Bachelor of Culinary Arts
Assessment of Prior Learning pathway
If you're a Head Chef, or responsible for designing dishes, menus, or kitchen processes in your job, your skills and knowledge could give you advanced standing in our Bachelor of Culinary Arts degree.
Gain a qualification while you work, with our one-year, distance study pathway to the Bachelor of Culinary Arts – designed for people with significant experience in the hospitality industry.
Using our Assessment of Prior Learning (APL) process, we measure your existing knowledge and skills against the Bachelor of Culinary Arts and give you academic credit towards this degree, so you can gain it in one year instead of three years.
- You need to have at least 10 years' work experience in the hospitality industry. This must include 3 – 5 years as a Head Chef (or responsibility for designing dishes, menus and kitchen/culinary processes).
- If English is not your first language, you must demonstrate English language skills equivalent to an IELTS overall band score (academic) of 6.0, with no less than 6.0 in writing and speaking, and no less than 5.5 in reading and listening.
- You must submit a detailed curriculum vitae, a Portfolio of Evidence and a menu design exercise (see details below).
Additional documentation
You must supply certified copies of proof of identity and proof of residency (where appropriate).
| Key skills and knowledge | What to include |
|
Culinary skills and |
Evidence of your relevant culinary qualifications and professional experience:
|
|
Management of culinary |
a. You must provide a curriculum vitae highlighting relevant |
|
Culinary design |
a. You must complete the Menu Design Exercise outlined below. |
|
Professional development |
a. You must include a list of relevant examples in your curriculum |
Culinary skills and knowledge
a. You must provide evidence of relevant culinary qualifications (certified copies of qualifications and transcripts) and/or evidence of
relevant professional experience (i.e. a curriculum vitae that outlines roles and responsibilities as well as the key skills gained)
b. You may also provide evidence of:
Awards and accolades
Competing in culinary competitions
Reviews of your food
Menus and recipes developed by you
Photos of dishes you have designed and created.
Management of culinary processes
a. You must provide a curriculum vitae highlighting relevant
experience.
b. You may also provide any of the following:
References from employers
Examples of work plans, rosters, inventory systems, etc.
Culinary design a. You must complete the Menu Design Exercise outlined below.
b. You may also provide any of the following:
Newspaper or magazine articles relating to your culinary
work
Relevant scholarly writing by you
Television programs featuring your work
Blogs or online articles about your work
Any other evidence that you feel is relevant.
Professional development
a. You must include a list of relevant examples in your curriculum vitae.
b. You may also provide any of the following:
Evidence of attendance at relevant professional training
Evidence of attendance at short courses, master class etc.
Evidence of attendance at relevant industry events, trade shows, conferences etc.
Professional memberships that are relevant
A list of relevant culinary writing and media that you refer to on a regular basis.
Menu design exercise
A sample menu plan designed for a group of guests at a dinner party according to the following
scenario:
You are hosting a dinner party for a diverse group of people including a vegetarian, a farmer, a nutritionist, a parent, and yourself. You must please (or at least not offend) anyone.
Everyone must eat. Design a menu that caters to your guests and reflects your own tastes and values. List the dishes you have chosen, explain the rationale and inspiration for your menu choices. Your menu design and rationale can also be supported by drawings and images in a way that is visually informative about you and your abilities as a potential culinary designer.
If you have any questions regarding the submission of your portfolio, please do not hesitate to contact the Food Design Institute.
Email info@op.ac.nz or phone 0800 762 786.
Profiling
Once you have submitted your CV, Portfolio of Evidence and Menu Design Exercise, we will use that information to work out if the APL process is suitable for you. If we believe it is, we will send an Offer Letter and once you have signed and returned this you will be enrolled and invoiced.
Facilitation
Our experienced facilitators support and guide you through a series of workshops and one-on-one work. A three day workshop is held in Dunedin at the start of the programme. A four day workshop is then held in Dunedin a couple of months later.
Your enrolment is split into two parts. The first is related to the Year Two assessment that is introduced at the first workshop and assessed at the second. If you successfully complete this Year Two assessment you will automatically be enrolled in the remaining Year Three papers at the time of
the second workshop.
Most of the work is completed by distance in consultation with our facilitators. You are supported to organise your experience, knowledge and skills into a series of assessments that explore your practice and experience. These are submitted between April and the end of September and include
various written pieces of work (including the development of an online portfolio) and an oral presentation to an assessment panel (either in person or via video conference).
Your facilitator will guide you through the learning packages associated with each assessment and these will also be introduced at the workshops.
Report
You will receive detailed feedback at the end of each assessment and a detailed report from the assessment panel after your oral presentation.
Graduation
This is one of the rewards for your hard work!
We recommend that you take part in the graduation ceremony in March the following year as a celebration of your achievement alongside our on-campus graduates. You can also receive your qualification without participating in the ceremony. This is called graduating ‘in absentia’.
Please note: if you have a particular deadline for the award of your qualification, let us know as early as possible.
