Professional Food and Beverage Service Skills - Level 2
Summary
Learn to deliver a first-rate dining experience with the Level 2 Professional Food and Beverage Service Skills Certificate. This course allows you to develop food service and customer care skills for a variety of related front-of-house roles. Explore topics such as food service, food safety, handling payments, making bookings, serving hot and cold beverages, bar service and menu design.
You will benefit from expert tutors with lots of industry experience and the opportunity to train for a hospitality career within our contemporary training restaurant - Level 6.
Alongside this qualification, you will also study a Level 2 Certificate in Culinary Skills where you will develop your practical skills in a kitchen environment.
Next course dates
| Start date | Location | Duration | |
|---|---|---|---|
|
02 Sep 2026
|
Bispham Campus
|
1 Year
|
Where can this subject lead?
Career progression
Once you have completed the Level 2 Certificate in Culinary Skills, you can progress onto the Level 2 Diploma in Culinary Skills or into full time employment.
To achieve the Level 2 Diploma in Culinary Skills you must achieve 46 Credits from the units below:
- Prepare and Cook Soups, sauces and stocks – 6 Credits
- Prepare and Cook Fruit and Vegetables – 6 Credits
- Prepare and Cook meat and offal - 8 Credits
- Prepare and Cook Poultry – 5 Credits
- Prepare and cook fish and shellfish – 5 Credits
- Prepare and cook rice, pasta, grains and egg dishes – 6 Credits
- Produce biscuits, cakes and sponge products – 4 Credits
- Produce fermented dough products – 4 Credits
- Healthier foods and special diets – 1 Credit
- Food safety in catering – 1 Credit
Assessment will take the form of practical assignments and short answer questions.
Career Options and Progression
Successful completion of the course typically leads to employment as a sommelier/wine waiter, front of house person, barista or mixologist.
This qualification will also prove useful if you're interested in running your own hospitality/catering business.
If you'd like to advance into a management role, you might want to consider progressing to the Level 3 VRQ Diploma in Food and Beverage Service.
Key information
Entry Requirements
If you are aged 16-18 and want to work front-of-house in the catering or hospitality industry, this course will provide the launch pad for your career.
4 GCSEs grade 3 - 2 including English and Maths, along with the following:
- A successful interview with a tutor
- The ability to study independently
- A genuine interest in the subject
- Good communication skills
- Hardworking approach towards the industry
All 16-18 year old applicants will be invited to attend an interview to meet a tutor and ask any questions they may have about the course.
Qualification obtained
Certificate in Professional Food and Beverage Service SkillsFees and funding
Courses for learners who are 16-18 years old at the start of their course and resident in the UK are fully funded. You may also be entitled to further financial help to support your studies depending on your personal circumstances. For more details of these, please visit our page on Finance Support for School Leavers.
If you are not a UK resident, we will confirm whether funding is available when we process your application. If not, you may be liable for course fees.
Regulation and Accreditation
Accrediting Institution: N/A
Awarding Body: City and Guilds
Regulatory Body: Ofsted
Terms and conditions
Read our full terms and conditions for more information.
What will I learn?
The course covers the following topics:
- Food Safety in Catering
- Health and Safety in Catering and Hospitality
- Legislation in Food and Beverage Service
- Menu Knowledge and Design
- Applying Workplace Skills
- Principles of Beverage Product Knowledge
- Service of Hot Beverages
- Food and Beverage Service Skills
- Handling Payments and Maintaining the Payment Point
- Principles of Customer Service in Hospitality
Essential skills: English and Maths
All school leavers at B&FC are encouraged to continue developing their English and maths skills as higher ability in both these subjects is linked to long-term career success and increased earning potential - irrespective of how well you performed at GCSE. If, however, you achieve a GCSE Grade 3 or less in either subject, you will also have the opportunity to work towards re-sitting these to enhance your paper-based qualifications. This won’t delay your career journey because you will be undertaking this programme of study at the same time as your chosen subject.
Industry placement, field trips and guest speakers
We offer a variety of trips, visits and work experience opportunities, all designed to enrich your learning experience. There might be a small cost associated with the trips, but we will keep these to a minimum.
If you’re aged 16-18 we will arrange a compulsory work placement for you as part of your course. For those aged 19 or over a work placement is not essential but we will encourage you to undertake one as this will enhance your overall employability.
How will I learn?
Our expert tutors understand that everyone learns in different ways so they use a range of teaching methods to enable everyone to achieve their potential. A key method used is demonstration, which allows you to observe the practical application of skills before having a go yourself. The main focus is on developing the skills you need to work in a restaurant environment. We also engage guest speakers to provide an insight into your chosen industry.
The course combines group work, practical restaurant sessions and dedicated self-study periods. This needs to be supported by your own study outside of College, using online development platforms such as Moodle, our virtual learning environment, and Dynamic Learning. We expect you to take responsibility for your own learning, however our tutors will support you in preparing for assessments.
If you're aged 16 to 18, your main study programme is timetabled for 13 hours a week. Additional time is timetabled for maths and English, with the amounts being calculated and confirmed at enrolment. These will depend on what qualifications you already have - if you are re-taking GSCEs this will include 3.8 hours for each subject; for Functional Skills this will include 1.5 hours for each subject. You will also need to complete a work placement totalling at least 20 hours.
If you're aged 19 or over, sessions are timetabled for up to 12 hours per week. This includes practical workshops and knowledge-building sessions.
Expert tutors
All tutors involved in the delivery of courses and apprenticeships within the College are approved to teach the subjects and modules they deliver.
Our recruitment process ensures that tutors delivering a given programme are suitably qualified and, where appropriate, possess relevant technical and industrial experience and a familiarity with professional practice. The aim of this is to enrich students’ learning experience, giving them an insight into what working in the industry is really like.
How will I be assessed?
To achieve the Level 2 Certificate in Culinary Skills you must achieve 15 credits from the units below:
- Prepare and Cook Soups, Sauces and Stocks – 6 Credits
- Prepare and Cook Fruit and Vegetables – 6 Credits
- Produce Hot and Cold Desserts and Puddings – 3 Credits
To achieve the Level 2 Certificate in Professional Food and Beverage Service you must gain 15 Credits by completing the Food and Beverage service skills module.
Assessments for both will take the form of practical assignments and short answer questions.
This is a full-time course, involving 4 days a week in college, plus a minimum of 20 hours' external work experience with local employers. This will be completed on your study day.
Assessment Methods
Assessment is ongoing throughout the course and consists of practical observations, verbal questioning, short answer tests and theory-based assignments.