When I was at school - late '70s - '80s we ALL had to do some cookery before choosing our 'O' levels. This seemed to be dropped by the '90s, but I understand its back on the curriculum.
So did you miss out on being taught cookery? Did your parents teach you? I do wonder how parents can allow their kids to grow up without being able to make the most basic meals, but clearly some do.

I think it's a busy world and cooking and learning to cook isn't a priority for everyone. My school was certainly useless at teaching cookery, for those kids who didn't get any advice at home.

I didn't do any cookery at school, and I was there in the 70's and 80's.

I don't think teaching kids to cook is entirely the school's responsibility, in the same way that it isn't the school's responsibility to teach children to conduct themelves in a sensible manner, about sexual relationships or handling money- that's the job of the parent/carer.

That said, people would have to cook if the convenience food wasn't so readily available.

I thought it quite damming of modern schooling that some of the candidates seemed to have very little cooking experience, even to the point of asking "does chicken burn" wtf!!

Not damning of modern parents? Why is it only the education system's fault?

I learned to cook when I was at school in 00s, but we didn't get close to preparing things like spicy noodles with Caribbean chicken

I learnt to cook at University as it was cheaper than buying ready meals. It's also more interesting and of course there is time to learn in this period.

Learning how to cook is a good life skill and something you improve with experience. Does x go with y...? What happens if I put more of this with that. It's no surprise to me that the younger Apprentices can't cook.

Learning to cook one dish really well is also a good way to get into someones pants. A pretty girl/boy is only pretty for a few years. Someone who can cook is pretty for the rest of their days...!

Haha, so true.... I'm certainly going to send my kids off to uni (if they want to go, and it hasn't been made impossible for working class people by then) knowing how to roast a chicken and do several things with a pound of mince at the very least.

I wouldn't blame modern schooling...it's just that the people picked for this show are chosen for their stupidity and arrogance to make good TV. My wife teaches cookery to primary school children, and sees good cookery lessons going on in secondary schools. It doesn't appeal to all the kids - some learn and some don't (personally I have no interest in cookery so it wouldn't have worked for me). But, this series of the show has excelled in terms of idiots selected and the 'does chicken burn...?' question exemplifies this. They've gone so far with the thickies this year that it has turned into a bit of panto with screaming and shouting, and is close to not being watchable - a la big bruv.

Actually it's quite sad really that Alan S has been made a peer for alleged business skills but he associates himself with these people as the cream of young business people...I'm sure he wouldn't just do it for the celebrity status it brings, would he?

They should teach all kids the basics of cooking.

We had to do cookery, needlework and the boys did carpentry etc - now I know this sexism wouldn't be allowed now but everyone should learn the basic life skills i.e. to make yourself a meal.

They seem to leave school these days without hardly been able to read and write (learning to spell apparently squashes their imagination and artistic skills- what bollox! No employer is going to look at someone with poor handwriting and spelling).

I'm all for teaching them in primary school about fruit, vegetables, and where fresh meat and milk comes from and then teach them how to cook with these things.

Obesity would be cut because they wouldn't want ready meals and pizzas all the time. They think food just comes straight from the supermarket shelf in a box which you then put in the oven.

I'm 19 so I've been in the school system quite recently, and I can say from personal experience that we all learn at least the basics of cooking. In my school, everyone did it up in D&T up until Year 9, and I chose to do Food Tech as one of my GCSEs, and I did learn a lot. So I don't agree with the idea that it's just not taught in schools.

Ideally the parents would cover those things, but clearly a lot don't - its not just on Apprentice where there is total ignorance of cooking, I've noticed it on other programs and in real life.
This over reliance on convenience foods is really going to bite us in the bum soon - these foods are stuffed with saturated fats, sugars and salt. I saw a meat feast pizza recently that, on its own, was more that the recommended adult salt intake for a day.

Yes I thought I'd read that it was back on the curriculum - thats good news.

I was at school in the late 80s and 90s and i think i only had a short period of time during one year at school where they attempted to show us how to cook. I remember making a terrible lasagne with chunky carrots in it and an awful pizza with a scone type base and a soggy topping. Not good stuff.

I do take an interest in cooking to a degree though and i cant fathom how someone can declare that they can't cook and wouldn't know where to start. I would probably have gone completely the other way with that jerk chicken and blown the tasters heads off with my curry dulled taste buds and my inability to stop adding hot stuff to things.

In all fairness, while it's compulsory (in my school at least) they only teach it to you for a few weeks of the year. They have several DT modules to get through, so it changes every couple of terms. From Year 10 onwards though, I was doing Food Tech (and no other DT subjects) for GCSE, so I was doing that all year round.

Do they really need to teach cooking in schools, when we have so many cooking channels and programmes on tv? I think that children should learn about cooking and foods at home. Problem is cooking is no longer part of a modern family. I grew up in a family where my mum cooked but also my grandma and aunts. Home made food is a natural thing for me because my mum loves to cook and she always cooked fresh food. Today, when we are busy with work and we have so many ready meals, instant this or that, fast food and take-aways, nobody is bothered to cook anymore.

It's not just about cooking, it's about eating as well. I remember when I was little, we would sit at the table and eat lunch, then dessert and we would talk after we finished eating. We would enjoy our meal for an hour. Today, people are just to busy to have a proper lunch as a family. Children just stuff themselves up with the food so they can leave the table and go resume playing their Xbox or PS4.

Well, I've always been taught to enjoy cooking, but that's probably mainly because my mum works in health and knows how important it all is, so she made sure that I knew all this stuff.

This reminds me of Hayley Forrester from YA2, she talked about this in her audition:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p00l9fns

I'm in my thirties and absolutely despise cooking. Waste of time and effort.

Can you elaborate on this one please. How cooking can be waste of effort if you can cook a nice, fresh home made meal that later you can enjoy eating with your family, friends or even on your own, and such meal would be much more healthier than one you would have at a restaurant, where they just have everything precooked and they just reheat most of the things such as side dishes vegetables and some desserts?

So I take it you just forage for plants and vegetables and eat them raw, or maybe a bit of raw "road kill" should you wish to eat meat!!

Or are you lazy and expect others to wait on you "hand and foot"

Or maybe she eats, gasp!, "ready meals"

I'm 24 and never had so much as 1 lesson on cooking during primary or secondary school and even though my mum made fresh meals every day she never showed me how to cook... When I left home I got by on ready meals and salads but when I had my son 4 years ago I taught myself to cook so that I could make him fresh meals. Now I don't even own a microwave and can't remember the last time that I cooked a ready meal.

I don't view it as school's job to teach kids how to cook... My kids are already learning by coming in the kitchen with me when I prepare their dinner and helping me with the non-dangerous bits. I'm their mum, making sure they can feed themselves healthily is my responsibility.

"Ready Meals" are they the completely raw ones, where you need to go out and get your own ingredients or are they pre-cooked and prepared by someone else?

I was feeling sorry for Francesca but than thought you only eat ready meals and can't cook a stir fry. My sympathy disappeared after that.