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The education to baker and pastry chef is a vocational education, and it follows the same basic structure as most other craft educations in Denmark: a basic course at school first and then a main course where you alternate between being an apprentice in a bakery and returning to school for shorter periods. When you understand how the pieces fit together, it becomes easier to plan your path through.

§Basic course 1 and 2

The basic course is divided into two parts. Basic course 1 is typically for you coming more or less directly from primary school and is about exploring the large trade area and finding out if the direction suits you. Basic course 2 is aimed at the specific apprenticeship and prepares you professionally to be able to start an apprenticeship. Where you start depends on, among other things, your age and how much time has passed since you left school — if you come later in life, you can often skip basic course 1.

Each part of the basic course lasts about half a year. In basic course 2 you really get started with dough, rising, baking and the first pastry techniques in the school's kitchen, so you have a foundation before you stand in real production.

§Main course — school and practical work alternating

The main course is the largest part of the training, and it takes place as block release training: You are employed as an apprentice at a bakery or pastry shop and are at work most of the time, but you return to vocational school for several school periods along the way. At school, you catch up on the theory and practice techniques you may not encounter every day at your apprenticeship, while at the company you learn the trade at the pace and volume that real production requires.

It is this alternation that makes vocational education strong: You do not learn the trade from a book, but by working with your hands in the dough together with experienced journeymen and masters — and then get the theory and more specialized techniques at school in between.

§Entry requirements and admission

For them to become sharper

A crucial step is finding an apprenticeship placement because that is where the main course takes place. Many start searching early and use both the school's contacts apprenticeship placement portals and their own network. If you have a training agreement in place you have a much safer path through the main course.

“The basic course gives you the foundation — but it is at the apprenticeship that you really become a baker or confectioner.”