Newcastle College is delighted to announce that its Chefs’ Academy has been awarded the AA College Rosette – ‘Highly Commended’ for the third year running. It has also been named a Centre of Excellence for Food and Beverage and Patisserie and Confectionary, confirming its status as one of the country’s best training providers for the hospitality industry.

Curriculum Leader Phil Pringle said: “As one of a select few colleges in the UK to be presented with these prestigious awards, we are incredibly proud.

“This is a huge achievement for a training establishment. Our product and service is very good, however our students are still learning and adapting to the pressures of our industry. We strive to reach the standards of high-end restaurants, and AA inspectors are very impressed with our offer, so it’s fantastic that we’ve been awarded an AA Rosette for our food and beverage service for the third time.

At the same time we’ve also had our status as a Centre of Excellence reconfirmed by People 1st, which is amazing.”

A representative from People 1st and an AA restaurant inspector attended the college to inspect the Chefs’ Academy and the supporting training facilities. People 1st looked at everything from curriculum operations to management and staffing structure, as well as student and departmental data, before dining in the Chefs’ Academy.

For its report, the AA inspector looked at the whole dining experience in the Chefs’ Academy, from how clean the restaurant is, to how it’s set up - the furniture, the ambience, the cutlery and then of course the food.

Phil added: “I invited some of our local industry partners to have dinner with the inspectors, so that they could get a real feel for how connected we are to our local community, and how we give our students a real working experience.”

The People 1st report – which gave the college an overall mark of 97.9% - included comments about the college’s hospitality learners, industry engagement and resources:

 

  • I especially like the ‘college pig’ project where the college invests in a pig which is reared, butchered and fully utilised – teaching the students farm to fork, and importance of profit that can be made by using the whole animal
  • Local industry is very supportive of the college provision with heavy involvement in guest nights, masterclasses and special events.
  • The physical resources within the college are extensive with good quality training and production kitchens which are well supported with all the equipment provided.
  • We had a very enjoyable dining experience, made possible by the happy and enthusiastic front of house team
  • I was impressed with the confidence of the waitress to return to the table with the full explanation to answer the question that the guest had asked
  • Students at all levels understood the importance of work experience and how it supported them in their career path
  • The team work closely with their suppliers to understand industry trends – ensuring an up to dateup-to-date relevant course is delivered.

The report concluded:

“Newcastle College continues to provide a strong, employer-focused provision at all levels including degree level. With a mix of full time, part-time and apprenticeship provision they are supporting local industry need. High quality resources available with a range of internal and external work experience as well as events and competitions to enrich the learner experience.”