Food Science and Nutrition

Food Science and Nutrition is an applied qualification that offers exciting and interesting experiences that focus on gaining and applying knowledge through understanding purposeful and work-related contexts that are linked to the food industry. The course allows you to develop a range of complex and specific food-related practical skills, as well as a range of generic and transferable vital life-skills including independent learning, problem-solving skills and project-based research skills. You will complete three units, two mandatory and one optional. Unit 1: Mandatory: Meeting Nutritional Needs of Specific Groups will be completed in year 12 and enables you to demonstrate an understanding of the science of food safety, nutrition and nutritional needs in a wide range of contexts. Through on-going practical sessions you will gain practical skills to produce quality food items to meet the needs of individuals. Unit 2 and Unit 3 or 4 will be completed in year 13. Unit 2: Mandatory: Ensuring Food is Safe to Eat enables you to develop an understanding of the hazards and risks in relation to the storage, preparation and cooking of food in different environments and the control measures needed to minimise these risks. Unit 3: Experimenting to Solve Food Production Problems (optional) enables you to understand the properties of food in order to plan and carry out experimental work. The results would be used to propose options to solve food production problems. Unit 4: Current Issues in Food Science and Nutrition (optional) enables you to develop the skills needed to plan, carry out and present a research project on current related to food science and nutrition. The range of units available would support your progress, from GCSE in particular GCSEs in Hospitality and Catering, Food Preparation and Nutrition, Biology, Physical Education, Humanities and Design & Technology

The standard entry requirement for the Hitchin Consortium is five Grade 9-4 GCSE's or equivalent, including English & Maths at Grade 4 or above. Subject specific additional entry requirements are an overall APS score of at least 3.5 and Grade 5 in Food Technology at GCSE.