The 12 finalists beat over 8,000 entrants at school, local and regional finals before Tom, from Tanbridge House School in West Sussex, was crowned the overall winner.
He served up a menu of poached fillets of sole, dill and spinach stuffing, purple sprouting turned potatoes and fish cream foam and a dessert of vanilla Cake with raspberry sorbet, bitter chocolate ganache and caramel nut clusters.
Tom said: “I’m so excited that I won, I can’t believe this has happened to me and I am privileged to be in this position right now.”
The top prize is a behind the scene visit to Henley Regatta where Tom will work with top chefs before enjoying full hospitality courtesy of Sodexo. Tanbridge House School also wins vouchers to the value of £400, courtesy of Bunzl Lockhart and Tom’s mentor chef Christopher Basten receives a commemorative plate, courtesy of Steelite International.
Springboard’s chief executive, Anne Pierce, said: “Congratulations to all of our hard working, committed finalists – they have all been part of a great FutureChef.
“It really is amazing to see the quality of work by young chefs improve year on year, the talent we see as a result of the Springboard FutureChef initiative is remarkable and Tom is a true winner.”
Chef Brian Turner, said: “It has been a fantastic day and it’s good to see so many dedicated young people with so much talent. Thanks must also go to teachers and mentors who make such a great contribution to the success of the event. Tom is a great winner.”
Springboard’s FutureChef is a nationwide culinary initiative delivered in over 500 schools nationwide. The main goal of FutureChef is to help young people aged 12-16 to learn the vital life skill of cooking and understanding nutrition as well as providing invaluable insight into and inspiration for building a career within the hospitality industry.