The delivery of hospitality and catering courses by colleges is often dull, says a new joint report by the Office for Standards in Education (Ofsted) and the Adult Learning Inspectorate (ALI).
On top of uninspired delivery of theory within the classroom, the report also found catering and hospitality students' written work had an unacceptable amount of spelling and grammatical mistakes, while their number skills were weak.
Worryingly, the report suggested that teachers were not likely to correct these basic mistakes and that they also tolerated poor timekeeping by their catering and hospitality students.
However, the report praised the practical worth of catering courses, and said the criticisms were the exception to the rule. Good standards of teaching and practical work in kitchens and restaurants as part of the course were highlighted as particular strengths.
"Although the report is probably accurate, It's hard to compare colleges as there are 600-plus offering some sort of hospitality qualification in the UK," said Anne Walker, managing director of Springboard UK. "We have to remember that further education college courses have improved dramatically over the last few years, and we now have several colleges within the field that are beacons of quality."