The Barber Shop Academy, Sofia

The Barber Shop Academy teaches from Aldomirovska in Sofia, near Konstantin Velichkov metro, and runs a four-week barber course in two formats: a weekend version of 60 hours across five weekends, or a weekday version of 80 to 100 hours Monday to Friday.

The price is 1,300 euros, around 2,542 leva, with instalments available over three, six or twelve payments through a bank partner. Content is organised into four weekly modules covering scissor and clipper work, fade technique, beard shaping, classical wet shaving, client consultation and portfolio building. What sets this entry apart is its schedule: the academy publishes a dated calendar that distinguishes completed intakes from upcoming ones, which is unusually honest and is strong evidence that courses genuinely run rather than being permanently “coming soon”.

One caveat on the credential. The academy describes an official barber certificate from the education ministry, but publishes no NAPOO licence number and names no licensed training centre partner, so we could not verify it. Ask for the number.

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.