Catering, Cookery and Hospitality

Professional cookery programmes provide the culinary skills and knowledge needed to produce a wide variety of dishes, and prepare you for working in the catering and hospitality industry.

Learn about food safety, nutrition, and menu planning, as well as cooking techniques and kitchen management. These programmes provide hands-on training in a wide range of different cuisines. 

Jobs range from those preparing, cooking and serving food and drink, to welcoming guests and housekeeping behind the scenes. Some jobs are highly creative, such as that of a skilled chef.

Most jobs involve dealing with the public, so staff must be friendly, polite, have an outgoing personality and, most importantly, enjoy giving good customer service. Many people in catering and hospitality work for hotels, restaurants, canteens, pubs, clubs and leisure resorts. Catering services also cover, for example, schools and colleges, hospitals, nursing homes, railways, airlines and cruise ships.

The catering and hospitality industry employs approximately 2.9 million people, equivalent to 9% of the UK workforce*. Jobs can be found throughout the UK, and there are also opportunities to work overseas. Employment prospects are good. It is often possible in large organisations to become a supervisor or manager.

Meet our students Riley Coleman

Riley Coleman

I enjoyed the comfort and atmosphere of the course; I feel I learned and achieved a lot in the two years I studied professional cookery and I am very appreciative of the help and encouragement I was given by my lecturer.

Professional Cookery