Young Chef

Fancy yourself as a budding cook? Put your culinary skills to the test and have your three course meal judged by industry professionals as part of the annual Rotary Young Chef competition.

Introduction

The Young Chef Competition is a well-established and successful competition organised and promoted by Rotary International in Great Britain & Ireland (Rotary GB&I).

There are four stages to the competition, each designed to support and encourage the development of cookery skills. Some stages may have more than one round.

Winners of local competitions will progress to the Young Chef District 1285 Final (Date and venue TBA).

The Young Chef Cluster Final is on Saturday 21st March 2026 at Carlisle College, Victoria Place, Carlisle, CA1 1HS (A Cluster is a group of Rotary Districts. Our Cluster covers the North of England and North Wales.)

The Young Chef National Final is on Saturday 25th April 2026 (Venue TBA)

Aims

This competition aims to encourage young people to:

• learn how to cook a healthy meal

• develop food presentation skills

• consider food hygiene issues

• develop organisational and planning skills

• develop an ability to cope in a demanding situation

Who can take part?

The competition is open to all schools and college communities and those who are home educated, along with any other young peoples’ community organisations, for example, community RotaKids, community Interact, Scout Groups, Girl Guides.

Students must between ages 11 and 17 on 31 August 2025. Students in part-time (day release) education are not eligible to participate. The qualifying criteria of all entrants will be checked rigorously; any entrant who does not meet the above conditions will not be allowed to take part.

This competition is intended for amateurs; for the purpose of the competition, an amateur is considered to be a person who is not in full, or regular part time, employment in the catering trade. Eligible entrants who have been temporarily employed by restaurants during the school holidays may take part. The competition is not open to students who are enrolled on a full-time catering course studying for a qualification above “A” level (or equivalent) standard.

Students should enter the competition organised by the local Rotary club through their school, college or youth organisation.

For further information contact Marian Basu using the contact form below. Click the following links to download the Young Chef Information Pack , Entry Form and Poster

Contact Marian Basu about this page:

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