Confectioner is a three-year upper secondary vocational educational program that concludes with a final exam, where students demonstrate their knowledge through practical work. Upon completing the three-year schooling, students are awarded the title confectioner.

Students in the Confectioner program at BIC Ljubljana gain practical experience in real learning environments, particularly in the school's confectionery workshops, which provide excellent educational conditions, also for preparing chocolate products and individual work in confectionery. Our practical instructors have extensive and rich experience in the field of confectionery, keeping up with the global trends and innovations in confectionery. They are also authors of many successful recipe books that include great desserts.

In school, practical lessons are conducted, while practical work training is provided at employers' premises. The program is developed to prepare students for the profession of a confectioner in confectionery shops, hotels, cafes, mass caterers and homes for the elderly.

A confectioner independently performs various tasks from preparing ingredients for different desserts, types of pastries and ice creams to the final product. They prepare various types of dough, shape it and bake it. They shape and decorate pastries, prepare various types of ice cream, marzipan, make cookies, chocolate products, macarons, single-portion desserts and pralines. They prepare jellies, puddings, make cakes, rolls, cream slices and similar items. Students who successfully complete the 3-year program are qualified to work independently in any confectionery, as they can independently prepare all types of desserts, ice creams, pralines and decorations from various materials according to a recipe. They are also trained to create their own desserts and compose recipes. Maintaining personal hygiene, hygiene of the premises and equipment used and good knowledge of hygiene regulations and the HACCP system are extremely important in their work.

The work involves a lot of manual labor, so a confectioner must have great manual skills, a sense of design as well as an aesthetic sense. After successfully passing the final exam, students can continue their education with the vocational-technical educational program (VTE) and obtain the title of Food Processing Technician.

Students are involved in the Erasmus+ program, through which they undertake practical trainings in Portugal, Finland, France, Estonia, Spain and the Netherlands. During the training, they participate in the work processes of renowned confectioner’s shops or engage in practical training in secondary schools for confectioners.

They participate in various competitions, such as the national Moje podjetje (My company) competition, where they establish a student company, the competition of the Consortium of Biotechnical Schools of Slovenia, the national competition of Gostinsko turistični zbor Slovenije, the European Congress of Confectionery, Ice-cream and Konditorei - Interslast and the International Culinary Festival Kranjska Gora. Students also participate in English language proficiency at both national and international levels (Poliglot, Best in English) as well as the English EPI Reading Badge Competition.

We offer student excursions to renowned companies such as Don Don, Zotter Chocolate factory, Kraš, Olimje Chocolate, and Mlinotest Peks.

During the natural science days, students visit Ljubljana Zoo, the School Veterinary Clinic and the Vivarium Club at BIC Ljubljana (General Upper Secondary School and Veterinary Technician School), the University Botanic Gardens Ljubljana and participate in a clean-up initiative around the school premises. As part of cultural days, they attend film screenings and explore the city center of Ljubljana. Regular classes are enriched by sports days with a diverse selection of sports activities tailored to the season.

There are various workshops available for students covering topics such as safe Internet use, social inclusion, learning to learn, human trafficking, health and sexual education, waste separation, without discarded food concept and the dangers of energy drinks. Additionally, we showcase our efforts at events such as the Ljubljana Wine Route, the Play with me Festival, and various events in the Rudnik district community in Ljubljana.

Our students gain experience through participation in various projects such as the MIND+ project, where we enable them to customize their learning based on their goals and abilities. They also participate in the Growing up with a Book project, aimed at promoting reading, the Specialni Zdravko project that focuses on healthy diets of children and adolescents and the Munera 3 project. Students are very successful in the eTwinning project. Moreover, our School of Food Processing and Nature Protection is the recipient of the European Quality Label for the eTwinning Slovenia project: I Feel Very European Today.

As part of the volunteering initiative at BIC Ljubljana, students have the opportunity to become volunteers. They participate in school celebrations and various events such as World Food Day, Shrovetide, Earth Day and the New Year's bazaar. Every year, they also host a representative from the US Embassy in Slovenia.