The competition, which is run by The School Food People and sponsored by Bisto from Premier Foods, aims to demonstrate the importance of high-quality cooking in school meals. Both SCOTY regional finals took place at the Rational kitchen at Leeds City College.
For his main course, Ben cooked Mexican style crispy belly pork slices with chickpea and sweetcorn fritters and spicy beans. For dessert he produced a layered strawberry, mixed berry and custard cake with vanilla Angel Delight
Ben, who is from St Leonards RC Comprehensive School (Bishop Wilkinson Catholic Education Trust), finished in second place during the 2025 SCOTY final last year. He will be looking to go one step further this year and lift the title as the nation’s best school chef.
Josiah Wuermli, a mobile school chef from NYES Catering - North Yorkshire Council, cooked roasted chicken served in soft tacos with pickled lime slaw and coriander drizzle, fried rice and charred sweetcorn for his main course. For dessert he made churros made with custard powder served with an apple custard compote.
Helen Brooks from Vertas was named as the runner-up in the Yorkshire & Humberside SCOTY heat. The ten SCOTY regional final winners automatically qualify for the national final. Wildcard chefs could be selected to join them from the chefs who finished as runners-up in their heat.
At the national final, the overall winner will receive a £1,000 cash prize, the 2026 School Chef of the Year trophy and an invitation to a calendar of catering industry events. The national second and third place winners will receive £500 and £300 respectively.
School meal providers can register for free entry to the School Food People Show to watch the national finalists in action.