Food and Culinary Arts

A chef practises some culinary art (flickr: US Army Africa)

What courses? Food and culinary arts; culinary arts management; food preparation and culinary arts; hospitality and culinary arts; professional culinary arts; cookery; food science; food technology; food and nutritional sciences.

What do you come out with? Generally a BA degree for the more artistic-based courses and a BSc degree for the likes of food technology and food science.

What’s it all about? It's all about learning how the food industry works in terms of contemporary issues related to food service/hospitality systems, food production techniques and approaches to management. Many courses offer the chance to specialise in particular skills, allowing you some flexibility of module choice. Modules across courses include: food and beverage management, wines and spirits, food production, gastronomy, diet and nutrition and menu planning.

What will I need to do it? Requirements vary but on average, 180 to 200 UCAS tariff points plus work experience in a relevant environment.

What are my job prospects? Graduates with degrees relating to food and hospitality go on to work for major food and hospitality employers or often undertake further postgraduate study. Other careers include professional culinary management and culinary artistry for food marketing companies.

Where’s best to do it? According to the Complete University Guide, Kings College London, Leeds, Reading, Newcastle and Nottingham are particularly great for food science.

Related degrees: Hospitality, tourism and leisure; marketing and advertising; and design.