THE WORLD’S 50 BEST RESTAURANTS

50 Best Restaurants Scholarship in association with Parmigiano Reggiano 2026

The Scholarship

The William Reed Group ( Reed ) organises the annual event The World’s 50 Best Restaurants. In partnership with Parmigiano Reggiano, it is offering the ‘50 Best Restaurants Scholarship in association with Parmigiano Reggiano’ ( Scholarship ) to support and encourage the growth of the next generation of chefs.

The Scholarship, which will be awarded in 2026, is open to anyone over the age of 18 from around the world with less than three years’ experience in a professional kitchen or similar environment.

Three finalists will be invited to attend The World’s 50 Best Restaurants awards ceremony.

The ultimate winner will also have the opportunity to experience two ‘stages’ (internships) at two of the world’s leading restaurants. During the internships the winner will receive at each stage £2,000 for living expenses to enjoy the host cities.

The three finalists will receive a prize, consisting of:

1. a complimentary invitation each to The World’s 50 Best Restaurants 2026 awards ceremony 

2. travel arranged by the Organiser to and from the finalist’s country to the awards ceremony (not including guests)

3. accommodation arranged by the Organiser

In addition, the ultimate winner, announced at the awards ceremony, will receive:

5.  a 4-week stage at The Fat Duck, London, January 2027 to March 2027 (exact dates TBC)

6. a 4-week stage at Salsify at the Roundhouse, Cape Town, April 2027 to June 2027 (exact dates TBC)

7. travel arranged by the Organiser to and from the stage locations

8. accommodation in the host cities arranged by the Organiser and a subsistence allowance of £2,000 for each stage.

Programme

1.  Between 09:00 BST on April 1st 2026 and 12:00 BST on April 15 2026, applicants must register online at 50bestscholarship.com. They will also be asked to send an introductory video and complete some basic information about themselves, and written answers to a questionnaire all in English.

2.  Reed will shortlist twenty-five (25) candidates from the first round of submissions received. Shortlisted candidates will be notified of their selection by email no later than 30 June 2026.

3.  Between 09:00 BST on 30 June 2026 and 12:00 BST on 15 July 2026 the shortlisted candidates will be asked to submit online a cooking demonstration video, additional written comments, and a series of photographs of their creation at 50bestscholarship.com. The video must demonstrate the creation of a dish, either savoury or sweet, created with Parmigiano Reggiano or a substitute (where the product is unobtainable), accompanied by a written recipe.

4.  A panel of Reed and industry judges will select five (5) semi-finalists from the submissions received for interview.

5.  Semi-finalists will be interviewed by the judges via a video link, between 1 August – 31 August 2026.

6.  Three (3) finalists will be chosen from the interview process and notified of their prize no later than 1 September 2026

7. The ultimate winner of the Scholarship will be announced at the ceremony of The World’s 50 Best Restaurants 2026.

Rules

1. Any employees (and their families) of companies within the William Reed Group of companies or Parmigiano Reggiano, their agents, anybody professionally connected with the Scholarship and Scholarship winners from the previous years are not eligible for entry.

2. By applying for the Scholarship the Applicant will be deemed to have read and understood these terms and conditions and to be bound by them. These terms and conditions include any instructions set out with the Programme and online Entry Form.

3. Applicants must:

a) be over the age of 18 at the date of application and to be able to provide documentary proof of this if required;

b) EITHER for no more than three years in the five years preceding the date of application be or have been in full-time employment in a restaurant; OR have graduated from a culinary school no more than one year prior to the date of application;

c) have a passport valid for up to at least 6 months after the stated dates of the Scholarship;

d) have the permission of their employer to accept the Scholarship in the event of a successful application if required;

e) be able to provide reference details from their employer or manager on request;

f) be available to take up the Scholarship on the dates stated;

4. The Organiser reserves the right at its absolute discretion to reject any entry that it deems inappropriate.

5. All entries must be entered online by 12:00 BST on 15 April 2026. Entries will only be accepted if they are submitted online and completed in full.

6. The video exercise to support the second-round applications must be entered online by 12:00 BST on 15 July 2026

7. Applications, supporting materials and products will become the property of the Organiser and will not be returned. These properties may be used in the media or on Reed’s and its partners’ social-media channels.

8. Applications must be submitted by the Applicant personally, to whom all correspondence concerning the Scholarship will be addressed. There is no alternative method of entry to those requirements set out above. There is no entry fee and no purchase is necessary to enter. Only one application per person is permitted. No multiple applications from or on behalf of the same person will be accepted.

9. The judges may decline to award the Scholarship if in their opinion there is no application of a winning standard.

10. All semi-finalists will be notified via email no later than 30 July 2026.

11. The winner will be required to attend The World’s 50 Best Restaurants 2026 awards ceremony to collect their Scholarship award in person.

12. The winner will be required during the stages to capture photo or video footage of their experience and upload it for editing, curation and publishing on Reed and (where requested) Parmigiano Reggiano social media channels. The provisions of paragraph 7 above shall apply to that footage.

13. The Scholarship does not include the cost of excess baggage when flying, insurance, visas or any items or expenses not expressly stated in the Scholarship description and which will be the responsibility of the winner. All travel will be at the risk of the winner/finalists.

14. Obtaining any and all necessary visas must be handled by the applicant and is not the responsibility of the Organiser. To support visa applications, the Organiser can provide a written invitation to the ceremony and surrounding events.

15. The scholarship winner agrees to abide by all policies and procedures in place at both host restaurants, including but not limited to health and safety at work and confidentiality policies, and will sign additional agreements to this effect if required by the host restaurants.

16. The Organiser reserves the right to change the judging panel without prior notice to Applicants.

17. The Organiser reserves the right to change the restaurants for and/or the timings of the stages.

18. The Organiser’s decision on all matters affecting the Scholarship is final and legally binding.

19. No correspondence will be entered into.

20. The winner may be required to take part in some post-event publicity and consent to their name and photograph being used for such purposes.

21. By applying for the Scholarship, all Applicants will be deemed to have accepted and be bound by the rules and consent to the transfer of their personal data to the Data Controller for the purposes of the administration of the Awards, for other purposes as set out in the Data Controller’s Privacy Notice and any other purposes to which the Applicant has consented. Information on how personal data is processed can be found in the Data Controller’s Privacy Notice.

20. The Organiser and Data Controller is William Reed International Ltd, Broadfield Park, Crawley RH11 9RT, England.