What is the Licence to Cook?

Cooking entitlement
"The entitlement to cook will mean that every young person who wants to, can learn basic cooking skills through dedicated lessons in food preparation techniques, diet and nutrition, hygiene and safety, and wise food shopping. This will be in addition to changes in Food Technology that the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority is already considering to make lessons more practical." Alan Johnson, September 2006

Students gain a Licence to Cook
The Licence to Cook (L2C) is a national programme led by a consortium group comprised of the British Nutrition Foundation (BNF), The Design and Technology Association and the Specialist Schools and Academies Trust (SSAT).

It is designed to address the standards, skills and knowledge that support food education, ensuring that teachers and related professionals are confident in their subject knowledge and skills, and that schools are equipped to deliver a sustainable programme.

It was introduced in September 2008 and, since that time, about 3,000 maintained secondary schools have registered for the programme and attended the free training to learn how to access and use the free online programme resources.

Further support for food in schools
Alongside the introduction of the L2C programme, funding was made available to recruit and train more food teachers, provide training for Higher Level Teaching Assistants (HLTAs) to specialise in food, set up food rooms where such facilities did not already exist and provide free online resources and training in teaching practical food work.

A subsequent government decision took this change of policy to the next level by announcing that the teaching of practical cooking skills would become a compulsory part of the food technology curriculum at KS3 in September 2011. At the same time funds would be available to schools to subsidise the cost of cooking ingredients for those young people who were eligible for free school meals, thereby ensuring that no student is disadvantaged.

What happens next?
The proposal was that the curriculum would be delivered through food technology lessons involving practical cooking lessons and classes on diet, nutrition, hygiene and healthy food shopping. The revised National Curriculum Programmes of Study, introduced in September 2008, deliberately focus on practical cooking skills and knowledge, and less on food manufacturing processes, packaging and marketing. The plan, then, was for the curriculum that already exists to have its status changed from optional to statutory in September 2011. Ed Balls said “simple cooking is a fundamental skill that every person should master – it is at the heart of tackling obesity and will enable future generations to understand food, diet and nutrition, and put together healthy meals for their entire lives."

However, the recent change in government might mean that this development in educational policy is under threat. The new education bill will be announced in the autumn term. Press releases indicate that changes are being discussed by the Coalition government. Until then, the DCSF (now DfE)-funded food curriculum programmes, including Licence to Cook, are continuing as normal but there is no guarantee that cooking will now become compulsory in 2011.

Further information
For more information and to register for training please visit the Licence to Cook website.

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