About
Turn your love for bakery and pâtisserie into a rewarding career.
If you have a passion for pâtisserie or just love to bake, studying at Reaseheath is the perfect way to develop your skills.
What’s particularly great about our bakery courses is that they are all primarily practically based, which means you’ll spend the majority of your time at college working in our bespoke bakery.
Our facilities are the same as you would expect to see in industry, and they include a breadmaking room, pâtisserie area, chocolate room and cake decorating room. From baking in our industrial sized ovens and preparing products for sale on campus to creating bespoke baked goods, confectionery and chocolates, no two days in the bakery industry are ever the same.
Courses
Student Success
Dan Bestwick
Job Title: Pâtisserie Chef
Previous Courses: Level 2 Diploma in Bakery and Patisserie 2018
Level 3 Diploma in Bakery and Patisserie 2019
“I came to Reaseheath after GCSEs because I knew it would be the best place for me to learn the skills I needed. The college has a great reputation for its food courses and fantastic facilities, equal to any you’d find in industry.
“Learning in depth about making chocolate and bread was an eye opener, particularly at Level 3 when you learn about the science and methodology of baking.
“I got a part-time job as a chef at a restaurant while I was still studying and I was offered a full time job there as soon as I finished my course. There are so many careers in the food industry with opportunities for travel. In the future I may specialise as a chocolatier.”
Find out more
Why study Bakery, Pâtisserie and Confectionery at Reaseheath?
You’ll be taught by supportive and professional staff, all of who have a range of industry experience.
Explore new product development ideas and get creative in our state-of-the-art food centre.
Enhance your CV by completing additional certificates in food safety and health, risk assessment and HACCP safety.
Learn modern and traditional methods in your cake decorating lessons.
Join study trips to companies across the UK, ranging from behind-the-scenes visits to large industrial bakeries to lectures from internationally recognised cake designers.
Meet influential pâtisserie chefs and bakers during your work placement.
Where could your career take you?
Bakery is one of the biggest and fastest growing areas of the food and drink manufacturing industry. Every day, millions of loaves of bread and baked goods are made and sold around the world. In this sector, you’ll never stop learning and developing your skills.
There’s plenty of opportunities to turn your passion for puddings, pâtisserie and all things baking into a rewarding career. Here’s an idea of what some of our students have gone on to do:
- Artisan baker
- Cake decorator
- Bakery operative
- Pâtisserie chef
- Bakery engineer
Where you’ll be studying
From full-scale chocolate manufacture to proving, pastry lamination, mixing and product bake off, our small-scale state-of-the-art commercial bakery has all the capabilities and diversity expected within large-scale manufacturing. This means when you’re working in the bakery, you are getting real life experience of working in an industry setting, gaining vital preparation for going into employment.
What’s unique about our food centre is we’re British Retail Consortium Grade AA (Issue 7) accredited. We are the only educational institution in the world to be awarded with this BRC food safety standard, so we’re well respected throughout the industry. It also means that when you make products on-site, you’ll have the chance to sell them at special events and throughout the year on campus.
From classroom to competitions
You’ll learn a host of skills during your time as a bakery student. From the basics like making the perfect sponge cake, decorating it using your newly found skills in cake decorating, using sugar paste, royal icing and modelling paste, to designing biscuits, chocolates and pastries – there’s so much variety!
Industry links
One of the great things about studying professional bakery at Reaseheath is our key industry links and partners. We have a great relationship with Renshaw’s Academy, where students have the chance to take part in professional training, including a modelling course.
All bakery students will complete relevant work placements with a range of companies, from independent smaller artisan bakeries including Hurst Village Bakery, Greenhalghs Bakery, Slatterys chocolatiers, to large scale commercial bakeries including Bakkavor.
Earn while you learn
By doing a bakery apprenticeship you’ll benefit from both classroom and on-the-job teaching – whilst getting paid to train! You’ll start on around £11,000 in your first year, but many bakers are paid a premium for their skills, so it’s likely you’ll earn more as you progress through your career. Apprenticeship graduates can look forward to an average starting salary of £26,000.
Next steps
If you wish to progress onto higher study after you have finished your course, you can study a foundation degree in Bakery and Pâtisserie Technology. Many of our bakery students then go on to study their degree at University Centre Reaseheath. We offer a BSc (Hons) in Food Manufacturing with Operations Management Top-Up to help you further enhance your career in the food industry.
Industry view
“The importance of learning any trade correctly is vital to a long career. Pâtisserie is constantly evolving so you need to stay on trend and develop your skills to keep a business fashionable and the people coming through the front door.
“None of this is possible unless you have the correct building blocks at the learning stage of your career. Reaseheath gives you the best learning experience possible, through its state-of-the-art facilities and supportive staff. This enables learners to be given the best chance of a career, but most of it takes desire which is the last ingredient for success and that comes from the individual.”
Quick Links
More Links
Write to us at…
Call us on…
Higher Education: 01270 613284
Switchboard: 01270 625131