Hospitality Apprenticeships & Qualifications

About Hospitality and Catering 

Hospitality and catering offer many career opportunities – in hotels, restaurants or bars, cafes, conference centres and banqueting venues or contract catering. The role is very varied and although hospitality team members tend to specialise in an area, they have to be adaptable and ready to support team members across the business. 

There are a range of career paths available, and for those with experience who are willing to move around, promotion opportunities are good. You can advance onto management courses once you know what area you want to specialise in. 

• Food and beverage services 
• Serving alcoholic beverages 
• Barista 
• Food preparation 
• Housekeeping 
• Concierge and guest services 
• Reception 
• Reservations and conference and banqueting 

There is such enormous scope within the hospitality industry that there’s never any need for you to get stuck in one niche. You can work your way up to the top and move into supervisory and management roles once you gain the experience form the specialised routes. 

During the apprenticeship you can choose specialised routes such as: 

Hospitality Team Member: 

• Business 
• Customer Service 
• People 
• First line Supervision. 

Commis Chef: 

• Preparing and cooking meat, fish and poultry for different dishes 
• Preparing cakes, pastry and desserts 
• Preparing and cooking pasta 
• Cooking soups and sauces 
• Food safety and hygiene 

How do you get into the industry? 

You do not always need academic qualifications to start training in Hospitality and Catering. However, some employers may prefer you to have a good standard of general education such as GCSE, including English and Maths. You will find maths and English are important within the roles. 

You need to be motivated and work on your own initiative, be reliable, flexible and a team player and communicate with customers and the team. 

To start a Pre-Apprenticeship at Level 1, you will not need to have any formal qualifications or working within the industry full time. This is an entry level and therefore it will prepare you for a full Apprenticeship.  

To start a Hospitality Apprenticeship at either Level 2 or 3, you need to have a job or a placement in the industry as it is a work-based qualification.  

Employers may look for specific qualifications; these are stated on each Apprenticeship Vacancy. 

Further Progression 

After completing your apprenticeship in Hospitality, you will be able to progress onto further qualifications or promote to higher positions including supervisor and managerial.