Today the Craft Guild of Chefs has unveiled which 32 chefs will be heading to the heats of the Kitchen Graduate Award and the first ever Pastry Graduate Award.

The heats will take place simultaneously in London and Birmingham on Tuesday, June 28 where the young chefs will undertake a series of culinary challenges which must impress the examiners.

For 2016, former National Chef of the Year, Russell Bateman will take the reins as Chair of Examiners and he will work with his team to find the chefs he thinks could make the grade this year.

To pass the Graduate Award final exam, chefs aged 23 and under must achieve a pass mark of 85% or above from a series of skills tests, a theory paper and a mystery basket.

Commenting on the entries Russell Bateman said: “It was fantastic to see the number of entries rise this year and also see the wide range of establishments that chefs have come from. We’ve got talented chefs from Michelin-starred restaurants to the House of Commons, and from colleges to a variety of contract caterers. It’s also great to see the incredibly talented list of mentors who will be helping their chefs over the coming months.”

>>> Read more on the Graduate Awards here 

This year saw the launch of the Pastry Graduate Award in which eight chefs will be undertaking the first ever heat. Steve Munkley, founder and organiser of the Graduate Awards said: “I am delighted that we’ve been able to introduce a Pastry Graduate Award, as this is an area which as an industry we should be promoting as much as possible to improve skills. It was great to see some of the leading pastry chefs in the UK helping to push this, and we are really looking forward to seeing who our first Pastry Graduates will be and wish them all good luck in the process.”

Kitchen London Finalists

Feroza Akhtar, The Landmark Hotel

Ben Brooke, Galvin La Chapelle

Erin Jackson Yates, Wiltons

Jake Leach, The Ledbury

Eleanor De Maria, Compass House

Raymond Steplin, House of Commons

Keiron McGarrigle, Westminster Kingsway College

Maciey Rapalcz, Royal Garden Hotel

Laural Taylor, Royal Garden Hotel

Dominic Williamson, Restaurant 56

Amber Francis, The Ritz

Noah Morrison, Galvin La Chapelle

Kitchen Birmingham Finalists

Louise Ellen Roberts, Lexington

Laura Youngs, Feversham Arms Hotel

Jordan Clark, Atholl Arms Hotel

Louis Carey, Sodexo

Ben Garnett-Sinclair, Lusso Catering

Joshua Allen,The Woodford

Lewis Kuciers, Black Bull

Joseph Lloyd, Bodelwyddan Castle

Aaron Middleton, Belmond Le Manor

Dudley Pankhurst, Cunnighams Bistro

Matthew Pryce, Haileybury College

Jack Lively, Sodexo

Pastry Heat in London

Alexis Jiyoung, The Dorchester

Rita Souto, Park Lane Hotel

Sophie Buckmaster, Royal Garden Hotel

Joanna Start, Jigsaw Bakery

Fiona Bailey, The Dragon

Sanjam Napal, Lowry Hotel

Elizabeth McBride, Hix Soho

Kacey Bignell, The Mandarin Oriental Hyde Park

The final exam takes place in London on Tuesday, August 30, with the awards ceremony being held on Tuesday, September 6 2016.