The lack of practical cooking and food in the national curriculum does not engender an early appreciation/knowledge of the industry and hospitality-related occupations. There is also currently no clear pathway into further and higher education.  The education system does not seem to be a major source of recruitment.  This situation looks set to worsen as Further Education colleges have seen a fall in enrolments in relevant courses.

In 2000, 18.5% of the hospitality workforce had no qualifications (including vocational qualifications), compared to 11.5% of the workforce across all industries. The position has subsequently deteriorated so that in 2002 21% of the workforce did not hold a qualification: the sub-sector with the highest proportion of employees with no qualifications is ‘restaurants’ (24.7%), whilst pubs have the lowest figure (17%).

There is no significant gap between management and operative staff without qualifications. The highest qualification held by hospitality employees varies depending on the level of their position.

Source: HfT/VT Plus Training 2003

Take-up of Modern Apprenticeships in the industry is the fifth largest nationally. Cumulative starts number around 30,000, although around 50% of candidates leave the MA programme without completing the full framework.

Training activity within the sector has increased by 5% over the last five years. 

Employers cite the following barriers to training:

• lack of time 37%
• lack of employees 30%
• difficulty in providing cover for members of staff 25%
• staff not staying long enough to be trained 18%

Source: Hospitality Sector Report  2002

A Hospitality Occupational Standards Review will be completed in November 2004. The review is essentially covering all hospitality frameworks except the new hospitality supervision. It therefore includes all frameworks at NVQ levels 1 and 2 and craft qualifications at NVQ levels 3 and 4, covering everything from food preparation and cooking to reception and housekeeping as follows:

• all occupational areas at NVQ levels 1 and 2
• Advanced Craft Food Service, NVQ level 3
• Advanced Craft Drink Service, NVQ level 3
• Food Preparation and Cooking, General NVQ level 3
• Patisserie and Confectionery, NVQ level 3
• Kitchen and Larder, NVQ level 3
• Kitchen and Larder, Specialist NVQ level 4
• Patisserie and Confectionery, Specialist NVQ level 4

Source: Hospitality Training Foundation website

The tensions between the need to up-skill the workforce and high staff turnover and recruitment problems mean the sector needs to address many issues including:

• low-skilled employees need support with basic skills
• the industry attracts a large proportion of young people but the general lack of a training culture means people perceive little opportunity for skills development and career progression
• penetration of Investors in People and other quality initiatives is still relatively low within the industry and has often been hampered as employers put business demands before participation in longer term measures to improve retention and skills levels
• opportunities are not fully exploited to influence casual workers by formally recognising the skills they acquire, which would raise the status of hospitality skills within the workforce as a whole
• there is a general lack of awareness of the need for training amongst many employers
• the preference amongst employers is for work-based training which offers opportunities for the workforce quickly to develop job-related competences, but the government's insistence is on external assessment of key skills and technical knowledge
• hospitality learning programmes are expensive to run and to assess for both education and work-based learning providers
• there is a need for a foundation level programme to introduce new entrants to the industry and provide them with employability skills

Sources: Hospitality Sector Report  2002 and HtF/VT Plus Training 2003