Time is running out for children and young adults to take part in an exciting MasterChef-style cookery contest and get inspired in the kitchen.

Youngsters aged between six and 19 years have until Tuesday, November 7 to get their entries in for the county’s official cooking competition for schools.

The annual contest is staged by the charity department of the KM Group to generate excitement about cooking – and to encourage young people to develop skills in preparing healthy meals to a budget.

Schools can get on board by helping pupils to submit entries in the classroom while families can help children to enter from home. All the young chefs need to do is prepare a dish and upload a photograph of the meal plus recipe details to www.kentcooks.co.uk. All entries will be featured on the website as online recipe cards to showcase their work.

Students entering the secondary school and family categories must create two dishes to demonstrate their cooking skills while primary school pupils are only required to submit one dish. A child must be accompanied by an adult for the family category and this can be a teacher, parent, guardian, Special Educational Needs Coordinator or Family Liaison Officer.

The best entrants for each category will be invited to make their dish for a VIP judging panel at the competition final hosted by East Kent College. The winners will receive certificates, goody bags and a share of the £500 prize pot.

Maxine Tarquini from the KM Charity Team, which runs Kent Cooks, said: "Each year it is wonderful to see finalists’ delight and sense of accomplishment as well as how proud their parents and teachers are of them. If you know a child with any interest in baking or cooking, this is a great opportunity for them to step up to the plate.”

She added: “The competition fits neatly with many food-related GCSE courses with consideration given to budgeting, healthy eating and locally sourced ingredients. In fact, such pupils are welcome to enter the dishes they plan to cook for their exam.”

Schools can request free promotional leaflets to issue to local families or students. Visit www.kentcooks.co.uk for more information.

To view a news report on last year’s event, take a look at the video below.