BA in Food Costing and Financial Control
Course Overview
The BA in Food Costing and Financial Control is a three-year UK Level 6 honours degree developing next-generation cost controllers for the food and beverage side of the hospitality industry. Sitting inside the LSCAHM Tourism, Events and Food Business department, the programme is aligned with HOSPA financial-management themes, Institute of Hospitality F&B benchmarks and UKHospitality operating standards, and includes a year-two placement in a hotel F&B office, restaurant group or catering operator.
By graduation you are running food and beverage cost controls, protecting gross-profit lines across menus, and completing a final-year dissertation or capstone commissioned by a UK operator.
Key Features
- Curriculum aligned with HOSPA F&B themes and Institute of Hospitality benchmarks.
- Compulsory year-two placement inside a hotel F&B office, restaurant group or caterer.
- Practical work with recipe-costing platforms, POS and stock-management systems.
- Modules on gross-profit protection, waste and yield analysis.
- Small tutor-visible cohorts across on-campus, online and distance modes.
- Final-year dissertation or sponsor capstone supervised by F&B finance leads.
What You Will Learn
- Cost a dish accurately across raw materials, yield, labour and overhead.
- Protect gross-profit lines through structured menu engineering.
- Manage stock takes, variance investigation and inventory reconciliation.
- Analyse waste, over-portioning and theft across F&B operations.
- Design supplier and purchasing controls for a multi-outlet operation.
- Report weekly and monthly F&B performance to operators.
- Interpret F&B KPIs including CoS, wage-to-revenue and spend-per-cover.
- Present cost-control recommendations to senior operators.
Who This Course Is For
- School leavers targeting F&B cost-control and finance careers.
- Kitchen or F&B staff moving into cost-control roles.
- Advanced Diploma holders progressing to a full UK honours degree.
- International applicants seeking a UK-recognised F&B financial BA.
- Working cost controllers formalising their credentials.
Career Pathways
- F&B Cost Controller
- Purchasing and Cost Controller
- Food Business Analyst
- Menu Engineering Analyst
- Restaurant Financial Analyst
- Group Cost Control Manager
- F&B Business Development Manager
- Catering Financial Controller
The LSCAHM careers service supports every BA cohort with placement matching, alumni introductions and an annual industry-careers day featuring F&B finance functions.
Entry Requirements
- A-levels (or equivalent) at BBB or above, OR a UK Access to HE Diploma with 45 credits at Level 3.
- GCSE English at grade 4/C and Mathematics at grade 4/C (or equivalent).
- IELTS 6.5 overall (no band below 6.0) for non-native English speakers.
- Two academic references and a personal statement outlining your interest in food costing.
- International applicants receive dedicated visa and accommodation support from LSCAHM admissions.
Why Study at LSCAHM
LSCAHM reads F&B financial control as inseparable from kitchen craft and service. BA in Food Costing and Financial Control students share seminars with chefs, restaurant managers and operators, so their recommendations land inside a working operating rhythm.
Central London places restaurant groups, hotel F&B head offices and HOSPA within a short tube ride of every classroom.
Apply for BA in Food Costing and Financial Control
Applications for the BA in Food Costing and Financial Control open across UCAS-cycle and rolling international windows. Apply for the LSCAHM Bachelor's programme with industry placement included and admissions response within one working day. Enrol Now.
