When Daniela Prela roasted her first chicken, she was afraid she might undercook it and poison her family. But those early experiences of preparing meals fed a passion for the kitchen that would influence the course of her life.
A decade later, and with a three-year Professional Chef Diploma under her belt, Prela is a commis chef at The Ritz in London.
The 22-year-old from Ilford is a shining illustration of how high-quality vocational education can make dreams come true. Her experience also shows that technical pathways are far from simply the default for students who don’t have any other option. With two A*s and an A in her maths, physics and art A-levels, a Russell Group university place was guaranteed.
“I was going to university open days and I couldn’t decide what I wanted to study and in the back of my mind I was still thinking about cooking,” she says.
“I was talking to one of my teachers and he said ‘what do you want to do when you are older?’ and I said ‘be a chef’ and he said ‘so what are you doing going to university then?’ It had been so ingrained in me that I had to go to university but when he said that, I just thought ‘right, OK’.”
She enrolled at Westminster Kingsway College and excelled, winning the Professional Chef Diploma Student of the Year award on graduation. Like thousands of teenagers who chose vocational education, she has never looked back.
“The different technical routes that are available to young people can open up a world of opportunities,” says Ben Blackledge, interim CEO of WorldSkills UK. “Vocational education gives you skills that are so valued by employers. I’ve seen amazing potential realised in great careers gained through these routes. But for people who are not in the sector and don’t know those routes, there is a lot of confusion.”
The Evening Standard’s Step Up Expo at Olympia London is about to help clear up that confusion for young Londoners and their parents. Experts from some of the best further education colleges, sixth forms and apprenticeships programmes, including Westminster Kingsway College, will be among more than 100 exhibitors on hand to help visitors map out the pathways to gaining a bankable skillset.
This roster includes the WorldSkills UK team and its Skills Champions, who are a terrific advertisement for what apprenticeships and a technical education can deliver, including the roles, career progression and earning potential.
“There are so many examples of people who have gone through these colleges who are phenomenally successful,” says Blackledge. “Aircraft engineers, for example, can earn over £50,000 by the time they qualify and they are in their early twenties — because their skills are phenomenally sought after.”
Prela’s parents, a retired builder and a dental nurse, took a bit of convincing about her choices at 18, but she says they are 100 per cent supportive and love hearing her tales from the kitchen.
“The Ritz is an amazing place to work and Chef Williams (John Williams MBE) is a great mentor. Their ambition is to gain two Michelin stars and I want to be part of that.”
Step Up Expo runs from June 30 to July 1 at Olympia London. Find out more here.
