Cook — Restaurants, Hotels, Care Homes and Contract Catering, UK Employers

Restaurants, pubs, hotels, care homes, schools, hospitals and contract caterers hire cooks across the UK all year. Entry-level kitchen roles rarely ask for qualifications, and many employers train new cooks on the job.

What the work involves

Preparing ingredients, cooking dishes to recipe and portion standards, keeping temperature and cleaning records, labelling food and allergen information correctly, and following the kitchen's food safety procedures. Care home and school cooks also plan menus for special diets.

Requirements

• The right to work in the UK — cooks and kitchen assistants cannot be sponsored for a Skilled Worker visa
• Food hygiene training or supervision appropriate to the job, often evidenced by a Level 2 food hygiene certificate
• Knowledge of the 14 allergens and how to label food that contains them
• A DBS check for many school, care home and hospital kitchens

How the pay works

• The legal floor. The National Living Wage is £12.71 an hour from 1 April 2026, which is £24,784.50 a year on a 37.5-hour week for a worker aged 21 or over
• Longer weeks. At 45 hours a week, the same hourly rate comes to £29,741.40 a year
• Tips and service charges must be passed on in full under the Employment (Allocation of Tips) Act 2023

Before you apply

Check the weekly hours against the salary. A full-time cook offer below £24,784.50 for a worker aged 21 or over is below the National Living Wage, and a longer week raises the legal floor further.

Note: pay, hours, training and eligibility are set by each employer and by UK law and immigration rules — not by JobGader. Confirm the details on the official advertisement before applying.