BA in Professional Cookery
Course Overview
The BA in Professional Cookery is a UK Level 6 honours degree running three years full-time, with part-time and accelerated routes. Aligned with Craft Guild of Chefs, City & Guilds (UK) and Royal Academy of Culinary Arts competencies, the programme reads professional cookery as a whole craft covering foundational technique, kitchen leadership, menu development and creative culinary practice.
By graduation you will be running sections in senior kitchen roles, developing signature dishes, leading brigade briefings, and delivering a final-year dissertation or capstone menu project for a restaurant or hotel client.
Key Features
- Level 6 honours structure with a placement year in a UK restaurant, hotel or fine-dining operation.
- Curriculum aligned with Craft Guild of Chefs, City & Guilds and Royal Academy of Culinary Arts standards.
- Practitioner faculty including working head chefs, sous chefs and pastry chefs.
- Live kitchen labs running breakfast, lunch, dinner and event service formats.
- Capstone menu development project including costing, plating and photography.
- Three parallel delivery modes for progressors, working chefs and international students.
What You Will Learn
- Master foundational cookery across stocks, sauces, butchery, pastry and vegetable craft.
- Design multi-course tasting menus with structured technique progression.
- Run brigade rotas, service passes and close-down routines.
- Cost dishes and read gross-profit against menu targets.
- Apply HACCP, allergen and Natasha's Law compliance.
- Lead cross-section briefings during breakfast, lunch and dinner service.
- Develop signature dishes with informed technique and ingredient choices.
- Deliver a dissertation or capstone menu project.
Who This Course Is For
- School leavers moving into professional cookery from A-levels or an Access to HE Diploma.
- Working commis and chef de partie candidates targeting a full honours award.
- International culinary students seeking a UK-recognised BA credential.
- Career changers moving into cookery from another sector with kitchen aptitude.
Career Pathways
- Chef de Partie
- Sous Chef
- Head Chef
- Pastry Chef
- Culinary Development Chef
- Private Chef
- Culinary Entrepreneur
The LSCAHM careers service links BA in Professional Cookery graduates with Michelin-facing restaurants, luxury hotel kitchens, contract catering operations, members' clubs and independent chef-owned businesses across London.
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 commitment to professional cookery.
- International applicants receive dedicated visa and accommodation support from LSCAHM admissions.
Why Study at LSCAHM
LSCAHM is a specialist division of Harold International College of London teaching in small, tutor-visible cohorts with kitchen practicals, live service shifts and event briefs running through every year.
Central London places Michelin-starred kitchens, the Craft Guild of Chefs and the Royal Academy of Culinary Arts within a short tube ride of every classroom, giving cookery students immediate access to the professional standards operating across the city.
Apply for BA in Professional Cookery
Applications for the BA in Professional Cookery open across three intake windows. Apply for the LSCAHM Bachelor's programme, industry placement included, admissions responds within one working day. Enrol Now
