Course leads to award-winning patisserie skills

Emily Carter grew up around cooking, watching her parents and her granny display their skills in the kitchen. She always enjoyed cooking as a way of showing your appreciation to others and had consequently, gravitated towards hospitality as a potential career.

As someone who suffers with coeliac (a disease caused by an adverse reaction to gluten), Emily has an additional focus on learning skills to make food safe for people with allergies and intolerances.

As she didn't want to do A Levels, these interests in cooking led Emily to learning a specialism, and she found adverts for the Level 2 and Level 3 Patisserie and Confectionary Diploma courses at Leicester College.

“Can’t go anywhere better”

Emily has now completed her courses at Leicester College and says: “The facilities at Leicester College are amazing. You can't go anywhere better for baking, cooking and patisserie.

“I’ve learnt lots of different skills on the course - bakery, bread, front-of-house and more. This all-round experience makes me better as a chef. I was able to share ideas with colleagues, get involved with competitions and collaborations with other cookery students, and the chocolatier workshop with Harrods was a particular highlight.”

Industry competition winner

One such competition opportunity came when Emily was selected to take part in the renowned Renshaw Cup, which returned in 2025 after a 21-year hiatus.

The event took place at British Bakels' Liverpool site, home of the Renshaw brand. The three-day competition brought together the UK's most promising student bakers from colleges nationwide.

Emily was nominated for her exceptional creativity, technical skill and commitment to the craft of baking.

Organised by Renshaw, the Bakels-owned brand with over 125 years of heritage, the Renshaw Cup was first launched in 1952 and has a legacy of jump-starting professional careers in the baking industry.

Looking to the future

Emily continues: "My overall experience at Leicester College has been great, with lots of opportunities for competition and great connections within the industry.

“I would recommend it for specialisms or as a broader option. I know people who moved between courses, if you have the flexibility to try new things.

“Whilst I was studying, I was combining my course with working in middle management at a local coffee shop. IT was hard work but enjoyable. Now I’ve passed my course and left Leicester College, I’m working part-time 3-4 days per week at the coffee shop while I’m looking for full-time employment.

“I would love to work in fine dining, stylised, mass catering, either specialising in patisserie or general cookery as well.”