The Roux Scholarship is a cookery contest for up-and-coming chefs in the United Kingdom (UK).  It is a family program set up by the brothers Michel and Albert Roux, and is now run by their sons Alain Roux and Michel Roux Jr.

In this post, you’ll see all the information you need concerning the Roux scholarships including the eligibility requirements, scholarship benefits, who can apply, deadline, opening date and how to apply. Keep reading!

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Roux Scholarship Rules

By joining competitors agree to be bound by the following rules of the contest:

  • Age Limit. Entrants of the Roux Scholarships must be in hired as a professional chef in the UK and be aged 22 or above, but no older than 31 years of age on 1st February 2023. For example, a candidate can have their 31st birthday on 1st February 2023 and be qualified, but if their 31st birthday falls before this date, they will not be eligible.
  • Details. Full details of the competition, how to enter, and required instructions are on the How to Enter page of the website which candidates must read in addition to these regulations before entering. Follow the instructions carefully including the list of items that are not allowed, any violation will result in disqualification.
  • Image of your dish. One and a max of two photographs may escort your recipe as part of your entry if you feel these will improve your entry.
  • Your photo. You are needed to provide a picture of yourself as part of the entry procedure. By uploading your picture you agree that the Roux Scholarships in may use the photo for marketing purposes including use on social media. You must confirm your photo is of you facing and looking at the camera and should only display your head and shoulders.
  • Training & qualifications. Entrants must have embarked on some or all of their training and/or apprenticeship in the UK or Ireland. Entrants would usually be anticipated to have either passed their NVQ level 3 or their 706/1 and 706/2 or equal. Those who trained in Ireland must have received their NTCB Certificate in Professional Cookery. Nevertheless, if a candidate does not have these qualifications, in special cases an exception can be made. Backing documentation and/or references will be needed from existing or past employers. Please contact the organizers at the Institute of Hospitality on 020 8661 4900 now to discuss this if relevant.
  • All entries are marked blind. Make sure your recipe, method, and photographs are unknown: no logos or personal identifiers should be visual or your entry will be scrapped.
  • Several entries from the same establishment. Resorts and restaurants may submit multiple entries, delivering each for a different individual.
  • Previous Roux Scholars are banned from entering, as are present employees of The Waterside Inn or Le Gavroche.
  • Online entries only. All entries must be sent through the official Roux Scholarships website online link, which will be mailed to you after a successful registration. If you send your entry via post or as an email attachment you will not be joined into the competition. No fault can be accepted for lost or slowed entries. It is your responsibility to make sure it comes on time.
  • Any recipes without clear identification, and a full list of costings, will be disqualified. Unfinished entries will not be submitted to the judges: please check carefully that you have finished all elements of the entry process and that your latest CV is contained.
  • Keep your copy. Copies of entries must be kept by entrants for future consideration, as correspondence cannot be returned. If you are appointed to cook at the regional final you must cook the same dish in your written entry on the day or you will be disqualified.
  • The organizers secure the right to use and post any submitted entry material.
  • The judges’ judgment at each stage of the competition is final and no correspondence will be entered into.
  • The rewards as set out on this site are correct at the time of going to press but should any become inaccessible for any cause, the organizers reserve the right to change or amend them. No cash options are available.
  • Competitors enter and take part in the competition at their own risk. The organizers deny all and any liability to those competitors who take part in the contest, and to the scholar in concern of their participation in the prizes, save as covered under the organizers’ insurance arranged for the scholar.
  • The organizers waive any responsibility for any tax penalty resulting from the granting of prizes.
  • Relevant items from sponsors may be available for aspirants to use in the kitchen at both the Regional & National finals. Where applicable entrants will be informed in advance by the competition organizers.
  • Data Protection. It is a requirement of entry that entrants guarantee on the entry form that they have read the Scholarship’s Privacy Policy, which is posted on The Scholarships website, and give their consent to the Roux Scholarship keeping personal information about them.
  • All suitable travel and subsistence expenses incurred by competitors to and from the contest (including Regional and National Finals), together with the essential price on ingredients, will be met by the Roux Scholarship, provided the price is agreed upon in advance, and receipts are provided to the competition organizers.
  • The winner’s stage. The final judgment on the winner’s training rests with the chairmen of the judges. The winner will talk with a member of the Roux family to help them with their choice of stage goal. If it suits the winner’s case to do less than 3 months, this is acceptable; equally, they may select a three-star Michelin restaurant in the UK if it fits them better than going abroad.
  • Timing of the winner’s stage. Once the goal is agreed upon and the host restaurant has affirmed that this is possible it will take roughly three months from this date to make the arrangements. The winner should take note of these timescales when making their diary procedures.

How To Apply for Roux Scholarship

Applications open each year when the ingredients for the form application are revealed.

  • Once entries open, applicants are then asked to complete the registration form.
  • If they meet the entry standards – eg age, UK residence, hold the right credentials– they will be sent the link to a second form with which to make their application, which contains a recipe using the selected ingredients.
  • Chefs have until midnight on 31st January 2024 to present their recipes.

Roux Scholarship Judges

Over the years, the Roux Scholarship judging committee has welcomed the expertise of some of the world’s best chefs. Until 2016, it was led by the scholarship’s founders Michel Roux OBE and Albert Roux OBE KFO and contained such stars as Victor Ceserani and Peter Kromberg. More recently, Heston Blumenthal, Rick Stein, and the late Andrew Fairlie and Gary Rhodes have all been on the committee. Since 2017, the judging committee has seen chairmen Alain Roux and Michel Roux Jr, and vice chairman Brian Turner, entered by three former winners of the Roux Scholarship, Sat Bains, André Garrett, and Simon Hulstone, as well as Angela Hartnett, James Martin, Rachel Humphrey, and Clare Smyth.

Every year, at the national final, the committee is led by the Honorary President of Judges, a role for which we have had the honor of welcoming some of the world’s top chefs.

People also ask

All entries must be presented through the official Roux Scholarship website online link, which will be sent to you after successful enrollment. If you send your entry via post or as an email attachment you will not be joined into the competition.
The primary prize for the Roux Scholarship is a three-month stage at any three-star Michelin restaurant in the world, all costs paid.
Jonathan Ferguson, winner of the 2022 Roux Scholarship, has revealed he will undertake the three-month stage included as part of his prize at Thomas Keller’s three-Michelin-star French Laundry in California
The network also operates video-on-demand (VOD) services on Sky and BT Vision and is part of TalkTalk on YouView.

What age do I need to be to enter?

The competition is available to chefs aged 22-29. The cut-off for turning 30 changes every year relying on the competition dates, please see the rules for this year’s date above. For the 2022 competition only, the age limit has been raised by one year to pay for the time lost due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

What are the other entry requirements?

To partake, you must be in full-time employment as a chef in the UK. Entrants must have launched some, or all, of their training and/or apprenticeship in the UK or Ireland. Entrants would usually be expected to have either passed their NVQ level 3 or their 706/1 and 706/2 or equal.

Why are chefs asked to cook a classic French recipe in the national final?

We believe that classic talents are the building blocks to a successful career and give you the strategies you need to progress. Read the judges’ advice here and the skills you’re probably to need to become a Roux Scholar.

When did Roux Scholarship Start?

It started in 1984 with Andrew Fairlie being called the first winner. It has since been run every year, with winners going on to win a three-month sequence in Michelin-starred restaurants including the French Laundry and Maison Pic.

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