Welcome to the Young Chef of The Year Award, an innovative award making a difference to children and their families, with over 4,000 children across the UK and Ireland completing the challenge to date.

This award is for Year 5 or 6 pupils (ages 9-11) written by teachers for teachers, which covers the Key Stage 2 National Curriculum for ‘Cooking and Nutrition’, the new statutory Relationships education, relationships and sex education (RSE) and health education Curriculum (2020/21) and other curriculum areas such as English, Science, Maths, Geography, ICT and Art and Design.

It also links to Ofsted’s new Common Inspection Framework by ‘Creating a culture and ethos of healthy eating’ (2022) as it supports pupils to gain knowledge of how to keep themselves healthy and make informed decisions about healthy eating.

The award contains 6 lessons that can be delivered during an enrichment week, weekly or across a school year with pupils designing and creating a ‘Meal for their Hero’. The meal includes a soup, main course, dessert and drink within a £10 budget. Children learn chef skills, seasonality, cooking methods, food hygiene and safety, where food comes from and the importance of food for health. It provides an opportunity to link with local Secondary schools, which also supports pupil transition.

The award is also supported by the College of Medicine and Integrated Health and accredited by the Nutritional Therapy Education Commission.

Please take a look at our 2019/2020 Impact Report: UK and Ireland.