Skip to the main content
Go to the search page

Key details

Course area
Catering and Hospitality
Student type
16 - 18 courses
Course type
Full-time Further Education course
Course level
Level 2
Start date
Tuesday 1st September 2026
Location
City Hub 111 Canal Street, Nottingham, NG1 7HB
Course code
Parent course code:C000225 Child course code: Q001319
Apply now

Course introduction

This course is perfect if you love the buzz of being in a kitchen and creating tasty and inspiring dishes. You’ll turn your passion into a career with this, which is designed to turn you into a professional cook.

You’ll learn how to plan and prepare different meals on a large scale, how to cook meat, fish, poultry, soups, salads and pastry dishes, and you’ll do so whilst ensuring your kitchen is a safe working environment.

You can expect to put your skills to the test in a real working environment. You’ll work with a range of industry-standard kitchen equipment and get plenty of practical cooking experience, including experience cooking for a range of customers. We’ll help you secure work experience to give you a greater insight into our developing, exciting industry.

A group of people standing around a banner stating 'Nottingham College - you're in good hands'.

You will be encouraged to participate in a 30-hour work placement while you are studying.

Read more

Course information

1 year

Level 2 City & Guilds NVQ Diploma in Professional Cookery

You will need:

  • At least 2 GCSEs including English Language and maths at grade 3 or above (E and above); or
  • A relevant Level 1 vocational qualification with English Language and maths at grade 3 or above (E and above)

Functional Skills Level 2 can be used as an equivalent to GCSE 

With this you will be asked to take an initial assessment, and this must show that you are ready to study English and maths at the next level. 

Assessment is continuous throughout the course.

Choose to follow with further study at Nottingham College on our Level 3 NVQ Professional Cookery Diploma or you could go into an apprenticeship in a local or national restaurant.

Students aged 16-18 don't have to pay tuition fees.

If you are aged 19 or over you may still be eligible for funding. Check out our Financial Help pages to find out more!

If you are an EU/EEA or Swiss National, please visit our EU Settled Status scheme page for more information.

Meet Grace - learn how an apprenticeship in a restaurant helped her career goals

Careers related to this course

Select career:

Chefs

Potential Earnings

£34,841.52

Average Earnings

£23,154.99

Source: Office for National Statistics' Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (ASHE).

Pathways

Accommodation, Travel and Food Services

People in these occupations provide lodging, travel, and tourism support services and prepare and serve food and beverages.

Skills

Monitoring

Monitoring/Assessing performance of yourself, other individuals, or organizations to make improvements or take corrective action.

Critical Thinking

Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions or approaches to problems.

Active Learning

Understanding the implications of new information for both current and future problem-solving and decision-making.

Learning Strategies

Selecting and using training/instructional methods and procedures appropriate for the situation when learning or teaching new things.

Speaking

Talking to others to convey information effectively.
View more about this career

Economic data for careers is provided by Lightcast and also available through our Career Coach app. Job postings, employment and earnings information is represented at the regional level for the East Midlands.

Advanced Professional Cookery (Level 3 City & Guilds Diploma) - Full-time

Hospitality Supervision and Leadership (Level 3 City & Guilds NVQ Diploma) - Full-time

Introduction to Hospitality and Catering (SEND) (Entry 3) - Full-time