He’s one of the most successful chefs, so where did Gordon Ramsay go to culinary school?
He was trained by the world's elite
Being Gordon Ramsay is basically a backstage pass to the chaos, family moments, big-business pressure, and the classic intensity of chef Gordon Ramsay.
And naturally, it’s got everyone spiralling into the same question… Was he actually trained at some fancy culinary school?
For someone with an empire this huge, the origin story matters. So let’s get into where he learned to cook, what culinary school really means in his case, and why his next-gen Ramsay is suddenly giving main-character energy…
Did Gordon Ramsay go to culinary school?
Gordon Ramsay didn’t follow the classic “culinary school, chef jacket, Michelin dreams” route.
After a knee injury ended his football ambitions, he enrolled at North Oxfordshire Technical College in Banbury to study hotel management. It’s giving more hospitality and operations than ‘knife-skills 101’.
He earned a vocational diploma in hotel management in the late 1980s, then threw himself into kitchens professionally.
And this is where Ramsay’s version of “school” gets extremely elite. He learned by working under absolute culinary legends, Marco Pierre White in London, plus training spells in France with icons like Joël Robuchon and Guy Savoy.
So no, it wasn’t a traditional culinary academy timeline, but it was a hardcore, sink-or-swim education built inside some of the most demanding kitchens in Europe.
Speaking of the “hardest kitchen he’s worked in” during episode one, Gordon said: “Marco’s was brutal in an incredible way. I was hardest because I was learning the most.”
The 57-year-old added: “When I started cooking, I didn’t have a father that guided me in my career, I had a father that told me cooking was for women, and it wasn’t a man’s job. But then I got into a kitchen with the most prolific chef in the country, Marco Pierre White. He was like a father figure.
“He had the gift of this Picasso, he put food on a plate like no other. So, your fingers had to become so disciplined, and you had to follow quickly because if you didn’t step up and match what he wanted, you’re toast. That scared the cr*p out of me.”
Gordon said he worked 18 hours a day, six days a week, during that time, and “went to hell and back” for Marco.
His daughter is now following in his footsteps
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If Being Gordon Ramsay made you feel weirdly emotional at the family bits… same. One of the standout storylines is Tilly Ramsay stepping more seriously into the food world.
After graduating from the University of Nottingham with a psychology degree, Tilly announced she was heading to culinary school and even had a sweet dad-daughter moment shopping for her first set of chef whites.
In the Netflix series, Ramsay admits it stung a little that she didn’t want to be trained by him, but he also clearly respects that she’s choosing independence and proper training.
And it’s not like she’s new to food media. Tilly’s been on-screen for years, including Matilda and the Ramsay Bunch. So if you’re wondering whether this is a hobby phase or a real career pivot, the doc definitely frames it as ‘she’s going for it’.
Gordon’s culinary school at 22 Bishopsgate
Now for the full-circle moment… Gordon might not have gone to “culinary school” in the traditional sense, but he’s now behind one of London’s splashiest cookery-school concepts.
The Gordon Ramsay Academy at 22 Bishopsgate bills itself as the highest cookery school in London, with hands-on cooking experiences and seriously show-offy views.
It’s positioned less like a formal chef college and more like an elevated cooking playground.
While Gordon himself didn’t go to a traditional culinary academy when he was learning to cook, he has now created a chef-centric space that’s as close to a modern cooking school as you can get.
At 22 Bishopsgate in London, one of the tallest buildings in the City, the Gordon Ramsay Academy sits high above the streets, offering hands-on cooking classes with panoramic city views on level 58.
This isn’t a diploma-granting chef college like some classic institutions, instead it’s a skill-building, experience-focused cookery school where food lovers of all levels can learn directly from expert chef teachers in an immersive kitchen environment.
You can take anything from short masterclasses (think perfecting bao buns or pasta from scratch) to longer sessions like steak-cooking or even Beef Wellington, each designed to boost confidence and technique in a real professional kitchen, all while looking out over London’s skyline.
Classes are relaxed and friendly, apparently, and led by Gordon’s cooking team.
Basically, the Gordon Ramsay Academy at 22 Bishopsgate is a sky-high culinary experience that merges Ramsay’s restaurant expertise with fun, approachable education, not a traditional chef school, but a place where anyone can learn to cook better, and feel fancy doing it…
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