Good pastry schools in Scotland/England?

[laurenc]

Hi all, I'm new to this forum, nice to meet you all. I'm currently working in public accounting (taxation) here in Hong Kong but I have always had a passion for baking and pastry and I know I will have a career change in a few years time after saving up more money. I know people in the industry would take someone with experience over someone with only a piece of paper any day but I still feel like I have to get some qualifications or at least attend a proper pastry school before I venture into this industry. It just makes me feel more secured.

My plan is to attend a pastry school in Scotland/England and then find a job and move there. Ideally I'd love to settle in Scotland as I'm in love with its culture and people, but it seems like the more prominent pastry schools in the UK are primarily located in England, so I'm not opposed to studying in England as well. It would be great if any past graduates or if you're in the industry, could recommend some good pastry schools/programs in the UK. I have been looking at the patisserie diploma by ESFW but unfortunately I couldn't find any reviews on this. Also considering LCB London but I'm not sure if it's any good?

Any suggestions/input would be much appreciated, thank you

 

[Innocuous Lemon]

well first off, what is your idea of to "venture into the industry"? working in a high-volume professional restaurant? pastry has a lot of different shapes and forms. I would say that pastry, as with "kitchen" (savoury) is like a many-sided dice.

let me elaborate
There is baking, patisserie. There is high-output and there is painstaking detail. A lot of jobs tend to be a few of these. There are extremely tight, professional circumstances and there are kinda screw-around free-for-alls where you arent so much being taught as messing around and seeing what you come up with. When most people say pastry, i think they think of a "professional kitchen" -a big restaurant, with a large staff. Usually part of a chain or family. Those places dont care about a degree.

Joining as a commis you'll essentially be doing monkey-work. Youll be doing things pastry school doesnt focus on and doesnt prepare you for. The emphasis here will be doing it FAST. Doing a single-action job, multiple times, fast. And organising your space. In this case youre honestly better off just going in blind. To join into this setting from pastry school and expect anything other than a commis start...youd need to have really shown yourself to be astounding. To turn up to your interview/trial (assuming there'll even be one, and you havent, in essence, already been placed in the "fodder" box) and blow people away with your professionalism - your ability to manage your space and your time with a practiced hand - something which again, isnt really a focus in pastry school

 

[Innocuous Lemon]

So you join as a commis, you get slowly shown the ropes (more emphasis on not making a mess after a job. being able to follow instructions. Whether you know the difference between a genoise or a chiffon cake is entirely irrelevant), you learn how to do things the way the head chef insists they are done. You dont even have preconceived bias for how things are "supposed to be done" or what "works".

you keep your eyes and ears open, say "yes chef" and youll be busted up a rank within 6 months.

 

[retiredbaker]

Hi all, I'm new to this forum, nice to meet you all. I'm currently working in public accounting (taxation) here in Hong Kong but I have always had a passion for baking and pastry and I know I will have a career change in a few years time after saving up more money. I know people in the industry would take someone with experience over someone with only a piece of paper any day but I still feel like I have to get some qualifications or at least attend a proper pastry school before I venture into this industry. It just makes me feel more secured.

My plan is to attend a pastry school in Scotland/England and then find a job and move there. Ideally I'd love to settle in Scotland as I'm in love with its culture and people, but it seems like the more prominent pastry schools in the UK are primarily located in England, so I'm not opposed to studying in England as well. It would be great if any past graduates or if you're in the industry, could recommend some good pastry schools/programs in the UK. I have been looking at the patisserie diploma by ESFW but unfortunately I couldn't find any reviews on this. Also considering LCB London but I'm not sure if it's any good?

Any suggestions/input would be much appreciated, thank you

My brother attended salford polytech in Manchester UK, he has a city and guilds degree, he knows his stuff.
It was very cheap or next to free.
Degree or no degree you can do well and make a decent living with the right training.

 

[RobiN0963]

I studied in London for 1 year. It wasn't easy, but it was worth it.