Overview
Becoming a Chef de Partie is a proud milestone in any chef’s journey. Often called the “section chef,” this role gives you the chance to take ownership of a specific part of the kitchen—whether it’s fish, meat, pastry, or sauces—and make it your own. A Chef de Partie ensures that every dish leaving their section meets the highest standards of quality, flavour, and presentation.
Our Chef de Partie Training Programme is designed for chefs looking to refine their technical skills and gain valuable industry experience. Working closely with experienced chefs, you’ll learn to lead a section and support your team. You’ll focus on the essentials that make a great kitchen run smoothly, developing precision, timing, and teamwork.
This is a hands-on, supportive learning experience designed to help you master your craft while developing the leadership skills that will carry you forward. By the end of the programme, you’ll not only have sharpened your technical ability but also built the confidence to take the next step, whether that’s leading your own team or moving up to a Sous Chef role. It’s your opportunity to shape your own style, inspire others, and lay the foundation for a rewarding culinary career.
Curriculum Delivery
The qualification will be delivered within the college and workplace, with ongoing support from a dedicated performance coach.
College attendance is required for one day per week (Monday) throughout the duration of the apprenticeship, working with your employer for the remainder of your contracted hours. During your time in college, you will work towards developing your knowledge, skills and behaviours, and at work will consolidate your on-programme learning with the support of your employer. An assessor will visit the workplace every 10-12 weeks to discuss and monitor progress on the apprenticeship in conjunction with your employer.
What will I study?
This apprenticeship will give you the knowledge, skills and behaviours required to work as a Chef de Partie;
the emphasis is on culinary skills, team management, health and safety and all business aspects of the hospitality industry. You will also develop a deeper understanding of preparing and cooking a range of commodities including fish, shellfish, meat, poultry, game, offal, vegetables, stock, sauces, soup, bread and dough, pastry, cakes, and hot and cold desserts, with the ability to transfer this knowledge to junior members of the team.
Other knowledge covered includes:
- impacts of seasonality, availability
- quality and price of ingredients
- costing and yield of dishes, and the meaning of gross profit
- food safety legislation
- professional behaviours and organisational culture
- how to support and develop team members
End-Point Assessment (EPA)
Continual assessment will take place throughout the apprenticeship.
The End-Point Assessment (EPA) will comprise the following:
- Observation with questions, which takes 3.5 hours with a minimum of 8 questions
- Professional discussion underpinned by a portfolio of evidence, which is 90-minutes, with a minimum of 12 questions asked based on the portfolio that you have compiled during your apprenticeship
- Knowledge test consisting of 50 multiple-choice questions
Progression
This Level 3 programme builds on the foundations of the Level 2, focusing on technical proficiency, managing a kitchen section, supervising others, and contributing to menu development. It offers clear mapping of skills, knowledge, and behaviours so apprentices and employers see a structured journey, rather than a standalone qualification. By the end of the programme, you’ll be ready to lead your own team or move up to a Sous Chef role.
Typically 20% off-the-job training
Since the introduction of new style apprenticeships in May 2017, it’s been a requirement that every apprentice spends at least 20% of their time on off-the-job training. The required 20% off-the-job training hours will be calculated via the apprentices contracted hours of work, holiday entitlement and length of programme and will be clearly specified in our commitment statement. This requirement doesn’t have to be a daunting prospect – and doesn’t even mean the apprentice has to be away from their workplace 20% of the time.
Apprentice wages
Every apprentice must be paid a lawful wage for the time they are in work and in off the-job training. The employer must meet the cost of the apprentice’s wages. An employer can only pay the apprenticeship minimum wage from the start of the apprenticeship programme and not before. You can find information on the national minimum wage, the apprenticeship rate, and the definition of an employee on GOV.UK.