She's in her 2nd year at 6th form college and not enjoying it much. She's never been very academic - I hoped studying new subjects at AS/A level might be more interesting for her, but it's really not. Her AS results were fairly atrocious (C, E, U) and she's decided now she'd like to train as a professional chef/cook.
I'm finding it quite hard to get my head round the various options so I wondered if the good folk of MN had any wisdom to spare? It seems to me that the choices are:
- HND/NVQ/City&Guilds at a local college, but as these seem geared to 16 year olds, she wouldn't want to do that.
- Apprenticeships - we live in a rural location so there's a pretty limited choice of these. The work experience would obviously be good, but would this training limit her future career options to restaurants/hotels/pubs of the same type to where she trained?
- University - a few places offer diplomas or degrees in professional cooking/baking. A 2 or 3 year training sounds good, and it would allow her the uni experience of being with people her own age and away from home, but of course there are the fees. And are these degrees respected by possible employers?
- Private cookery schools - places like Leith's or Tante Marie offer 1 year courses. They cost a lot, but comparable to uni. Their websites suggest they have the contacts to get their students into fantastic jobs, but then they would say that, wouldn't they? Are these places any good, or only for the rich and well-connected?
I'm so confused! Any thoughts on these options - or any others you can suggest! - will be gratefully received!