WJEC Award in Hospitality and Catering - Key Stage 4

What will students do in this subject?

You will learn information and skills that are relevant to any job that requires you to work with food and you will develop a wide variety of advanced practical skills.  Catering needs attention to detail and a professional approach to producing dishes of a high standard is especially important.   

The key topics covered are: 

- The Hospitality Industry 
- Hygiene and Safety 
- Nutrition 
- Menu Planning 
- Catering for specialist diets  

Course content

The course is split into two units: 

Unit 1
The Hospitality and Catering Industry; this unit develops your understanding of the industry.  You will learn about various establishments and providers, job opportunities, meeting customer needs, legislation and the ways within outlets operate. This unit is assessed by an online examination. 

Unit 2
Hospitality and Catering in Action; This unit requires you to safely plan, prepare, cook and present dishes for different groups and their specific dietary requirements. 

How will I learn?
You will have a variety of written and practical tasks in Year 10 to enable you to build on your skills and knowledge ready for the controlled assessment and exam in Year 11. 

How will I be assessed? 
You will be continually assessed during the course. You will know what you have done well and what you need to improve on in order to achieve the highest marks. The practical cooking is internally assessed and will count for 60% of your final grade. The written exam makes up the remaining 40%. Your Unit 2 assessment is carried out in exam conditions.  You will have carried out practise assignments and will be confident in what is required of you. This assessment takes 9 hours to complete from start to finish.  You will be graded: Pass, Merit, Distinction or Distinction *. 

Will there be any controlled assessments? 
Unit 1 – You will complete an online assessment lasting for 90 minutes. 
Unit 2 – Control assessed task. This will be based on a task set by the exam board.  It is marked by your class teacher and moderated by the exam board. 

Will there be any Independent study? 
Throughout years 10 and 11 you will be required to complete set homework tasks. These are important to help you make notes in preparation for your assessments. You may also be asked to carry out practical cooking tasks at home and email pictures and information into your class teacher. Controlled assessments will be completed in exam conditions during the school day. 

What might the subject lead into?

The WJEC Level 1 / 2 award in Hospitality and Catering has been designed to support learners who want to learn about this vocational sector. It is most suitable as a foundation for further study providing a core depth of knowledge and a range of specialist and general skills that will support your progression to further learning and employment. 

Learners completing the Level 1 / 2 award in Hospitality and Catering may be interested in progressing to Level 3 qualifications. There are also a wide variety of food, nutrition, and hospitality related courses available at University or apprenticeships available.