Chelmsley Starters culinary school helping students find their calling

October 2025

By Sean Madden

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Read time: approx 5 mins

The opening few months of the new culinary school in Chelmsley Wood, north Solihull have flown by, and the first cohort of students have found inspiration in ways they might have never envisaged.

Ali Wasim was studying for a college course he didn’t enjoy when he saw the culinary school advertised, and with his long-standing love of all things cookery, his interest was piqued.

At the same time, Rebecca Willoughby was working in a front-of-house role at the NEC but was keen to explore her culinary ambitions and expand her skillset in the kitchen.

Both enrolled on the 'Introduction to the Hospitality Industry' short course offered by the school. The course was created with the aim of allowing adults (aged 19 and over) to upskill by learning basic culinary concepts, and developing skills around kitchen organisation, nutrition and hospitality in professional, industry-standard kitchen spaces.

Ali had long-harboured a passion for working in kitchens, having done so since he was 14 as kitchen porter and assistant, but he’d never really considered it as a career. When he saw University College Birmingham chef Adam Pickett present a talk about the Chelmsley Starters culinary school, it seemed like fate.

“I was spending my time cutting veggies and washing dishes and so on, but didn’t think about actually becoming a chef,” Ali said.

“I signed up for the course there and then, after the presentation, and the University were great at keeping in touch over the summer. On the first day, I got to the school and immediately knew that becoming a chef was the goal for me.”

Through the course, students have the opportunity to explore a whole host of cuisines from around the world and garner an understanding of the entire food cycle, from farm to fork. Ali is using the chance to learn as much as he can before choosing a career speciality, and is taking advantage of the real-world experience on hand through the expert lecturers.

“Every chef at the school has seen everything; worked in different countries and across different cuisines. It really helps and makes you more eager to learn when you know how much knowledge they’re carrying around with them and willing to show you,” he said.

“I’ve decided my next aim is to hone my skills abroad and Copenhagen is my top destination. I’m eager to get more experience in fine dining and it’s definitely the place to be for that.”

Rebecca has similar culinary ambitions, and wanted to use her time at the school to improve her confidence in the kitchen and in preparing food. Even in the short time she’s been on the course, progress has been more rapid than she expected, and she has noticed a big difference:

“It was quite daunting at first, but I got to grips with it quickly. I really didn’t expect to be doing as well as this so early on in the course,” she said.

“I’ve surprised myself!”

Through her work in food preparation, Rebecca has gained a deeper understanding of the way flavours and ingredients interact with one another to create top quality cuisine, and she believes these skills will be the key to unlocking a future career in hospitality.

"I'm really excited about progressing to patisserie, which is where my interests mainly lie, but to be honest it's all been great," she said.

"The atmosphere around the school is so supportive, and the chef lecturers are always on hand to help with whatever you need."

"I'm hoping that adding these skills will make it easier for me to find work in the industry."

Both Ali and Rebecca are convinced that the skills they’ve picked up during their short time on the course so far will be vital to realising their future ambitions, and are thriving in the kitchen environment, working towards careers they never thought possible only a few weeks ago.

“Everyone’s really mature and know what they want to do and why they’re here, so it makes for a brilliant learning environment. I've been interested in other subjects before but never had real enthusiasm for them. I was worried this might be the same, but it hasn’t turned out that way” Ali said.

“It’s the first time in my life I’ve known exactly what I want to do, and I’ve put 110% into my work here.”

Read more about the Chelmsley Starters culinary school

Explore courses at Birmingham College of Food