In our conversations with students we sometimes pick up a certain - how shall we put this? - scepticism among some of you about the value of learning to cook. “I lived off pasta for three years and it never did me any harm, so what’s the big deal?” would pretty well sum it up.

So for those of you who are not yet convinced let us spell out the advantages . . .

• It’s cheaper

Eat out all the time and you’ll blow your food budget in no time, even at the concessionary rates in campus bars and restaurants. You can cut your food costs by at least half by cooking and preparing your own food. (And by drinking less, obviously ;-)

• It’s healthier

Or should be, providing you buy healthy ingredients like lean meat, fish and fresh fruit and veg. Living off a diet of takeaways and snacks is likely to pile on the pounds, leave you listless and possibly depressed and make you spotty. In short, it may well affect your academic performance and your love life.

• It will make you less homesick

Even if your parents irritate the hell out of you at times if you’ve never lived away from home before you’ll miss it. Being able to rustle up a comforting Sunday roast doesn’t half help

• It makes you popular

People enjoy hanging around good cooks. You're the first person they'll ask to join their student house. Besides if you cook, you shouldn’t have to do the washing up . . .

• It’s seductive

An extension of point 4 above but being able to cook is a babe/bloke magnet. As this year’s Masterchef winner James Nathan wrote in the Guardian last year:

“I met a gorgeous girl in my third year and what impressed her straight away was the fact that I made tea in a teapot. This display of courtship led to a snog and she eventually became my wife. Marriage may not be your immediate goal but it is worth bearing in mind: imagine what cooking a roast could do for one’s love life”

• It’s relaxing

You may not believe it as you struggle with your first efforts in the kitchen but, trust us, it comes. Whip up a few muffins or a home-baked cake or stir a creamy risotto while you chat to your friends and tell us if you don’t agree

So if you’ve just got your results (congratulations, btw!) and now know you’ve secured your place it’s time to get going before the whirl of social activity puts learning to cook out of your mind. Follow our four week crash course, starting next week and you’ll find it’s a total doddle compared to those A levels you've just survived.

As we always say, if you can write an essay you can follow a recipe . . .

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