Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps his Department is taking to increase the number of students leaving secondary education with a knowledge of basic cooking skills.

Cooking and nutrition are taught as part of the design and technology programme of study for Key Stage 1 to 3 in the national curriculum, which is compulsory for maintained schools and can be used as a benchmark by academies and free schools.

Within the programme, pupils are taught about food and nutrition and how to cook a range of healthy and nutritious dishes. They are equipped with knowledge about healthy eating, what is meant by a balanced diet, and how to feed themselves and others affordably and well both now and in the future.

In September 2016, the Government also introduced a new GCSE in Food Preparation and Nutrition. The new GCSE enables pupils to acquire a proper understanding of the scientific principles behind food and nutrition, and use a number of practical techniques to prepare and cook food.