Hospitality & Catering 

“Mother nature is the true artist and it is our job, as cooks, to allow her to shine.”

- Marco Pierre White

Why choose Hospitality & Catering?

Are you creative? Do you like spending time in the kitchen?  Are you passionate about food? Are you interested in diving deeper into your understanding of food? Do you have an interest in health and wellbeing? 


The Vocational Award Level 1/2 in Hospitality and Catering will help you to develop a greater understanding of the careers and businesses that make up the hospitality and catering industry, nutrition and health, and food safety. You will also develop your practical skills in food preparation and presentation. This is an exciting and creative course which will allow you to demonstrate your practical skills and make connections between the theory and practice.


At the completion of this course you will gain a WJEC Level 1/2 Vocational Award in Hospitality and Catering, if you achieve this at Level 2, it is the equivalent to a GCSE course. Vocational qualifications focus your study into a particular field or area of work, this can often help you to better understand the work as it has real-life application.

Welcome to Hospitality & Catering 

Lead Teacher for Hospitality & Catering - Miss K Colgan

Head of DT - Mr H Ridley

In a constantly changing world one thing that never changes is that people need food. Approximately 10% of the UK’s total workforce is made up of people working in the hospitality and catering industry and it is one of the biggest sectors where employment is rising. 


The WJEC Hospitality and Catering course opens the door for many career pathways: chef, baker, barista, hospitality and catering manager,  nutritionist, food developer, food technologist, food writer, food scientist, dietician, health and wellness facilitator. The list goes on!


Whether you choose to enter a career in the hospitality and catering industry or not, in any job you will need to demonstrate good organisational, time management, communication, creativity, problem solving, and planning skills; skills highly sought after by employers.

Exam Board : WJEC

Qualifiaction Type: Level 2 Vocational Award

Assessment : one written exam plus coursework that combines practical and written elements

Exam Length : 

Written exam (40%) - 1hr 30 (40%) 

Coursework (60%) - written investigation 9hrs + practical task 3 hours

What would help? 

Anyone can choose this course, however you may find it easier to access if you are confident in the kitchen and have a genuine interest in learning more about the hospitality or catering industry, as well as the science behind nutrition.

Course Content

The course allows you to develop the knowledge, understanding, and skills required to proactively work in various hospitality and catering based businesses. It will help you to develop an understanding of how the businesses operate, adhere to legislation, and gain success. It will also give you a practical insight into food preparation, cooking, nutrition, and food safety.


You will complete two core units:


Your success in this course will reflect the effort that you put into your coursework with the certification being awarded with varying levels of distinction. After completing this course, you can continue on with your study by completing the Level 3 Diploma in Hospitality and Catering or venture into certificates/diplomas in Food Science and Nutrition, Professional Cookery, or Hospitality and Tourism Management. Additionally, you will have greater opportunities to apply directly for apprenticeships and hands-on experience within the industry and have the knowledge and skills to feed yourself (and others) affordably and healthily for life.

"Learning about different cooking techniques and how to present food is something I never thought I would be doing at school, but it is amazing!" - Y10 student

Methods of Study

Choosing Hospitality and Catering gives you an exciting opportunity to work creatively with a wide variety of ingredients to produce skilled and creative dishes. You will learn skills and techniques in the kitchen which will enable you to prepare, cook, and present restaurant quality food.


You will also be expected to carry out detailed research and present written coursework to a high standard which will demonstrate your understanding of the core topics.


You will spend approximately two hours per fortnight completing practical tasks and three hours per fortnight working towards your written coursework. The practical tasks will reflect the theoretical knowledge you will gain, allowing you to make deeper connections between the theory and practice.

"I like this course because it gives me a chance to learn skills that I can use outside of school and hopefully in a job in the future" - Y11 student

Assessment

The course is made up of two units and each unit is graded separately. However, in order to achieve The WJEC Level 1/2 Vocational Award in Hospitality and Catering both units must be achieved.


Unit 1 - Written exam worth 40% of the qualification:

There will be one written exam which will assess your knowledge of hospitality and catering businesses, health and safety, and food safety. The exam will be 90 minutes long. You can sit this in Year 10 and Year 11 and will be awarded the best mark of the two.


Unit 2 - Non-exam assessment worth 60% of the qualification:

There will be one non-exam assessment that will be a combination of written and practical tasks. This will assess your knowledge in nutrition, menu planning, cooking techniques and skills, and food safety and hygiene. You will have a total of 9 hours to complete the written assessment and 2.5 hours to complete the practical tasks.

Here are some examples of the type of work you could produce for this course next year!

Useful Links