No. As of 11 July 2026 England’s licensing scheme is still at design stage with the highest-risk consultation unpublished, and no English local authority issues cosmetic-procedure licences. Scotland’s council licences start 6 September 2027. Adverts claiming licensing became mandatory in 2026 are wrong, and knowingly or not, they are selling urgency.
Training adverts and academy blogs have spent 2026 claiming the licence is here, variously dating it to spring or July. The verifiable position: England confirmed the shape of a scheme (green, amber and red tiers, local-authority licences, CQC oversight for the highest-risk tier) in the August 2025 government response, and the follow-up consultation needed before any of it operates had not been published by 11 July 2026. Realistic rollout remains 2027 or later.
The devolved picture differs: Scotland’s regime begins 6 September 2027, Wales’s special-procedures licensing does not cover injectables, and Northern Ireland has no scheme. Our licensing tracker is the page we keep current, with sources, and our news analysis covers why the false claims circulate.