Skills Academies

Helping Londoners get jobs in restaurants, kitchens and hospitality

Hospitality is one of London’s most important industries, providing jobs for 568,000 people and contributing £17billion gross value added to the London economy. In January 2022 there were over 6,000 jobs advertised in London, offering excellent career prospects. Staff and skill shortages are present across all key sub-sectors including food and beverage, accommodation, entertainment, and tourism.

The Mayor’s Skills Academies aims to support Londoners hardest hit by the pandemic into good work in sectors key to London’s recovery and long-term economic growth, as part of the London Recovery Programme. It will do this by providing financial support for the coordination and quality marking of training in London (including adult education) and the provision of bespoke support to help newly skilled people into work in our priority sectors.

We provide free training opportunities and support packages to help you get a job in the hospitality sector. We do this by providing bespoke flexible learning programmes to fit around your circumstances and availability. Our aim is to give you the confidence and skills you need to be employable within 3 to 5 weeks, and a guaranteed job interview with an employer who is accredited with the Good Work Standard. For those who need that extra support we work with ESF Academies to ensure everyone can benefit from our Academies and sector opportunities. 

Our Mayor’s Skills Academies are all credited by The Quality Mark which identifies our academies to be excellent, industry-relevant training in the capital. The Quality Mark Statement also represents our commitment to including a combination of sector specific questions, and wider cross cutting issues like diversity and inclusion, sustainability, Good Work and the engagement of under-represented groups.

Mayor’s Skills Academies

The Mayor of London’s Skills Academies supports Londoners get into careers and the capital’s long-term economic growth as part of the Mayor’s London Recovery Plan in response to the COVID pandemic.

Westminster Kingsway College, as part of Capital City College Group (CCCG), has secured funding to run this academy.

In total, CCCG has secured £1.5 million £1.5 million to run four academy hubs to help Londoners into Good Work and reduce the employment gap between different groups of Londoners, this includes people who are newly unemployed as well as people facing inequality and who are underrepresented in each sector:

• Creative Academy Hub
• Digital Academy Hub
• Green Academy Hub
• Hospitality Academy Hub

Mayor ESF (European Social Fund) Skills Academies

Depending on your individual learning situation, we can offer additional support through the Mayor’s ESF Skills Academy to:

• Incorporate effective careers advice and guidance, job search support, employer contact and occupational profiling to help you find the job that’s right for you.
• Combine effective wrap around support, personal support, and employability support to help you become fully confident and develop experience, skills and competencies needed to secure employment.
• Improve your chances of securing employment with organisations that are committed to “Good Work”; to ensure you have regular working patterns and London living wage.
• Incorporate employer led training to equip you with the skills that are directly sought by employers.

Empowering under-represented groups and low-income households

The training and employment available through the Mayor of London’s Skills Academies is tailored to meet the needs and aspirations of under-represented groups and low-income households, and addresses the entrenched and structural barriers that prevent these groups from accessing sustainable Good Work opportunities. These groups include

• People from Black and ethnic minority groups
• Women  
• Unemployed people
• People earning below the London living wage  
• Young people  
• Lone parents and people with caring responsibilities 
• Disabled people 
• People aged 50+

Mayor’s Academy of Hospitality (MAH) Certificates are endorsed by Industry partners. Study options include:

• Introduction to Culinary skills – This course will prepare you for work in a professional kitchen giving you the skills and understanding to safely prepare dishes in any commercial environment.
• Introduction to Food and beverage service – This course will prepare you for work in Hospitality front of house, giving you the skills and understanding to work at many leading establishments
• Introduction to Bakery & pastry – This course will prepare you for work in a professional kitchen and/or bakery giving you an introduction to the skills and knowledge required to prepare some basic desserts, breads & baked goods.
• Barista skills
• Mixologist 
• Level 2 and level 3 food hygiene and safety in catering
• Level 2 Wine and spirits appreciation

All the above courses are available throughout the week and run for 3 to 5 weeks, and are available full or part time, all year round (with some content available on Saturdays to help suit your circumstances). We have a lot of upskilling options at CCCG, so please do get in touch if you have any skill or specialism queries.

Student Testimonials

“WestKing prepared me and got me ready for the industry and working in a professional environment. [They] believed in me and helped me to succeed.”

ALFIE

Westminster Kingsway College

Alfie studied for three years on a full-time Professional Chef Diploma Course at Westminster Kingsway College. Alfie has an Educational Health Care Plan (EHCP) and required support within the kitchens and classrooms during his time with us. Alfie found that multi-tasking was one of the hardest aspects for him to cope with, but with in-class support to refocus him he managed to achieve a Level 3 professional cookery qualification.

During his time with us, Alfie was assigned a Learning Support Assistant to work alongside him during the course. The practical work was always completed by Alfie, but the support he received helped him to manage and organise his time to help him achieve his qualification.

At the end of the course, Alfie was recruited to the Smith & Wollensky Steakhouse restaurant in central London. He has just completed his probationary period and they are talking about promotion in the New Year. Additionally, Alfie was awarded the Special Achievement award at the Graduation of Class of 2021 for his resilience and achievement despite the challenges he faced.

Our facilities and training

The Hospitality Academy Hub has access to 15 operational kitchens and two training restaurants at our Victoria centre.

Our award-winning Hospitality and Culinary Arts department has supported more than 2,000 students into hospitality careers in the last two years. The Hospitality Academy Hub combines this experience with a range of new initiatives to provide flexible wrap-around training and professional development, including: 

• Workshops in specific personal and employability skills, for example resilience, customer service, communication. 
• Insight sessions into roles within the hospitality industry
• Introductory bite-sized units where you can get a first insight
• Access to specialist training (for example, our Chefs and Bakers Academies)
• Short courses
• Multiple step-on and step-off points for greater flexibility
• Free additional courses up to Level 3 in a wide range of areas
• Individual support to address barriers to employment
• Personal tutors
• Mentoring 
• Apprenticeships and work experience including pre-apprenticeships and pre-employment training. 
• Industry engagement and careers support sessions with employers
• Hospitality and jobs fairs attendance across London  
• Work experience
• Equipment
• Help with job applications, writing your CV and cover letters
• Personalised Information Advice and Guidance, careers advice and Job search.
• Tailored Sector employability workshops 
• Award in employability L1 and L2
• Advice and guidance for self-employment

Learn catering and hospitality skills with some of the biggest names in the sector

The Hospitality Academy Hub training programmes are co-designed with some of the biggest names in the catering sector to give you an accessible and direct career pathway. Your learning includes work experience with our partner employers, so you get real-life experience and skills which you can put into practice immediately.

Organisations we work with include:

• Sodexo, one of the largest catering services employers 
• Fuller’s, a leading employer creating unique premium pub and hotel experiences, award-winning ales, craft lagers/ciders, and chef-led kitchens 
• The Ivy Group, a portfolio of 14 restaurants across London 
• Atul Kochhar Restaurant Group, a portfolio of 7 restaurants, with additional openings announced 
• CH&CO, a collection of specialist businesses and market-leading brands in the catering and hospitality sector 
• Lexington, a leading hospitality and catering provider with a variety of cafes and restaurants in their portfolio
• The Craft Guild of Chefs, Royal Academy of Culinary Arts, The Worshipful Company of Cooks, Institute of Hospitality, UK Hospitality – representing a plethora of employers in the hospitality industry. We work with them to shape the skills and employment provision in line with short, medium, and long-term industry needs to maximise career opportunities, and make the hospitality sector more inclusive. 
• The Central District Alliance (CDA) Business Improvement District (BID) is the collective voice of over 400 enterprises in Camden’s Holborn, Bloomsbury and St Giles and Islington’s Farringdon and Clerkenwell neighbourhoods. They represent a highly diversified commercial and cultural base of creative, educational, legal, medical, professional, scientific, and technological brands of global significance – generating a contribution to London’s GVA second only to the city. One of the BID’s core priorities is addressing the economic recovery of the Capital, in particular focusing on the hospitality and digital industry and creating opportunities for both the businesses and communities within the district to thrive.

The Craft Guild of Chefs, Royal Academy of Culinary Arts, The Worshipful Company of Cooks, Institute of Hospitality, UK Hospitality – represent a plethora of employers in the hospitality industry. We work with them to shape the skills and employment provision in line with short, medium, and long-term industry needs to maximise career opportunities, and make the hospitality sector more inclusive.

We are looking for employer partners to offer interview/trial days to our graduates of these programmes. If you are interested in taking part or would like to speak to us about a bespoke upskilling short course for your back-of-house or front-of-house team, then please register your details in the form below or email vince.kelly@westking.ac.uk

How to apply

We have a wide range of short courses that are available as part of our Hospitality Academy. If you are interested in training with us, please fill in your details on the form below and one of our team members will get in contact with you to discuss your options and help you apply.

Courses include:

• Mayors Academy of hospitality and certificate in bakery and pastry
• Mayors Academy of hospitality and introduction to culinary skills
• Mayors Academy of hospitality and introduction to food and beverage service

Alternatively, you can check out our full list of WestKing courses here. If you are unsure of which study path to take, check out our level equivalence table.

Interested in joining our Hospitality Academy Hub? Contact us by filling in the form below.

We look forward to hearing from you!