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Your ear piercing consent form,
and the age rules behind it.

What the rules say about a child’s ears in England, Wales and Scotland, what to ask and write down, and a free blank form to print or send so it’s signed before you pierce.

Clients fill in and sign your consultation forms on their own phone, before they arrive. From £9 a month, free for a week, no card.

Start your free weekFree blank form (PDF)

By Dean Hodgson, founder of Covered Beauty
Published · 6 minute read

What should an ear piercing consent form include?

An ear piercing consent form should take the client’s name, date of birth, address, an emergency contact and their GP, check whether they’re under 18, then ask about smoking, an allergy to metals including nickel, keloid scarring or a bleeding or clotting disorder, and pregnancy or breastfeeding. It ends with the aftercare, their consent and a signature with the date, and a parent’s signed consent for a child. The age rules depend on where you work. In Scotland, a licence condition says ear piercing must not be carried out on a child under 16 unless a person with parental rights and responsibilities is with them and has given their consent in writing. In England, one council says there is no statutory age of consent for ear piercing, so ask your own council. Check the final wording with your insurer.

We make Covered Beauty, which has a ready-made ear and body piercing form, so we’ve said where it fits. Nothing here is legal advice. Your council’s conditions and your insurer’s rules come first.

What are the age rules?

Scotland

The Civic Government (Scotland) Act 1982 (Licensing of Skin Piercing and Tattooing) Order 2006 sets conditions for licensed businesses. For a business that only does ear piercing, the notice in the piercing area must say that ear piercing will not be carried out on any child under 16 unless they’re accompanied by a person with parental rights and responsibilities, who has also given their consent in writing. Businesses that do other skin piercing have the same under-16 rule worded for skin piercing. The Order also says ear piercing uses a sterile cartridge. Check the current wording with your council.

England

We found no national age limit. Leeds City Council’s skin piercing page says there is no statutory age of consent for cosmetic body piercing and ear piercing, and that cosmetic piercing of a minor is lawful if valid consent is given. That is one council’s reading, so ask your own council what it expects.

Wales and Northern Ireland

We didn’t find an age rule for Wales, so ask your council. We haven’t covered Northern Ireland.

Other piercings

We haven’t covered the age rules for those here. Our form’s note to the client tells them to ask their piercer what age rules apply to the piercing they want.

What does our piercing form ask?

Every ready-made form in Covered Beauty starts with the client’s full name, date of birth and home address, so the signed form stands on its own as a record. Then the ear and body piercing form asks:

  • Are you under 18? (yes or no)
  • Emergency contact (name and relationship) (written answer)
  • GP name (so we can follow up if needed) (written answer)
  • Do you smoke? (yes or no)
  • Any known allergy to metals, including nickel? (yes or no)
  • Do you have a history of keloid scarring, or a bleeding/clotting disorder? (yes or no)
  • Are you pregnant or breastfeeding? (yes or no)
  • I understand the aftercare advice given and agree to follow it. (a tick to agree)
  • I confirm the information I’ve given above is accurate, and I consent to this treatment. (a tick to agree)

Its note to the client says the main risk with any piercing is infection while it heals, plus a smaller chance of an allergic reaction to the metal or the piercing migrating or rejecting.

Because it involves a needle or cartridge, the form also opens with a stronger note for you: check it against your insurer’s requirements and your professional body’s guidance before you switch it on. Clients never see that note, and it isn’t on the signed form.

It asks if the client is under 18, but it has no line for a parent. If you pierce children, add one for the parent’s name and signature. It is also the consent, not your piercing record: it doesn’t record the jewellery, the cartridge or the batch, so keep those in the client’s notes.

Do you need a licence to pierce ears?

In England, section 15 of the Local Government (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1982 says that where a council has brought it in, nobody may carry on a cosmetic piercing business unless they’re registered with the council, and only in premises registered for it. Leeds says its registration includes ear piercing.

In Wales, body piercing is one of four special procedures under the Public Health (Wales) Act 2017. Since 29 November 2024, section 58 has meant anyone doing one to someone else in the course of a business needs a special procedure licence, unless exempt. The page doesn’t say whether ear piercing counts, so ask your council. In Scotland, the 2006 Order above is the licence.

How do you get it signed before they arrive?

A child, a parent and a queue make a clipboard slow. Covered Beauty gives you three ways to have the form done first:

  • With their booking. Link the form to your piercing treatments and it goes out with the confirmation, with a reminder 48 hours before if it isn’t done.
  • A private link. Email it, or copy it into WhatsApp or a text. It works for 14 days and only for that client.
  • On your phone or tablet. Set a kiosk PIN, then use Hand to client. It shows only their forms until someone from your team enters the PIN.

The signed form lands on the client’s record, ready to print or download as a PDF, and Covered Beauty keeps it for 7 years from the appointment, or from the day it was signed for a form filled in without a booking, while your account is open. See how online consultation forms work. Try the piercing form free for a week, with no card needed. Forms are on every plan, from £9 a month.

Download the free blank form

It’s an A4 PDF with every question our form asks (listed above), boxes to tick yes or no, a line for your business name, and lines for the client’s signature and yours with the date. The extra questions we suggest aren’t on it, so write in the ones you need. The foot of each page says it’s a free template from Covered Beauty. Print it, keep a few on a clipboard, and check the wording with your insurer first.

Paper still means the client fills it in once they’re at the counter. Send this form before they arrive, free for a week, with no card needed.

Questions about ear piercing consent

What age can you have your ears pierced without a parent in England and in Scotland?

In England, Leeds City Council says there is no statutory age of consent for ear piercing, so ask your own council and your insurer. In Scotland, a licence condition says ear piercing will not be carried out on any child under 16 unless they’re accompanied by a person with parental rights and responsibilities who has also given their consent in writing.

Does the parent need to be there?

In Scotland, yes for a child under 16: the person with parental rights and responsibilities must accompany them and give written consent. In England it depends on your council’s conditions and your insurer, because we found no national rule.

Do I need a licence to pierce ears?

In England, where your council has brought it in, nobody may carry on a cosmetic piercing business unless registered with the council, under section 15 of the Local Government (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1982, and Leeds says that includes ear piercing. In Wales, body piercing is a special procedure that needs a licence, so ask your council whether ear piercing is included. In Scotland, skin piercing businesses need a licence under the 2006 Order. We haven’t covered Northern Ireland.

What should an ear piercing consent form include?

The client’s details and date of birth, whether they’re under 18, an emergency contact and GP, smoking, a metal or nickel allergy, keloid scarring or a bleeding or clotting disorder, pregnancy or breastfeeding, the aftercare and their signed consent. Add a line for a parent’s name and signature if you pierce children. Keep the jewellery, cartridge and batch details in the client’s notes, because our form doesn’t record them.

Is there a free ear piercing consent form template?

Yes. The blank ear and body piercing form on this page is free to download and print, with no sign-up. You can also try the same form in Covered Beauty free for a week, edit every word and send it before the appointment.

Sources

The first two pages were read on 12 November 2026, and the Act and the Welsh pages on 24 October 2026. Our own form questions are printed as Covered Beauty’s ready-made form asks them today.

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