Founded by Dame Prue Leith in 1975, Leiths Culinary School has spent five decades at the heart of British culinary education. While the classical techniques that built its reputation are still at its core, the curriculum is shaped as much by what’s happening in food culture. On any given day at the Culinary School, you could be learning how to make fresh pasta, fillet a sea bream, master game & offal cookery, whisk Italian meringue or nail advanced patisserie techniques such as lamination.

It doesn’t matter if you’re a dabbler or a serious chef in the making: Leiths has a course that’ll lift you to the next level. The Culinary Masterclass series brings the school’s expertise to focused, hands-on day workshops – learn to work a knife with real confidence, pull fresh pasta together from just flour and egg or master the techniques that make fish cookery sing. For those drawn to the world of pastry and patisserie, a collection of specialist courses can be taken individually, or built progressively towards an Advanced Certificate in Patisserie. And for the most committed, the Leiths Culinary Diploma – a six-month programme of serious culinary study, structured across three Certificates: Core, Professional and Diploma. The Culinary Diploma offers the most thorough amateur culinary education available in the UK, taken consecutively or at a pace that works around your life.

Beyond the curriculum, the school’s An Evening with series brings the biggest names in food directly to the Leiths kitchens – to share their story, their philosophy and, of course, their food.

Leiths has shaped some of today’s biggest names in food: top-flight chefs, food writers, restaurateurs, TV presenters, content creators and even food activists. With fifty years experience, Leiths has always understood that the best culinary education does not stand still – the curriculum moves with the ingredients, ideas and food conversations that are shaping what we eat and how we think about it.
Whether you’re after a solid grounding in the essentials or the confidence to cook at the very edge of your ambition, Leiths should be your first kitchen of call.

Leiths Culinary Diploma (18 weeks): £24,850 (£3,000 deposit)

Comprising:
– Core Certificate (six weeks): £6,950 (£1000 deposit)
– Professional Certificate (six weeks): £7,950 (£1000 deposit)
– Diploma Certificate (six weeks): £9,950 (£1000 deposit)
Leiths Culinary Diploma payments can be split into installments. Please contact our admissions team to find out more.

Introductory Patisserie Courses (three days each): £650 (10% discount available when you book three courses together)

Advanced Patisserie Courses (five days each): £1350 (10% discount available when you book three courses together)

Culinary Masterclasses (one day course inc. Pasta, Fish Skills and Knife Skills): £195