The Mayor’s Skills Academies aims to support Londoners hardest hit by the pandemic in good work 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 to 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 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.
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:
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 address the entrenched and structural barriers that prevent these groups from accessing sustainable Good Work opportunities. These groups include
Mayor’s Academy of Hospitality (MAH) Certificates are endorsed by Industry partners. Study options include:
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, so please do get in touch if you have any skill or specialism queries.
“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.”
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 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 the class of 2021 for his resilience and achievement despite the challenges he faced.
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:
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:
The Craft Guild of Chefs, the Royal Academy of Culinary Arts, the Worshipful Company of Cooks, the Institute of Hospitality, and 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.
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:
Alternatively, you can check out our full list of WestKing Hospitality and Culinary Arts 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!