RSPH Level 4 Managing Food Safety and Hygiene (Catering)

The five training days are delivered as a live webinar via Google Meet, 10:00 to 16:00 each day, typically spread across five weeks rather than five consecutive days. The assessment is two hand-written RSPH papers taken in person and under invigilation on official RSPH booklets — it cannot be sat remotely. The exam is aimed for 6–8 weeks after your final training day to allow time for coursework and exam preparation, and you can sit it at our London training centre (included in the course fee) or at your own place of work for an additional £200, where we supply an approved RSPH invigilator to a quiet, dedicated room you provide. The at-workplace exam fee is a flat £200 per booking for workplaces inside London; sites outside London incur additional travel charges.

Every webinar training day runs 10:00 to 16:00 UK time on Google Meet. Lunch is 12:00 to 12:45. There is a short comfort break from 14:15 to 14:30. The course runs roughly six hours of guided learning per day across five days, plus reading, revision and Paper 2 coursework between sessions.

Ofqual sets the qualification at 35 guided learning hours plus around 10 additional hours of total qualification time — so plan for at least 10 hours of reading, revision and Paper 2 coursework on top of the five training days. Head chefs and catering managers with a recent Level 3 in Supervising Food Safety and a strong HACCP / SFBB background often finish comfortably inside that. Candidates who are further from formal study, or running a kitchen day-to-day without daily exposure to written food safety records, should plan for 20 to 30 hours to be safe. We will give you an honest steer on this during the pre-course chat.

Candidates arrive at the exam venue from 9:00am — whether that is our Clapham Junction training centre or, for webinar candidates only, their workplace (by arrangement, flat +£200 per booking inside London; outside London incurs travel charges). The exam starts at 9:30am with 10 minutes of reading time followed by Paper 1 (two hours). There is then a 45 to 60-minute break, followed by 10 minutes of reading time and Paper 2 (two hours). The day finishes between 3:00 and 4:00pm. Both papers are hand-written on official RSPH-supplied booklets, sealed and returned to RSPH for marking. Results are issued by RSPH approximately six weeks after the exam date.

Paper 1 is 20 short-answer questions, all to be answered in 120 minutes. Paper 2 is a controlled assignment, randomly selected by RSPH from a bank and linked to your own catering workplace, also answered in 120 minutes. RSPH grades the qualification Pass or Distinction only — Pass = 50% or higher in both papers, Distinction = 80% or higher in both papers. Candidates who do not reach the minimum standard for a Pass receive no certificate.

The qualification number (603/2407/7) and Unit 1 (Food Safety Management) are identical. The pathways differ only on the second unit: catering candidates take Unit 3 (Food Safety Management in Catering), covering cook-chill, cook-freeze, sous-vide, hot holding, serving, the Food Hygiene Rating Scheme and the hazards specific to hotels, hospitals, residential and nursing homes, fast-food outlets, take-aways and mobile/temporary outlets. Manufacturers take Unit 2 instead. Choose the pathway that matches your day job — your Paper 2 assignment is also workplace-linked.

No — there is no payment for the pre-course assessment. It is rarely required, because most Level 4 candidates already hold a culinary or hospitality degree, or an Ofqual-accredited Level 3 in Supervising Food Safety. Where an assessment is needed, it is an informal phone chat about your role, experience and food safety knowledge, followed by a short set of Level 4 style questions emailed back in a Word document for the tutor to review and feed back on. You only book and pay for the full course once that conversation confirms you are ready to start — so there is no risk of paying first and then being told you cannot proceed.

RSPH recommends a Level 3 Food Safety qualification (or at least a Level 2 Food Safety qualification), plus literacy and numeracy equivalent to Level 2 (GCSE grade C or above). Candidates need experience in a catering or hospitality setting — restaurants, hotels, hospitals, contract catering, schools, care homes or similar — and must not be simultaneously entered for a Level 4 food safety qualification with another awarding body. Where prior learning is unclear, the no-cost pre-course conversation confirms whether you are ready before you commit.

Expect roughly three to four months from your first training session to your certificate. Five training days run over about five weeks. The exam is then aimed for 6–8 weeks after the final training day — that window is built in to give you time for coursework and exam preparation. The exam is sat in person at our Clapham Junction training centre (included in the course fee); webinar candidates may sit it at their own workplace for a flat +£200 per booking for workplaces inside London (outside London adds travel). RSPH marks the papers and returns results in approximately six weeks. The qualification carries 35 guided learning hours and 45 total qualification time hours under Ofqual.

Yes. The RSPH Level 4 Award in Managing Food Safety and Hygiene (Catering) is Ofqual-regulated under qualification number 603/2407/7. The certificate is issued directly by the Royal Society for Public Health and is recognised by Environmental Health Officers, primary authorities, hotel groups and insurers as evidence of senior-manager-level food safety competence in catering and hospitality.