Tante Marie Culinary Academy is a cookery school in

Woking Woking ( ) is a town and borough status in the United Kingdom, borough in northwest Surrey, England, around from central London. It appears in Domesday Book as ''Wochinges'' and its name probably derives from that of a Anglo-Saxon settlement o ...

Surrey Surrey () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South East England, bordering Greater London to the south west. Surrey has a large rural area, and several significant urban areas which form part of the Greater London Built-up Area. ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. It is the United Kingdom's oldest independent cookery school, established in 1954 by the

cookery Cooking, cookery, or culinary arts is the art, science and craft of using heat to prepare food for consumption. Cooking techniques and ingredients vary widely, from grilling food over an open fire to using electric stoves, to baking in vario ...

writer Iris Syrett. It was the first school in the UK to offer a Cordon Bleu Diploma (though the Tante Marie Cordon Bleu diploma is its own independent qualification and the Academy is not part of the 'Le Cordon Bleu' international network). The diploma forms the backbone of Tante Marie's courses, which range in length from one day workshops in particular areas of cooking to the full-time, one-year professional Cordon Bleu Diploma which is awarded along with the Level 4 Diploma in Professional Culinary Arts, a formally accredited qualification, created by Tante Marie Culinary Academy with the Confederation of Tourism and Hospitality in 2010. The Academy also has a restaurant staffed by graduates, who are studying for a Level 5 Diploma in Culinary and Hospitality Management whilst working in 'The Restaurant at Tante Marie'. Iris Syrett died in 1964, after which Wendy Majerowicz became Principal. In 1967 the school moved to Woodham House, Carlton Road. John and Beryl Childs, who owned the school from 1982 to 1999, continued the development of courses and curriculum into a programme that has become recognised as one of the world's leading independent providers of culinary training. Marcella O'Donovan, one of the school's teachers, bought the school with the backing of her family in 1999. The O'Donovans oversaw the introduction of new courses to cater for the

gap year A gap year, also known as a sabbatical year, is typically a year-long break before or after college/university during which students engage in various educational and developmental activities, such as travel or some type of regular work. Gap yea ...

and the amateur cook market, while at the same time maintaining the school's professional emphasis. In April 2008, the school was bought by its then Deputy Principal, Andrew Maxwel with

Gordon Ramsay Gordon James Ramsay (; born ) is a British chef, restaurateur, television personality and writer. His restaurant group, Gordon Ramsay Restaurants, was founded in 1997 and has been awarded 17 Michelin stars overall; it currently holds a tot ...

Holdings and Lyndy Redding, a former graduate of the Intensive Cordon Bleu Diploma course who now owns Absolute Taste, a catering and events planning business based in London. In May 2014 it was announced the school would be moving to a site in Woking town centre. The new base opened in the refurbished Alexander House, Commercial Way, in early 2015. Two floors of the building house the cookery school, with training theatre kitchen, student kitchens and lectures rooms.

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* {{coord missing, Surrey Cooking schools in the United Kingdom British cuisine French cuisine Education in Surrey