Hospitality & Catering
Are you looking for a future that offers a fun and fulfilling learning experience in an industry that’s flourishing and bursting with fresh ideas and opportunities? Then the fast-paced, multi-billion-pound hospitality and catering industry could offer the perfect fit.
And if you’re looking for a five-star Hospitality and Catering curriculum experience to help get you there then look no further than The Manchester College – the No.1 Further Education College in Greater Manchester for achievement*.
Our Hospitality and Catering department offers a variety of courses, including Culinary Skills, Food and Beverage Service and Patisserie and Confectionery. We also offer low-cost evening hospitality and catering courses available to adults of any ability and experience, including Basic Cake Decoration, Cakes, Bakes and Treats, Hobby Bread Course and moreBakery, The Art of Vegan Baking, Chocolate making and more.
Our Hospitality and Catering courses are offered at our City Campus Manchester, Harpurhey, and Wythenshawe campuses. Find out more about our facilities.
*As per the latest Government National Achievement Rates Tables (NARTs)
3 reasons to study Hospitality and Catering with us
Professional kitchens
Serve real guests in our student-run restaurants, industry standard kitchens and patisserie labs
Expert tutors
Learn from chefs, including guest celebrity chefs, and hospitality professionals from the industry
Career ready
Gain experience in one of our many employer partner restaurants and take part in masterclasses
Available courses
Where you'll learn
With excellent transport links, modern classrooms and vibrant social spaces, you can study Hospitality and Catering courses at a number of campuses across Manchester.
When you enrol on one of our Hospitality and Catering courses, you’ll study at either our City Campus Manchester, Harpurhey or Wythenshawe campus, where you’ll benefit from industry-standard training facilities designed to reflect real hospitality environments.
Our facilities include:
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1853 Restaurant, our 40-seat training restaurant run by students at City Campus Manchester
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Restaurant 1931, our on-site training restaurant run by students at Wythenshawe Campus
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State-of-the-art training kitchens, including induction hobs and a dedicated bakery area at Harpurhey Campus
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Masterclass recording facility at City Campus Manchester, with live TV streaming and playback to support demonstrations and learning
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Specialist chocolate workstation at City Campus Manchester, with a viewing window into the restaurant so guests can watch students at work.
Where a career in Hospitality and Catering can take you
Restaurant and catering establishment managers and proprietors
Average Salary £29,191
Events managers and organisers
Average Salary £25,840
Chefs
Average Salary £25,549
Jessica Mcgrath • PatisserieComing to The Ivy Spinningf ields has been really good. I’ve learned so many skills in this new environment and by working with new people, I’ve def initely improved my communication skills and I’ve learned how to work quickly. I think work experience is necessary as it helps students in the long run when they do get a job.
Nissen Lewis • Level 2 Technical SkillsLearning f rom people in the industry is great and meeting them means I’m making connections that will be useful when I look for employment.
More about Hospitality and Catering
Abut our courses
If you're looking to studying Hospitality and Catering our courses range from Level 1 to Level 3.
Working together in a focused and fun environment we will provide you with the knowledge, skills, experience and employability to start to shape your future and take the first steps into this fresh and exciting industry and towards your dream.
Whichever level you start at, we offer qualifications focused on cooking, baking and patisserie and catering services from Level 1 to Level 3 that can enable you to create a successful future in the fast-growing hospitality and catering industry.
Cookery Skills
If you want to become a chef or work in a kitchen in a café or restaurant, one of our Cookery Studies or Professional Cookery Studies could be the perfect choice to build on your home-grown passion and start your valuable preparation to a future within the industry.
Food and Beverage Service
A career in the hospitality and catering industry isn’t confined to the kitchen. If you’re organised, flexible, a great team player and love talking to people, you might find that one of our Food and Beverage Service qualifications is a perfect fit. Whether the dream is to become a restaurant manager, run your own cafe or work in a customer orientated role serving food and drink, this is a great place to explore this dynamic industry sector.
Patisserie and Confectionery
Our Patisserie and Confectionery qualifications are perfect if you you’ve got a passion for baking and want to become a pastry chef, baker or cake-maker and produce perfect profiteroles, excellent éclairs, delicious desserts or beautiful bread.
Our short courses
Are you looking to perfect your passion for pastry, channel your love of baking or do you just want to try something new?
We have a range of low-cost evening courses available to adults of any ability and experience.
Whether you want to brush up on cake decoration, create perfect cupcakes, or learn about vegan or gluten free baking, our industry focused courses and expert tutors will help you to impress with a wide range of custom-made creations.
- Basic Cake Decoration
- Cakes, Bakes and Treats
- Intermediate Cake Decoration
- Hobby Bread Course
Our restaurants
At our new 1853 training restaurant at City Campus Manchester, you’ll dine in a friendly and relaxed environment, where our service team will host you for lunch or dinner and serve you a selection of high-quality food.
You’ll be given special attention by our team and will enjoy a menu that’s always changing and innovating to reflect local, seasonable produce and the skills & talents of our chefs who are working and training in our state-of-the-art kitchen.
Run by students in our Hospitality and Catering students, our 40-seat restaurant and bar will also have street level access so passers-by alike can enjoy the tasteful talents of our students dishes.
More information can be found here
Or why not take a trip to our relaxed and friendly Restaurant 1931 at our Wythenshawe campus?
Dive into a classic dish or explore the new and innovative, experience the flavours of sustainably sourced, local and seasonal produce, professionally prepared and served to make a memory not just a meal.
Food IS an adventure…just sit back and enjoy!
For bookings at Wythenshawe please call 0161 674 3409.
Our facilities and location
Our Hospitality and Catering courses are taught at our Harpurhey and Wythenshawe campuses and in brand new industry standard facilities at our state-of-the-art City Campus Manchester.
City Campus Manchester
In Autumn 2022 we opened the doors to our brand new City Campus Manchester, located just a two-minute walk from Manchester Victoria Station.
Here you’ll find brand new industry-standard hospitality and catering facilities developed specifically for you and your course.
This includes 1853, our 40 seat restaurant and bar run by the students with a live stream of the kitchen into the restaurant training kitchen, a bakery, a facility for recording our masterclasses with live TV streaming and recording for playback, and a chocolate workstation with window overlooking the restaurant.
Harpurhey
Our Harpurhey Campus is equipped with two brand new training kitchens and a technical training facility, so students on our Culinary Skills and Professional Cookery courses can hone their skills in industry-standard facilities.
We’ve also got a new baking kitchen for our Bakery, Confectionary and Patisserie courses and all our facilities at Harpurhey are equipped with all the latest kitchen equipment.
The comfortable, environmentally-friendly site is made up of a bright modern building and the restored Harpurhey Baths, a Grade II listed building which the College has transformed into an award-winning exhibition space for students and the community.
Wythenshawe
At our Wythenshawe campus in south Manchester you’ll find another of our amazing training restaurants.
Our Restaurant 1931 is more relaxed and contemporary but gives you the opportunity to put what you have learnt to practice in a fast-paced restaurant environment with real paying customers.
You’ll serve and cook a range of traditional bistro style seasonal dishes to reflect the time of year and to help vary the range of techniques and foods you cook with.
Restaurant 1931 is open to students and staff for lunch during term time.
Do you have an EHCP or SEND need?
The Manchester College is committed to ensuring all our students receive the support they may need to achieve and enjoy college. We do this in a number of different ways including:
- Student Experience Support Team
- Careers Employability & Welfare
- Pastoral Support Officers
- Supported Learning
We also offer a bespoke transition service to new applicants with an Education Health and Care Plan (EHCP), accessibility or medical need.
Want more information?
Find out even more about our Hospitality and Catering department in our subject area guide or on our YouTube playlist:
Download our subject area guide
Stay up-to-date with everything that's going on in our Hospitality and Catering department via social media:
Meet the team
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