This course is aimed at students who wish to pursue a career in bakery or patisserie, either within a craft or industry setting, in roles such as quality management, food marketing or new product development. It is designed to give students a fundamental understanding of food science and food safety, progressing to specialist knowledge of cereal, flour , sugar and chocolate technology, delivered in a vocational setting.

Student are taught in the £7.4 million Reaseheath Food Centre – an industry-leading academy with an international reputation in the food and drink sector. The state-of-the-art facilities include a commercial dairy, butchery, commercial bakery, and innovation rooms for new product development (NPD) and scale-ups. As a college, we pride ourselves on our partnerships with the food and dairy industry, and work with businesses to create bespoke courses and training programmes to meet a wide range of industry needs.

Upon successful completion students may progress on to the BSc (Hons) Food Manufacturing with Operations Management (Top-Up).

Modules

Modules are delivered through practical work and theoretical lectures. There is a compulsory 4 week work placement in the chosen specialism module.

Year 1 (Level 4)

• Food materials and product manufacture
• Food safety in manufacturing
• Food science and composition
• Flour technology
• Sugar and chocolate technology
• Artisan bakery skills
• Business studies with law

Year 2 (Level 5)

• Food innovation and the new product development
• Applied nutrition in the food industry
• Research methods
• Artisan patisserie and desserts
• Industrial bread making
• Processing and quality assurance of baked goods

Year 3 (Level 6) optional

Upon successful completion of the Foundation Degree, there is an option to progress onto the one-year BSc Top-Up to gain a BSc (Hons) Food Manufacturing with Operations Management.

Teaching and Learning

Overall workload

Your overall workload consists of class contact hours, independent learning and assessment activity, plus field trips. Your actual contact hours may depend on which optional modules you select, but the following information gives an indication of how much time you will need to allocate to different activities at each year of the course:

Year 1: 26% of your time is spent in timetabled teaching and learning activity

Teaching, Learning and Assessment:       306 hours

Independent Study:                                   894 hours

Year 2: 22% of your time is spent in timetabled teaching and learning activity

Teaching, Learning and Assessment:       268 hours

Placement:                                                100 hours

Independent Study:                                   832 hours

Assessment

Percentage of course assessed by coursework

The balance of assessment by examination and assessment by coursework depends to some extent on the optional modules you choose. The approximate percentage of the course assessed by coursework is as follows:

Year 1

71% coursework

21% written exams

7% Practical

Year 2

69% coursework

13% written exams

18% Practical

Feedback is supplied via Turnitin or directly from the module tutor. The majority of submissions are made via Turnitin and feedback for coursework is provided four working weeks after the submission date. If for unforeseen reasons this is not possible, the reasons will be communicated to the students within 2 weeks and the feedback prioritised within the department.

Written feedback will be supported verbally should the student require clarification. Formative assessment feedback will be provided at the time of completion where possible, with more detailed summative feedback for reports.

Additional Qualifications

To offer graduates a leading position in the jobs market, students are given the opportunity to enhance their career prospects by taking additional qualifications during their course of study. These could include a range of qualifications such as:

• CIEH (Chartered Institute for Environmental Health) Level 3 Award in HACCP for Food Manufacturing
• CIEH Level 3 Award in Food Safety Management for Manufacturing

Students are encouraged to join the Institute of Food Science & Technology (IFST) as an Associate (Student) member www.ifst.org/membership/student-membership

Length of Course

Full-time: 2 years including a 4 week work placement

Entry requirements

A minimum of 64 UCAS points which may be obtained from GCE A Levels, or one of the following qualifications in a relevant subject:

• Level 3 Extended Diploma / Diploma
• BTEC National Certificate / Diploma
• OCR National Diploma / Extended Diploma
• Irish / Scottish Highers in relevant subject
• Advanced GNVQ
• QAA recognised Access to HE Diploma, Open College Units or Open University Credits
• For mature students (aged 21+) substantial work experience will be considered, as well as, or in place of, formal qualifications

Further study

• One year top-up route to BSc (Hons) Food Manufacturing with Operations Management (Top-Up) or related subject.

Application 

​Before you apply you can come and visit us at one of our HE Open Events to see what we have to offer. Once we have received your application we will invite you to attend an Offer Holder Day.

Applications for full-time Degrees and Foundation Degrees are made through UCAS. Applications for all other full-time courses such as Access to HE and Level 4 Diplomas should be made directly to Reaseheath via the online application form. You can find out more here.

Additional info

Tuition Fees

As a Higher Education student you will have two main costs to meet; your tuition fees and living costs.

Our full-time tuition fees for UK and EU students entering University in 2017/18 are £7,650 and 2018/19 are £7,860. These fees are charged for each academic year of a course and are set by the college annually.

If you are an international student or for the latest information on tuition fees visit the student finance page on our website.

Accomodation

All Higher Education students are given the opportunity to apply for residential accommodation. First year students are guaranteed accommodation and this offer is made to all applicants who live more than a reasonable daily travelling distance from Reaseheath and who apply before the 31st July 2018. For full details on our halls of residence visit the accommodation pages.

Student support

We have a team of dedicated professionals on hand to offer you support when and if you need it during your time with us. These include our Student Services team, Higher Education Support Team (HEST), Library and Learning Resources and the Reaseheath Careers Service. You will find more information on the support provided at Reaseheath here.

Career options

The combination of practical and academic training you will gain during your degree will equip you with the skills required to enter a graduate career in food-related industries, or to undertake further training or research.

• New Product Development
• Research and development
• Food marketing
• Buying
• Laboratory Analysis & Testing
• Bakery entrepreneur