Join us for our Open Evening at Leiths on Thursday 5th February 2026, 6:30–8:30pm, and discover how the Culinary Diploma can launch your career in food.
Preparing you for a successful career in the food industry, the Professional Certificate is the second of three accredited qualifications that form the Leiths Culinary Diploma.
Explore an impressive variety of industry-relevant skills and develop a restaurant-worthy finesse in food. You’ll delve into dough, discover game butchery and learn how to put together professional-looking plates of food.
Plus, choose from culinary modules, integrated work experience opportunities and study options that align with your future in food.
We’ve got the ingredients. You write the recipe.
Experience what makes the Diploma so special with a 1-to-1 tour of our Culinary School.
Watch Diploma-style demonstrations, meet the teachers and taste life at Leiths.
Our Admissions team love to answer your questions and offer course suggestions to suit your goals.
Sample culinary training Leiths-style with a hands-on class.
Made your decision? Book on a course here and start your future in food.
Secure placements with verified Leiths partners – from Michelin-starred restaurants to major food brands.
Select module options – from food styling to fermentation – that reflect your culinary goals.
Choose from full-time, part-time and accelerated study options to suit your schedule.
Earn an accredited qualification with six weeks of industry-focused culinary training in Leiths’ flagship central London Culinary School.
Join our Leiths Culinary Diploma community and access the best opportunities in food.
Based on 50 years of Leiths’ industry expertise, these modules will prepare you for the demands of a career in food.
Learn how to extract maximum depth of flavour from humble ingredients such as seasonal vegetables and even those ingredients that sometimes get thrown away, such as beef bones.
Make the most of seasonal, British game and learn how the professionals ensure a perfectly-browned and medium-rare ribeye every time.
Knead, plait and prove your way to true baking confidence. Work with wild yeast and develop an impressive intuition for the perfect rise.
Putting pantry staples centre stage, you’ll make fresh pasta from scratch and be introduced to cookery techniques that favour grains and pulses.
Skillfully preparing and cooking the array of seafood on offer from our shores, you’ll fillet, pan-fry and shuck your way to genuine confidence with prized British produce.
To round-off your Professional training, you’ll prepare and plate restaurant-worthy dessert and develop an enviable repertoire of pastry skills.
Learn how to apply for the Leiths Culinary Diploma.
Guidance for international applicants studying at Leiths in London.
Experience Leiths teaching facilities, and life in London.
Compare full-time, part-time, and accelerated study paths at Leiths.
Find key term dates and application deadlines for Leiths courses.
See what you’ll need for professional training at Leiths.
Explore Leiths tuition costs, payment plans, and funding options.
Discover available Leiths bursaries and how to apply.
The Leiths Culinary Diploma has multiple study options to ensure you can fit your learning around your schedule. Take a look at how the Professional Certificate could work for you below.
6 weeks – 3.5 days per week with additional study at home. Daytime only.
4 weeks – 5 days per week, with additional study at home. Daytime only.
Find out more about the Diploma by joining our next open event, trying a Taste of Diploma cooking day or simply enrolling on one of our upcoming course dates.
The Diploma is designed to connect seamlessly with your future in food. Tailor your training with specialist module and integrated work experience options. Graduate with access to Leiths List Connect: the School’s in-house recruitment agency who position our Diploma community for the best opportunities in food.
With an established network spanning Michelin-starred restaurants, leading food brands and well-known test kitchens, Leiths List Connect links the Diploma community with top work experience and career opportunities. From The River Café to HelloFresh, Saturday Kitchen Live to UHNW private chefs, Leiths List gets you where you want to go.
Tailor your Diploma training to your future in food. Add specialist module options such as Food Writing, Marine Cookery or Artisan Breads that align with your postgraduate goals and complete integrated work placements with prestigious Leiths partner employers.
From TV shows to fine dining restaurants, viral TikTok videos to test kitchens, Diploma alumni work in every sector of the food industry. Whether you want to write cookbooks, develop products for supermarkets, edit food magazines or work in nutrition, the Diploma is where your future in food begins.
The Professional Certificate is the second of three accredited qualifications forming the Leiths Culinary Diploma. It is designed to prepare you for a successful career in the food industry, by offering an impressive variety of industry-relevant skills and developing a restaurant-worthy finesse in food.
You must have completed the Leiths Core Certificate, since the Professional Certificate builds directly on the foundational techniques taught there. It assumes confidence in essential skills such as knife work, basic stocks and sauces, pastry, and core cooking methods. If you have other experience from culinary courses that do not carry a Leiths qualification, you can contact the admissions team who will talk you through the pre-learning requirements.
You can choose from three study formats:
Full-time: 6 weeks, 3½ days per week (daytime).
Part-time: 12 weeks, 2 evenings per week plus some Friday & Saturday sessions.
Accelerated: 4 weeks, 5 days per week (daytime) with additional home study.
For each of the study formats (full-time, part-time, accelerated) the fee is listed at £7,950.
Yes. The course includes built-in work experience opportunities with verified Leiths partners — from Michelin-starred restaurants to major food brands
Yes. You can select module options (such as food styling, fermentation, artisan breads) that align with your culinary ambitions. The pathway is designed so you tailor your training to your future in food. Some of these modules come with additional fees.
Graduates gain access to “Leiths List Connect”, the school’s in-house recruitment network and community of alumni and employer partners. The Leiths name itself gives a strong head start when applying for jobs in the food industry.
The training takes place at Leiths’ flagship Culinary School (on Wendell Road, Shepherd’s Bush, London).
Experience what makes the Diploma so special with a 1-to-1 tour of our Culinary School.
Watch Diploma-style demonstrations, meet the teachers and taste life at Leiths.
Our Admissions team love to answer your questions and offer course suggestions to suit your goals.
Sample culinary training Leiths-style with a hands-on class.
Made your decision? Book on a course here and start your future in food.
Does it get more Christmassy than a freshly baked mince pie? With our Culinary Diploma Director Lou’s mince pie recipe, handed down from her mother you’ll be feeling festive faster than you can say brandy butter.
Bruern Abbey is a mainstream independent school in Oxfordshire for students with SEND requirements and a Leiths Partner School. This is Bruern’s first year delivering the Leiths Level 2 Certificate in Culinary Skills. Last month, they received a very exciting visitor to open their new kitchens.
Try this easy-to-make Chicken Pie with Velouté Sauce & Puff Pastry Lid and serve with mashed potato and seasonal greens for a hearty winter warmer.
