Nutrition / Diet

Course summary

Why study A Level Food Science and Nutrition? For many of us food is everything. We love making it, consuming it, and watching others prepare it. If this sounds familiar, then you may be interested in developing this passion and consider looking for a career connected to the food industry. Currently a career in the food industry is a highly credible option with fantastic career prospects as a food technologist for example. You can further explore the world of food from every angle, whether that is food production, food hygiene or food and nutrition, it is also the perfect linking course to various food related degrees. What will I be studying? Level 3 Food Science and Nutrition follows seamlessly on from the GCSE Food Preparation and Nutrition course. It contains familiar elements such as food science experiments and planning technically skilled menus. You will play detective, trying to identify from a person’s diet possible dietary deficiencies and future health concerns that could develop. To counteract these possible issues you will create menu plans for supporting a more balanced nutritious diet for that specific person. Possibly the most enjoyable part of the course is the practical cookery. In Year 12 we will teach various culinary high end skills that you can use to produce restaurant quality dishes, such as patisserie tartlets and creating a ramen from scratch. Accompanying this you will identify various food safety and hygiene issues connected with food production techniques and plan ways to prevent risks to the consumer. For those of you interested in a career as a food technologist, during the final year of the course we simulate a development kitchen, responding to consumer issues with a food product, investigating what went wrong and how this can be amended to produce a superior product. How will I be studying? Throughout Year 12 and Year 13 your teaching will be a mixture of practical lessons and theory lessons. With every unit the focus changes, starting with high level culinary skills changing to investigating food production problems and finishing with food safety in industry. Accompanying Unit 1 and Unit 2 there will be coursework which will directly link to the practical elements and will be independently led. All lessons are tailored to meet the needs of any given topic and students are required to make their own notes and develop an investigative nature to further their level of understanding of the topics. How will A Level Food Science and Nutrition help me in the future? This course will support you with the following degree courses: • BSc Food and Nutrition • BSc Human Nutrition • BSc(hons) Public Health Nutrition • BSC (hons) Food Science and Technology. An understanding of food science and nutrition is relevant to many industries and job roles. Care providers and nutritionists in hospitals use this knowledge, as do sports coaches and fitness instructors. Hotels and restaurants, food manufacturers and government agencies also use this understanding to develop menus, food products and policies that that support healthy eating initiatives. Many employment opportunities within the field of food science and nutrition are available to graduates. This is an applied general qualification. This means it is designed primarily to support students progressing to university. It has been designed to offer exciting, interesting experiences that focus learning for 16-19 year olds through applied learning, i.e. through the acquisition of knowledge and understanding in purposeful, work-related contexts, linked to the food production industry.