Sought-after Cooking Diplomas Enhances Career Opportunities

If you have decided to enrol at a cooking academy to obtain formal training in culinary arts with a view of graduating with a diploma, you are undoubtedly passionate about food and serious about building a career in this challenging, but equally rewarding field. Hobby cooks, or so-called “foodies”, will normally be satisfied with a short course of one or a few days’ duration, where they may be guided through a basic programme or preparation techniques of a few speciality dishes. Thereafter, they may be issued with a certificate confirming their attendance/completion of the programme, rather than a formal, nationally and internationally accredited diploma, which only applies to cooking professionals.

This, however, should not be confused with the training offered by our prestigious cooking school, which specialises in creating outstanding chefs who qualify formally, are in possession of a recognised qualification, and are equipped with sufficient hands-on, practical experience – confident and ready to take up formal employment as a professional chef – as soon as they have graduated.

Significance of an Accredited Cooking Diploma

Career and employment opportunities in all fields of endeavour are increasingly becoming more and more specialised, including those in the fast growing, highly competitive restaurant and hospitality industries.

Likewise, the importance and significance of bona fide training (including teaching institutions), the content of their curricula and top standards required in order to graduate and qualify, cannot be over-emphasised.

Your cooking qualification and the issuing body or bodies make a world of difference to prospective employers, the value of your application, and your employment and career opportunities. It can set you ahead of (or below) the rest of the applicants, of which there are likely to be many.

Upon completion of our chefs’ academy cooking courses, students write both our school’s and City & Guilds’ examinations, which both issue their respective diplomas to successful candidates. Chefs in possession of our qualification are sought-after nationally by our peers and the food industry as a whole.

By combining our diploma with the City & Guilds international qualification, the entire culinary world is open to bearers of both, quite literally. Such graduates find themselves and the skills they have acquired at Prue Leith in demand wherever they may choose to work – here or abroad.

Many of our Prue Leith graduates have gone on to work in some of the most famous kitchens in the world, including those of Jamie Oliver, Gordon Ramsay and the Roux brothers. Locally, renowned and respected executive chefs of world class restaurants frequently invite only our graduates for job interviews – a much esteemed accolade indeed and a measure of their high regard for our training.

Professional Courses

• Grande Diploma in Culinary Arts & Wine
• ALMA “Professional Chef of Italian Cuisine”
• Diploma in Patisserie (6/12 months full-time or 12 months part-time)
• City & Guilds Diploma in Food Preparation and Culinary Arts
• Advanced Diploma in Culinary Arts
• Block Release Programme

While You Are Working

The latter Block Release Programme is presented in a module format to accommodate aspirant chefs who are currently working in the hospitality field, but are still determined to further their studies on a part-time basis and achieve a formal qualification from our academy and City & Guilds.

It is simply great to know that you can earn your cooking diploma without giving up your current job and income, so contact us to find out more.