Gogov Barber Academy, Sofia

Gogov Barber Academy is the training arm of a Sofia barbershop group with two sites, in Hladilnika and in Lyulin. Its course is a professional barber qualification programme of 30 days, running Monday to Thursday from 10:00 to 13:00, roughly 84 hours in total.

The curriculum covers three areas: modern cutting technique including fade work; beard shaping using contemporary methods and the straight razor; and eyebrow shaping using threading and razor technique. Places are described as limited and applications go through an online form.

This is the thinnest-documented of the Bulgarian entries and one claim needs flagging clearly. The academy states that the course includes a state certificate of professional qualification for barber at level 2. In Bulgaria that document can only lawfully be issued by a training centre licensed by NAPOO, and the academy names no licence number and no licensed partner centre anywhere on its site. That does not mean the claim is false, it may work through a partner it has not named, but you should ask which licensed centre issues the certificate before paying. No price and no start dates are published either.

On Bulgarian credentials: a state-recognised vocational document can only be issued by a training centre licensed by NAPOO, the national vocational education agency, and licensed centres publish their licence number. Several Bulgarian barbershop academies advertise a state or ministry certificate without naming a licence number or a licensed partner centre. Ask which licensed centre issues the document and what its number is.