The journeyman's exam — the path to becoming a qualified chef

The education to gastronome is a vocational education that alternates between school and practice, and is completed with a journeyman exam. The path to it is structured in clear steps, and it is good to know them already when you start, so you know what to expect and when important decisions need to be made.

§The basic course

If you come directly from 9th or 10th grade, you start the first part of the basic course (GF1), where you are introduced broadly to the food, agriculture and experience area. Then comes the second part of the basic course (GF2), which is aimed specifically at culinary education. Here you learn the basic techniques, tools and subject concepts, and you get a sense of whether the kitchen trade is for you before you seek an apprenticeship.

§Finding an apprenticeship

To progress to the main course you must have a training agreement — also called an apprenticeship — with an approved practice company: a restaurant, a hotel, a canteen, a catering company or similar. You will be employed there as an apprentice with wages and enter a formal agreement about the rest of the education. If an apprenticeship is hard to find, school training can in some cases be a way forward but your own apprenticeship in a real company gives the widest experience.

§Main course — school and practical work alternating

The main course alternates between practical periods in the kitchen and school periods, where theory and technique are deepened, and where you can specialize — for example in cooking, cooking with a focus on sustainable gastronomy, or open sandwiches and catering. In practice you build routine, speed, and a feel for what you can only learn through repetition in a real kitchen under pressure. School periods also provide space to go deeper into techniques that a busy daily shift doesn't always allow time for.

• 01GF1 (foundation program part 1) is the broad introduction for students coming directly from lower secondary.
• 02GF2 (direct): Passed Danish and mathematics from 9th grade — at least 2.0 average in both subjects. If the average is too low you can enter via an entrance exam and entrance interview.
• 03Education agreement/apprenticeship—employment as a student in an apprenticeship business.
• 04Main course — alternating school attendance and practical work, with opportunity for specialization.
• 05Journeyman's exam — the final practical and theoretical exam.

§The journeyman's exam

The education ends with a journeyman test where you show that you can do what you have learned throughout the course — typically a combination of a practical kitchen task and a professional assessment of planning execution and result. The test is assessed by a master craftsman and an assessor and if you pass you receive your journeyman certificate which is the formal proof that you are now a qualified gastronome.

§After the journeyman certificate

With the journeyman's certificate in hand you can go straight out and work as a skilled cook or you can build further with further training specialisation or further studies. Many cooks choose to gather experience in several types of workplaces — from à la carte to canteen and catering — before they find their direction and the trade offers good opportunities both to stay in the kitchen and to advance to head chef or open your own place.