course videos herself, so you learn them from someone who has done the job and taught it. And she works alongside the tutor team on case-study feedback and in the private student groups, so the practical work you send in is seen by people who know what they are looking for.
Meet Victoria →Framework FAQs
What students ask about how the learning works.
Does Every Course Split Exactly 70-20-10?
No. The numbers describe how the model is built, not a timetable. The balance shifts from course to course, and a technique that needs more practice gets more practice.
What Does The 20% Actually Mean?
The people around you: written feedback from our assessors, the private student groups, and the business training that comes with the course.
Is There A Written Exam?
No. You are assessed on the practical work you submit, not on a written paper.
What If My Work Does Not Pass First Time?
You resubmit. There is no limit, and the assessor tells you in writing what to change.
How Long Does A Course Take?
That is up to you. Courses are self-paced with lifetime access, so you can take a few weeks or a few months.
What Do I Get At The End?
An accredited certificate for the course you have completed. The exact accreditation is listed on each course page.
Start Where You Are
Every course we run is built this way. Most people begin with one treatment and add to it once they have the first one under their hands — you do not have to decide the whole career today.
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