The Hospitality Guild has additionally worked with AA Hotel Services to develop a new College Rosette which recognises the quality of the college restaurant.
Colleges can use their accredited status as a way to attract new learners and demonstrate to employers that they are one of the best places to develop skilled staff to meet their business needs.
Speaking about the accreditation programme, the Hospitality Guild’s executive director Suzy Jackson said; “We know that there are some fantastic colleges and providers out there delivering education in hospitality to the next generation of professionals. The aim of the Guild is to improve professional development across the industry and recognising excellence in education is a major part of that.
“We believe passionately that it is vital that students, parents and employers know where an education can be found which will exceed their expectations and lead them to become motivated, excellent staff in years to come.”
The first colleges that have gone through the accreditation process are;
Barnsley College
Bournemouth & Poole College
City College Norwich
Cornwall College
Hopwood Hall College
New College Nottingham
Peterborough Regional College
Runshaw College
South Downs College
Stratford-upon-Avon College
University College Birmingham
Simon Numphud, head of AA Hotel Services, said; “We are delighted to work in partnership with the Hospitality Guild to rate college restaurants and thrilled to see the first tranche of accredited colleges achieve an AA rating. We originally trialled a pilot scheme several years ago so are really pleased that we have finally launched the programme. A quality agenda is so important to the hospitality industry so to connect at grass roots level is fantastic.”
Commenting on these results, Suzy said; “The process is rigorous and the standards exceptionally high, so all of these establishments are genuinely providing training which we believe will improve standards of professional development and, ultimately, the image of the industry.”
The assessment is based on the following quality measures involvement with the workplace; employer engagement and endorsement; quality of teaching and learning; continuing professional development; forward planning; resources; reflection/self-assessment; learner voice and learner recruitment.
The submission asks colleges and providers to give evidence on each of these areas. Once the submission is processed, the organisation is visited before a recommendation is made to a panel of industry experts, chaired by Sean Wheeler, area director of human resources, The Dorchester Collection, which endorses the final decision.