Level 1/2 Hospitality & Catering Key Terms & Vocabulary

Banquet

a formal sit-down meal, usually for a large number of people, often for a special event such as a wedding.

Chef de partie

a chef in charge of one section of a restaurant kitchen.

Commis chef

a junior cook in a restaurant kitchen.

En-suite bathroom

a private bathroom directly connected to the bedroom; in Summer 2025 vague answers like "bathroom" or "toilet in room" were not credited.

Gross profit

sales (takings) minus the direct cost of materials (food and drink).

Gross profit percentage

gross profit divided by sales, multiplied by 100.

Almost all workers

entitled to 5.6 weeks' paid holiday a year, which is 28 days for someone working five days a week.

Labour cost

the money paid to staff, such as chefs' and waiters' wages and salaries.

Material costs

the ingredients and other goods used directly to make the food and drink sold.

Michelin stars

awarded for the food on the plate only: decor, style and service have no bearing, and stars go to restaurants, not chefs.

National Living Wage

the legal minimum hourly pay for workers aged 21 and over (since 1 April 2024); younger workers get the National Minimum Wage rate for their age.

Net profit

what is left after all costs are taken off: gross profit minus labour and overheads.

Overheads

indirect running costs such as rent, utility bills, insurance, marketing and repairs; ingredients and materials are NOT overheads.

Spec's remuneration

the minimum wage and living wage, statutory entitlements (holiday and sick pay), and pension and holiday pay; pay can be an annual salary or an hourly wage.

Salary

a fixed amount paid each year, usually monthly; a wage is paid for each hour worked, so it varies with the hours done.

School canteen

non-commercial NON-residential provision; in January 2024 many candidates wrongly marked "a school canteen is a non-commercial (residential) provision" as true.

Sous-chef

the second most important cook in the kitchen, helping the head chef and running the kitchen when the head chef is away.

Statutory Sick Pay

paid by the employer for up to 28 weeks.

Tray service

used on aeroplanes, in hospitals and for hotel room service; trolley service is used on trains and aeroplanes.

VAT (value added tax)

added to the price by the business, paid by the customer, and passed on to the government.

Hospitality VAT

temporarily cut to 5% (15 July 2020 to 30 September 2021) and 12.5% (1 October 2021 to 31 March 2022) before returning to 20%.

Zero hours (casual) contracts

for "on call" work: the employer does not have to offer any work and the worker does not have to accept work that is offered.

Zero hours workers

still entitled to statutory annual leave and the National Minimum Wage.

AA Rosettes reward culinary excellence on a scale of one to five; about 10% of restaurants are good enough for one or more.

Examiners reward personal attributes (e.g. calm, punctual) and marked down answers that listed skills instead.

The kitchen brigade in the spec is executive chef, sous-chef, chef de partie, commis chef, pastry chef, kitchen assistant, apprentice and kitchen porter (plongeur).

A buffet lays dishes out for customers to help themselves; styles include sit-down, stand-up (fork) and finger buffets.

In a cafeteria customers walk past food counters selecting what they want and pay before they eat.

A chambermaid (room attendant) cleans and tidies hotel bedrooms, makes beds and replaces linen and towels.

Chef apprenticeships include a Level 2 Production Chef or Commis Chef apprenticeship and a Level 3 Chef de Partie apprenticeship.

Showing 30 of 86. Practise the full Hospitality and catering provision set →

Anaphylaxis

a life-threatening allergic reaction that happens very quickly, usually within minutes of contact with the allergen.

Allergen rules

enforced by the local authority; a business that does not act on its advice may be issued an improvement notice, and has 14 days to appeal it.

Food allergy

when the body's immune system reacts to a food, which it wrongly treats as harmful; reactions can be life-threatening (anaphylaxis).

Campylobacter

the most common cause of bacterial food poisoning in the UK; it is mainly linked with raw or undercooked poultry, as well as red meat and unpasteurised milk. Raw chicken should not be washed because splashing spreads the bacteria.

Coeliac disease

a condition where the immune system attacks the body's own tissues when gluten is eaten; gluten is a protein in wheat, barley and rye. The spec places gluten under intolerances.

Lactose

a sugar found mainly in milk and dairy products. Lactose intolerance happens when the body does not make enough lactase, the enzyme that digests lactose.

Natasha's Law

The Food Information (Amendment) (England) Regulations 2019. It came into force on 1 October 2021 and requires prepacked for direct sale (PPDS) food to carry the name of the food and a full ingredients list with the 14 allergens emphasised. Before then, allergen information for PPDS food could be given verbally.

PPDS food

food packed on the same premises where it is sold, before the customer orders it, for example sandwiches made and wrapped in a café that morning. Food packed after the customer orders it is not PPDS.

Salmonella

commonly found in raw meat, poultry, eggs and unpasteurised milk, and can also spread from person to person through poor handwashing.

Cross-contamination

when bacteria spread between food, surfaces and equipment, for example from raw meat to ready-to-eat food.

Physical contamination

when objects such as hair, jewellery, false nails or plasters get into food. Controls credited by WJEC include removing jewellery and false nails, tying back and covering hair, and covering cuts with blue plasters (highly visible if they fall into food).

Environmental Health Officer

also called an environmental health practitioner; they make sure legal standards are met in food safety, housing, public health, and air and water quality.

Food hygiene inspections

carried out by a food safety officer from the local authority (the council).

Higher-risk businesses

inspected more often: from every six months for the highest risk to every two years for lower-risk businesses.

Hygiene improvement notice

served when an officer believes a business is failing to comply with hygiene law; it specifies the measures needed and the time allowed.

Vomiting

a visible symptom while feeling sick (nausea) is non-visible; examiners want precise terms such as vomiting or nausea rather than "sickness".

Food allergy symptoms include an itchy raised rash, swelling of the lips, face and eyes, and wheezing or breathlessness.

If someone may be having anaphylaxis, use their adrenaline auto-injector (such as an EpiPen) if they have one and call 999.

Signs of anaphylaxis include swelling of the throat and tongue, difficulty breathing, wheezing, feeling faint and pale or blue skin.

Allergens can transfer between foods; for example, chips described as gluten-free cannot be fried in the same oil as battered fish.

Prepacked food must have an ingredients list on the packaging, and any of the 14 allergens in the product must be emphasised each time they appear in that list.

Uncooked rice can contain spores of Bacillus cereus that survive cooking. The longer cooked rice is left at room temperature, the more likely it is that the bacteria or toxins make it unsafe, so rice should be cooled quickly, kept in the fridge for no more than one day, and never reheated more than once. The problem is how the rice was stored before reheating, not the reheating itself.

The main reservoir of the harmful E. coli strain O157 (STEC) is cattle and other ruminants; outbreaks have been linked to undercooked burgers (beef mince), salad vegetables and dairy products. It can cause haemolytic uraemic syndrome (kidney failure).

The spec lists four intolerances: gluten (coeliac disease), lactose, aspartame and monosodium glutamate (MSG). The S25 examiner's report notes candidates naming foods (for example "cheese") instead of the intolerance (lactose).

The Food Safety Act 1990 makes it an offence to render food injurious to health (s.7), to sell food that does not comply with food safety requirements (s.8), to sell food not of the nature, substance or quality demanded by the purchaser (s.14), and to falsely describe or present food (s.15).

A food intolerance does not involve the immune system. Symptoms such as bloating, wind and diarrhoea usually come on more slowly (hours after eating) and are not life-threatening. Intolerances are more common than allergies.

UK law requires food businesses to give information on 14 allergens: celery, cereals containing gluten (such as wheat, rye, barley and oats), crustaceans, eggs, fish, lupin, milk, molluscs, mustard, peanuts, sesame, soybeans, sulphur dioxide and sulphites (above 10 parts per million) and tree nuts.

Listeria can grow at fridge temperatures. Higher-risk foods are chilled ready-to-eat foods such as cooked sliced meats, pâté, smoked fish, soft mould-ripened cheese, unpasteurised milk and pre-prepared sandwiches. Pregnant women, older people and people with weakened immunity are most at risk.

For non-prepacked (loose) food, such as restaurant meals, allergen information must be available for every item; it can be given in writing (menu, chalkboard) or verbally, and if verbal, a notice must tell customers how to get it. At a buffet, allergen information must be given for each food item separately.

Clostridium perfringens forms spores that survive cooking; the bacteria then multiply when large amounts of cooked meat, stews or gravy are cooled slowly or left unrefrigerated. Outbreaks typically happen where large groups are served, for example at catered events.

Showing 30 of 65. Practise the full Food safety in hospitality and catering set →

Corrective action

what the business does to put things right when monitoring shows a CCP is not under control; the spec calls this deciding what actions to take if something goes wrong.

Critical limit

the value set at a CCP that separates acceptable from unacceptable.

HACCP

a legal food safety requirement and system, not a standalone health and safety law like HASAWA or RIDDOR.

HSE advice

to carry a knife with the blade pointing downwards and never to try to catch a falling knife.

Manual handling

transporting or supporting a load by hand or bodily force, including lifting, putting down, pushing, pulling and carrying.

PPER

the Personal Protective Equipment at Work Regulations 1992.

Hazard

anything that may cause harm; the risk is how likely it is that someone could be harmed and how seriously.

An accident form records the incident, including the hazard and its cause; examiners penalised answers that gave the hazard (a wet floor) without the cause (rain).

A critical control point (CCP) is a step at which control is essential to prevent or eliminate a hazard or reduce it to an acceptable level.

COSHH requires employers to assess the risk to health, prevent or control exposure, and give workers information, instruction and training.

COSHH stands for the Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations 2002.

COSHH controls include keeping storage containers correctly labelled and separating incompatible chemicals.

COSHH covers substances hazardous to health such as chemicals and products containing chemicals, fumes, dusts, vapours, gases and biological agents (germs); in a kitchen this means cleaning chemicals such as bleach.

Summer 2024 examiners said many candidates earned only 1 mark (of 4, on a mark-by-mark ladder) on why a HACCP document matters by saying it stops incidents happening again; the mark scheme wanted actions for managing hazards to prevent, remove or reduce incidents, the legal requirement, EHOs checking the records, and protection against chemical, physical and biological contamination.

For the Summer 2024 6-mark question on the safety training new front of house staff need, examiners credited answers that discussed first aid, CPR, fire safety, COSHH and HACCP, and penalised answers about job tasks (such as using tills) that did not link back to safety training.

For the January 2024 4-mark question asking candidates to assess the risks and suggest how to prevent a customer slipping on a wet hotel reception floor, the mark scheme credited a risk assessment, cleaners mopping, slip-proof mats at the entrance, a canopy over the front door, warning signs, warning customers and training staff.

FSA groups food hazards into three main types: microbiological (harmful bacteria), chemical (including cleaning chemicals and allergens) and physical (objects getting into food).

Examiners expect the term food probe (not "food thermometer") for checking the core temperature of meat at the cooking control point.

A food business must have a food safety management system (a written set of processes, checks, rules and records) that meets the HACCP principles.

HACCP stands for Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point (the spec writes "Critical Control Points").

Food business operators must put in place, implement and maintain a permanent procedure based on the HACCP principles.

For pest contamination, credited controls are traps, specialist pest control, keeping doors and windows closed and good cleanliness; spraying fly spray near food was not credited because it can contaminate food.

The HACCP principles are: identify hazards, identify critical control points, set critical limits, monitor the CCPs, take corrective action, verify the system works, and keep documents and records.

HACCP records show procedures are working, and a business involved in a food safety incident must show its records as evidence of how it keeps food safe.

The HACCP procedure must be reviewed whenever the product, process or any step changes.

A HACCP document in the exam is set out as hazard, analysis and control point for each stage, such as receipt of food, cooking or serving.

Under HASAWA section 7, employees must take reasonable care of their own health and safety and that of others affected by what they do, and co-operate with their employer.

Under HASAWA section 2, every employer must ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, the health, safety and welfare at work of all their employees.

The statute's short title is the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 (HASAWA); the specification lists it as the "Health and Safety at Work Act 1974".

HASAWA section 9 forbids an employer from charging employees for anything provided to meet a specific legal health and safety requirement, such as required PPE.

Showing 30 of 50. Practise the full Health and safety in hospitality and catering set →

Invoice

a bill telling the customer how much they need to pay and when; it is not the same as a receipt, which acknowledges a payment.

Stock control

the process of making sure the right amount of goods or materials is available to use.

A bain-marie cooks or holds food in a container placed in a pan of hot water.

Kitchen documentation in the spec is stock controlling systems, ordering, delivery notes, invoices, food safety documentation and health and safety documentation.

The spec groups the first aid kit with cleaning and safety materials, separately from large equipment, small equipment and utensils.

Large kitchen equipment in the spec includes a large conventional oven, glass chiller, floor standing food mixer, deep fat fryers, hot water urns, walk-in fridge-freezer, standing bain marie, steamers, pass-through dishwasher, glass washer and hot plates.

Examiners reported candidates mistaking a walk-in fridge/freezer for a store cupboard and struggling to name a pass-through dishwasher.

The spec lists the catering kitchen workflow as delivery, staffing area, wash area, storage area, preparation and cooking area, serving area, and washing/cleaning area.

Under the Equality Act 2010 a person is disabled if they have a physical or mental impairment with a substantial and long-term adverse effect on normal day-to-day activities.

Credited ways a hotel can meet disabled guests' needs include ramps, lifts, accessible toilets, braille signage and staff trained in sign language.

Credited ways a hotel can meet the needs of families with babies and small children include cots, family rooms, highchairs, children's menus, a play area and access for pushchairs.

For a customer with mobility needs, credited answers included priority boarding on the airline and accessibility features at the hotel.

Mark schemes match provision to the customer group: a cake stand and dance floor for a wedding, cots and highchairs for a family with a baby, ramps and accessible toilets for a wheelchair user, priority boarding for a flyer with mobility needs.

The Equality Act 2010 lists nine protected characteristics: age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, sex, and sexual orientation.

A business cannot make a disabled person pay towards the cost of the reasonable adjustments it is required to make.

Service providers have a duty to make reasonable adjustments so disabled people are not put at a substantial disadvantage, covering practices, physical features and auxiliary aids.

Under the Equality Act 2010 a service provider must not discriminate against a person by refusing them the service, or in the terms on which it is provided; direct discrimination means treating someone less favourably because of a protected characteristic.

The spec says provision must meet customer needs (catering, equipment, accommodation), customer rights and inclusion (disability), and equality.

For a wedding booking, accommodation needs a hotel can meet include a bridal suite, discounted rooms for guests, cots, car parking, en-suite rooms and breakfast.

For a wedding booking, equipment needs a hotel can meet include a DJ, audio-visual equipment, a cake stand, table linen and decorations, and a dance floor.

Credited dress code rules for an executive chef include wearing chef whites and an apron, tying hair up and removing jewellery.

Credited dress code rules for a receptionist include appropriate shoes and a smart, neat appearance without visible tattoos or piercings.

Long loose hair in a kitchen is both a physical contamination risk and a risk of entanglement in equipment.

Food handlers' hair should be tied back and preferably covered.

Working without an apron raises the risk of burns from hot surfaces or splashes and of contaminating food from clothing.

Food handlers in the preparation area should wear suitable, clean protective clothing that is changed and laundered regularly.

For the Summer 2024 4-mark question on how front of house staff should deal with a complaint about undercooked chicken and hair in food, the mark scheme credited listening to the customer, apologising, asking how they would like it resolved, returning the food to the kitchen, informing the chef, a replacement meal or a discount, involving the manager and logging the complaint.

For the January 2024 4-mark question on how a hotel can meet the needs of families with babies and small children, the mark scheme credited baby changing facilities, a baby-sitting service, bottle warmers, cots in rooms, safe highchairs, children's menus and portions, family rooms, family floors and easy access for pushchairs, with a limited answer (which may be a list) at 1 mark.

In the January 2025 6-mark question on how an airline and a hotel can cater for a wheelchair user's mobility needs, the 5-6 band required both the airline and the hotel to be covered; the 3-4 band accepted the airline and/or the hotel, and a 1-2 response might consider only one.

For the January 2025 4-mark question on how a bistro can go paperless front of house, the mark scheme credited digital menus on tablets or screens, QR code menus, online ordering through a website or app, receipts by email or text and digital reservations, with a basic answer that may be bullet points or a list at 2 marks.

Showing 30 of 44. Practise the full How hospitality and catering provisions operate set →

Brunoise

a very fine dice: vegetables are first cut into julienne strips and then into very small cubes.

Chiffonade

vegetables or herbs cut into very narrow strips, often used as a garnish.

Accompaniment

something eaten or drunk together with something else, such as a side served with a main dish.

Garnish

a small amount of a different food used to decorate a dish.

Food handlers should not touch their face or hair, smoke, spit, sneeze, eat or chew gum while handling food.

Long hair should be tied back and covered with a hat or hair net.

Food handlers must wash their hands before preparing food, after touching raw food, after handling food waste or emptying a bin, after cleaning, after blowing their nose, after touching phones, light switches, door handles or cash registers, and after using the toilet.

Staff with diarrhoea or vomiting must not handle food and must report their illness to their manager; they should not return to work until they have had no symptoms for 48 hours.

Staff must tell their manager if they feel unwell, and must not handle food or enter the food handling area if they have infected wounds or sores, infected skin, nose or throat, stomach pain, nausea, fever or jaundice. They must also tell their manager if anyone they live with has diarrhoea or vomiting.

Food handlers should not wear watches or jewellery when preparing food, except a plain wedding band.

Staff must wear suitable, clean, protective clothing.

Food businesses must make sure food handlers are trained in food hygiene appropriate to their work (for example on the job, through self-study or local authority courses); food handlers do not have to hold a food hygiene certificate.

Basic cooking techniques in the spec include basting, boiling, chilling, cooling, freezing, grilling, skimming and toasting.

Basic knife techniques in the spec are chopping, peeling and trimming; baton, chiffonade, dicing, slicing, deseeding and spatchcock are medium.

Complex cooking techniques in the spec are baking blind, caramelising, deep fat frying, emulsifying, poaching and tempering.

Complex knife techniques in the spec are brunoise, julienne, mincing, deboning, filleting and segmenting.

Complex preparation techniques in the spec are crimping, laminating (pastry), melting using a bain-marie, piping, shaping, unmoulding and whisking (aeration).

To fillet is to cut the flesh of meat or fish away from the bones.

To julienne is to cut food, especially vegetables, into long thin pieces.

Julienne gives long thin strips, chiffonade gives very narrow strips of herbs or leaves, brunoise gives very small cubes, and filleting cuts the flesh away from the bones.

The spec rates plain melting as basic but melting using a bain-marie as complex.

Examiners noted that melting chocolate in a bain-marie is not the same as tempering chocolate.

Ready-made or prepared components used in a dish are all classed as basic.

Examiners noted that making shortcrust pastry does not count as lamination.

Examiners criticised deboning a whole chicken when one or two thighs would show the same skill at a fraction of the cost.

To spatchcock a chicken is to cut it open down the middle and press it flat before cooking.

The spec categorises preparation and cooking techniques as basic (), medium () or complex (**).

Candidates enhanced presentation with suitable plates, including children's plates and cutlery for a child client group.

Examiners remind candidates that careful placement and cleaning the sides of plates and dishes can lift even simple presentation.

The spec's four presentation techniques are creativity, garnish and decoration, portion control, and accompaniments.

Showing 30 of 32. Practise the full The skills and techniques of preparation, cooking and presentation of dishes set →

Potatoes

a healthy choice when boiled, baked, mashed or roasted with only a small amount of fat and no added salt; chips cooked in oil are not.

Vitamin loss

reduced by reusing cooking liquid in stocks or gravies, steaming or microwaving vegetables instead of boiling, using the minimum amount of water if boiling, and not overcooking.

Vitamin B12

not found naturally in fruit, vegetables or grains, so vegans may not get enough; vegans also need to plan for calcium, iron, iodine, selenium and vitamin D.

Starchy carbohydrates

broken down into glucose, which the body uses for energy; starch provides about 4 kcal per gram.

Cardiovascular disease risk

raised by high blood pressure, high cholesterol and diabetes; menus for these customers limit salt and saturated fat.

Fat

the most concentrated source of energy (9 kcal per gram, more than protein or carbohydrate) and carries the fat-soluble vitamins A, D, E and K. A diet high in saturated fat can raise blood cholesterol and increase the risk of heart disease and stroke.

Dietary fibre

carbohydrate found naturally in plants that the body cannot fully digest; adults are advised to eat 30 g a day, and a high-fibre diet is linked with lower risk of heart disease, type 2 diabetes and bowel cancer.

Halal food

allowed under Islamic law, including how the animal was slaughtered; no alcohol or food containing alcohol is consumed. Kosher food complies with Jewish dietary law; meat and dairy are never eaten at the same meal and must be prepared separately. Pork products are forbidden in both.

Iron

needed to make red blood cells, which carry oxygen around the body; a lack can lead to iron deficiency anaemia, with symptoms such as tiredness, lack of energy, shortness of breath and pale skin. Good sources include red meat, beans, nuts, dried fruit and fortified breakfast cereals.

Protein

needed for growth, repair and maintenance of the body, especially bones and muscles, and can also be used for energy. Needs are higher during growth, such as childhood and pregnancy.

When potatoes are boiled, some nutrients leak into the water, especially if they are peeled; using only enough water to cover them and cooking only as long as needed reduces this.

Fat-based methods increase the energy (calories) of food: stir-frying uses minimal oil and adds little energy, shallow frying adds a little more, and deep-fat frying adds a large amount. Fat provides 9 kcal per gram, compared with 4 kcal per gram for carbohydrate and protein.

Fish that is steamed, baked or grilled is a healthier choice than fried fish; frying increases the fat content, especially if the fish is cooked in batter.

Grilling meat rather than frying, and roasting it on a metal rack above the tin so fat can run off, reduce the fat in the finished dish.

Moist methods include boiling, poaching and steaming; dry methods include baking, grilling and roasting; fat-based methods include stir-frying, shallow frying and deep-fat frying. Moist methods usually use lower temperatures than dry methods.

If frying oil is not hot enough, it is absorbed by the food, adding more fat.

Water-soluble vitamins (B vitamins and vitamin C) can be lost through oxidation during preparation, leaching into the cooking liquid, long cooking times, and keeping vegetables hot for a long time before serving.

B vitamins (water soluble) such as thiamin (B1), riboflavin (B2) and niacin (B3) help the body release energy from food. Folate helps form healthy red blood cells and reduces the risk of neural tube defects such as spina bifida in unborn babies.

Calcium helps build bones and keep teeth healthy, regulates muscle contractions including the heartbeat, and helps blood clot normally; a lack can lead to rickets in children and osteoporosis in later life.

A vegetarian does not eat meat or fish; a vegan does not eat foods that come from animals, including dairy products and eggs; a pescatarian eats fish but not meat.

Potassium helps control the balance of fluids in the body and helps the heart muscle work properly; magnesium helps turn food into energy; sodium and chloride (salt) help keep the level of body fluids balanced.

Adults should have no more than 6 g of salt a day (about 1 level teaspoon); too much salt can raise blood pressure, which increases the risk of heart attack and stroke.

Teenagers need high amounts of calcium because their bones are growing, and plenty of iron, especially girls, who lose iron during periods; almost 50% of teenage girls do not get enough iron.

People with type 2 diabetes are advised to eat a healthy diet including fruit, vegetables, wholegrain foods and pulses, and not too many processed foods high in salt and sugar; losing weight if overweight helps.

Vitamin A (fat soluble) helps the immune system work properly, helps vision in dim light and keeps skin healthy. Liver is a very rich source, so pregnant women should avoid liver and liver products.

Vitamin C (water soluble) helps protect cells, maintains healthy skin, blood vessels, bones and cartilage, and helps wound healing; a lack can lead to scurvy. It cannot be stored in the body, so it is needed in the diet every day.

Vitamin D (fat soluble) helps regulate calcium and phosphate, which keep bones, teeth and muscles healthy; a lack can cause rickets in children and osteomalacia in adults. Most vitamin D is made by the skin in sunlight (late March to end of September); between October and early March we do not make enough.

The government recommends all children aged 6 months to 5 years are given supplements containing vitamins A, C and D every day (unless they have more than 500 ml of infant formula a day).

Current advice

to eat at least 5 portions of a variety of fruit and vegetables a day.

Portion control

making sure the amount of food served on each plate is always the same, which also helps control costs.

Contingency

something that might happen and cause problems, so a plan's contingencies set out what to do if it does.

Mise en place

preparing the food and equipment you will need before you start cooking.

Organoleptic qualities

the qualities of a food, such as taste, colour, smell and feel, that stimulate the senses.

Top-band plans

detailed enough to let a third party create identical dishes; steps like "make the pasta" that send the reader back to a recipe are not enough.

Examiners criticised dishes where portions for toddlers or schoolchildren were as large as, or larger than, the adult portions.

Top-band candidates linked dishes to the client group's needs, such as replenishing energy used in swimming or outdoor activities.

The Eatwell Guide shows how much of what we eat overall should come from each food group.

The spec lists five factors when planning menus: cost, portion control, balanced diets/current nutritional advice, time of day, and clients/customers.

The government recommends 6 to 8 cups or glasses of fluid a day.

Starchy foods should make up just over a third of the food we eat, choosing higher-fibre or wholegrain versions where possible.

Top-band menu choices linked dishes clearly to the time of day of the meal, such as lunch or an evening meal.

Examiners credited menu choices that considered value for money for both the clients and the provision.

The spec pairs "sequencing/dove-tailing" with preparing, cooking and presenting more than one dish at the same time.

The spec's environmental issues ask how dish production can be made sustainable by using less energy and reducing water consumption.

The spec's equipment factor covers the type of equipment needed for a menu: specialist, hand-held and electrical equipment.

The spec's factors for planning production are equipment available, skills of the chef, time available, environmental issues, time of year (seasonality of commodities) and organoleptic qualities.

The spec says a dish plan covers a commodity list with quantities, contingencies, an equipment list, health, safety and hygiene, quality points, sequencing/dovetailing, timing, mise en place, cooking, cooling, hot holding, serving and storage.

A top-band production plan starts with mise en place and ends with serving and cleaning away.

The spec links time of year to the seasonality of commodities when planning production.

Strong plans show logical timings with a clear start and finish time for each task, not just a completion time.