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Premium, Ofqual-regulated skincare training for ambitious individuals, taking you from your very first day in skincare through to the career you’ve always dreamed of.
MSTA delivers VTCT-regulated Learning Pathways and specialist Executive Skincare Courses, taught by working skincare professionals in the UK.
Find the course you need ↓
Why MSTA
MSTA is a medic-led skincare training academy built by clinicians, for clinicians. We run Ofqual-regulated VTCT qualifications and CPD-certified specialist courses, and we’ve guided over 1,000 ambitious individuals from their first day in skincare into thriving careers with no limits. Whether you’re starting from scratch or sharpening a clinic you already run, with MSTA you learn the skin properly, train hands-on with people who do this for a living, and you’re supported long after the certificate.
Our Learning Pathways lead to VTCT Level 2–6 (and soon Level 7), the regulated qualifications insurers, employers and clients recognise as the standard.
Kirsty Stevenson designs every curriculum and leads the student coaching throughout your entire Learning Pathway. You learn from people who still treat skin for a living.
We're partnered with leading brands, including Dermaceutic, SkinPen, Dermalogica and Mesoestetic, so you learn their protocols properly from the people who know them best.
See it for yourself
Photos only tell you so much. Press play for a proper look at the academy, the cohorts and the way we teach, then come and see whether it feels like your kind of place.
Before you choose
MSTA does things slightly differently. Each training programme we run falls into one of two buckets. The simplest way to think about it: a Learning Pathway builds a career, an Executive Course adds a skill. Here’s how to tell which one you need.
Skincare Learning Pathways
A complete, end-to-end programme focused on helping you achieve an outcome in your career, not a single qualification. Each Skincare Learning Pathway combines Ofqual-regulated VTCT qualifications, CPD-certified training and MSTA-delivered coaching & support programmes, mapped into one smooth journey toward the career you’re working for.
See the pathways↓
Executive Skincare Courses
Focused, CPD-certified Executive Skincare Courses that allow you to acquire a new skill, master a new technique or develop your career. Built and delivered by genuine experts in each skill who practise those skills commercially in the real world.
See the courses↓
Skincare Learning Pathways
A Learning Pathway isn’t a single course. Each one combines Ofqual-regulated VTCT qualifications with CPD-certified training and MSTA coaching, mapped into one route with a single objective: helping you accomplish the career outcome you’re working toward, from wherever you’re starting to wherever you want to end up.
VTCT Levels 2–6 · For total beginners
This is where most of our students start, and most of them start with zero experience. Aesthetic Skincare For Beginners takes you from “I’ve always wanted to do this” to a qualified, insurable, working skincare professional.
You’ll learn the skin properly first (how it works, how it heals, how to treat it safely), then build the hands-on skills and the business confidence to actually go and do it. It’s a bespoke pathway spanning VTCT Levels 2 to 6, built around exactly how far you want to take your career.
VTCT Level 4 · For existing skincare professionals
Our Skincare Learning Pathway designed for existing skincare professionals who are looking to take the next step in their career, and their life. The Ultimate Skincare Professional is our higher-level advanced pathway, with options from VTCT Level 2 & 3 through Level 4 and on to Level 5 & 6, covering advanced aesthetic therapies, complex skin conditions, medium-depth peels and the deepest microneedling.
Whether your objective is to convert your accreditation training into Ofqual-regulated qualifications, go deeper on the treatments you already offer, prepare for possible government regulation, or simply to be the best practitioner you can be, this pathway is the end-to-end journey that takes you there.
Executive Skincare Courses
MSTA’s Executive Skincare Courses are specific, focused trainings, designed in excruciating detail to help students to acquire new skills, master new techniques and develop their career in skincare.
CPD certified · Specialist
Polynucleotides are one of the most in-demand treatments in UK skincare right now, and this is where you learn to do them properly. A focused, CPD-certified course on bio-stimulation protocols, client selection and aftercare, taught by people who use them in clinic every week.
CPD certified · Chemical peels
Chemical peels, done with confidence. BioRePeel Mastery is a CPD-certified deep-dive into BioRePeel protocols: skin-type variations, treatment planning and the results that fill a waiting list. You’ll leave ready to offer it safely the next day.
CPD + MSTA Certified · Programme
A comprehensive professional development programme for working aestheticians who want the full MSTA standard behind their name. CPD certified, with MSTA professional certification. This is the one for practitioners who take their craft seriously and want to prove it.
CPD certified · Clinic business
The bit most academies skip entirely. Our Business School is a CPD-certified programme on the side of skincare nobody teaches you: pricing, client acquisition, retention and scaling. Because a brilliant treatment menu means nothing without the business to support it.
FAQs
If your question isn't here, ask it on a discovery call. We'd rather you got the real answer from a real human.
Skincare courses teach you to diagnose skin conditions, prescribe treatments, perform professional facials and advanced techniques, and build a sustainable client base. They range from CPD certifications (1–2 days) to regulated qualifications (Level 2–6) that take weeks to months. The right course depends on your starting point and career goal.
MSTA's Learning Pathways lead to VTCT Level 2, Level 3, and Level 4 qualifications, the regulated gold standard. You can progress further to Level 5–6 depending on your ambition. Executive Skincare Courses provide CPD certifications in specialist techniques. All qualifications are Ofqual-regulated or CPD-accredited.
It depends entirely on the pathway you choose and where you're starting from. Some students complete the early levels quickly; others build through to Level 4 and beyond over a longer arc. Rather than quote a single timeline that won't match your life, we design the schedule with you on a discovery call.
Level 2 (Foundation) covers skin biology, facial protocols and consultation. Level 3 (Diploma) adds advanced treatments, chemical exfoliation and the business fundamentals every working professional needs. Level 4 (Advanced Diploma) covers advanced aesthetic therapies for skin, including medium-depth chemical peels and professional microneedling, alongside complex skin conditions and clinic-ready protocols. Each level unlocks more of the treatment menu and a wider professional scope.
CPD certifications are available fully online. However, Ofqual-regulated qualifications (Level 2–6) require supervised clinical practice in person. MSTA uses a hybrid model: theory online, hands-on training in-person at one of our three academy locations.
We don't price our courses off a menu. The investment depends on the pathway we design with you: where you're starting from, what you want to specialise in, and how far you want to take the qualifications. That conversation happens on a free 30-minute discovery call. No hard sell, and if it isn't the right fit we'll tell you straight.
No for ASFB (our beginner pathway). You can start with zero background and move just as fast as someone with beauty or wellness experience. We simply scaffold at different paces. Some Executive Skincare Courses require a base qualification (typically Level 2 or equivalent). This is confirmed on the course page.
Yes. All Learning Pathways lead to Ofqual-regulated VTCT qualifications (Level 2–6). Executive Skincare Courses are CPD-accredited. We're also officially accredited by brand partners including Dermaceutic, Circadia, SkinPen, Dermalogica, and Mesoestetic.
Our two flagship academies are in Liverpool (Chapel Street and Rodney Street), and the majority of in-person training runs from there. We also run occasional satellite training from Chocolate Studios in London (rented monthly, not a walk-in academy). Most students attend in-person blocks; the rest of the pathway runs hybrid: online + supervised practice. We help you plan travel efficiently.
You can launch a mobile clinic, join an existing aesthetic practice, build a high-value client base, and progress further to Level 4 and beyond. MSTA provides four months of post-course coaching and lifetime alumni community access, including monthly calls with world-class educators.
Still reading?
Starting from scratch or levelling up, there’s a pathway here with your name on it. Grab the brochure to see everything in one place, or book a free discovery call: 30 minutes, no hard sell, and if we’re not the right fit we’ll tell you straight.
Raise the standard. We’ll show you how.
Keep exploring
Our flagship pathway from complete beginner to qualified, insured professional.
The advanced Level 4 pathway for practitioners ready to go further.
See every upcoming course date and reserve your place.
Hundreds of graduates, real careers, real proof.
The complete, no-fluff guide for 2026.
Who we are, why Kirsty built this, and what we stand for.
