Forth Valley College’s Stirling Campus is set to host a Regional Heat of the prestigious National Seafood Chef of the Year Competition on Friday 8 May.
Run in association with The Grimsby Institute, the annual competition is now in its 29th year and is looking for full-time cookery students and college based modern apprentice chefs – aged 25 or younger when they enrolled on their course - to sign up for the FVC Heat before the Monday 20 April deadline for entries - https://ukseafood.co.uk/national-seafood-chef-of-the-year/
Anyone entering should ensure they highlight the required species amount their team requires as a total for their menu, for ease of ordering in preparation for the heats.
Highly regarded across the seafood industry for the valuable experience it gives to contestants, the competition provides trainee chefs with a platform to demonstrate their flair, understanding, skill, and ability using seafood from sustainable sources.
FVC Chef Lecturer, Mandy Fraser, who will be mentoring the FVC entry to the competition, said: “We are delighted to be hosting such a prestigious cooking competition at our Stirling Campus and can’t wait to welcome the best young chefs along on Friday 8 May to see what seafood dishes they can create in our state-of-the-art training kitchens. I am also excited to see how our own team will get on when they submit their initial menu, and if they are successfully chosen to compete, I know they will be well prepared and eager to do Forth Valley College proud.”
To see the stat-of-the-art kitchens where the heat will be held at the Stirling Campus, click here
Teams of two are tasked with creating a three-course menu using specially selected seafood species.
Regional heats take place across the UK in May, where the trainee chefs will need to cook their menu, with the two highest-scoring teams from each heat going on to compete at the grand final to be held on Friday 12 June 2026 at the Grimsby Institute in North East Lincolnshire.
Winners of the National Seafood Chef of the Year Competition will gain a mystery prize for themselves, which will be announced at the final. Prize certificates will be awarded to the college and team members as well as the overall winners claiming the competition trophy and competition medal.
The competition exists to promote the fantastic range of seafood available to us within the UK and showcase the skills of trainee chefs who are at the early stages of their career.
It is open to full-time and college based modern apprentice chefs and has previously been supported by some of the best chefs in the UK, including: Rick Stein, Nathan Outlaw, Daniel Clifford, Galton Blackiston, Mark Hix, Mitch Tonks, Cyrus Todiwala, Aiden Byrne, Jean-Christophe Novelli, and Tom Aitkens, who have all been head judges at the final held annually in Grimsby. However, this year’s head judge is yet to be revealed.
Each entry must include a starter, an intermediate, and a main course – all using fish species specified. A summary of ingredient costs for each dish, including the method of production for each dish, must also be included. Along with an allergens list, and a presentation menu.
Throughout the competition, the chefs will demonstrate their filleting, cookery, and plating skills in the hope of becoming this year’s winning team. Following the judging of initial entries by the competition’s review judges, teams will be invited to compete at the regional heats which are held at various venues across the UK.
The regional menus are based on the original entry submission for both the regional heats and the grand final. At each of the heats, two teams will be chosen to go forward to the grand final.
After spending the day competing, the winner of the 2026 National Seafood Chef of the Year will be announced during the award ceremony at approximately 3pm immediately afterwards. The grand final competition finishes at approximately 4pm.
Round one: entries
A panel of industry-appointed judges will assess the initial entry judging. Using the species named on the entry forms and with the support of the competition rules, teams can submit their menus online in preparation for the paper judging.
Judging will take place on Monday 20 April 2026, and those teams selected for the regional heats will be notified by telephone and email.
Round two: regional heats
The successful teams will then proceed to the culinary skills judging, which will be held at one of four appointed UK regional hosting colleges.
Regional heats will take place in May 2026; the two highest-scoring teams will be chosen from each regional heat to go on to compete at the grand final:
- Friday 1 May 2026: Regional Heat to be held at City College Norwich, England
- Friday 8 May 2026: Regional Heat to be held at Forth Valley College, Stirling, Scotland
- Friday 15 May 2026: Regional Heat to be held at Coleg Llandrillo, Wales
- Friday 22 May 2026: Regional Heat to be held at Exeter College, England
The first 30 minutes of the competition will focus on filleting and preparation (seafood mise en place) before your team creates the menu submitted in round one.
Teams are required to bring all their own commodities with them to the heats, excluding the specific seafood species for each course, as our sponsors provide this. All named products will be provided at each heat and the final.
As an incentive to inspire competing chefs, the organisers have also created three additional certificates per heat. Certificates will be allocated for the best starter, intermediate, and main courses presented on the day.
Two teams from each Regional Heat will be awarded a place in the Final, meaning eight teams will compete in June 2026.
For more information on Hospitality and Cookery courses at the College visit: https://www.forthvalley.ac.uk/courses/hospitality-and-cookery
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