The objectives of the study were, first, to assess the progression in quantitative thinking between first-, second-, and third-year students enrolled in the Bachelor in Culinary Arts and Food Science program and, second, to use the insight to suggest necessary changes to the curriculum to ensure better progression.

A standardized quantitative test was used to measure progression in functional knowledge divided in four categories: (i) calculation skills and basic mathematics, (ii) application and interpretation of descriptive statistics, (iii) interpretation of analytical statistics, and (iv) communication through graphs and charts.

The results show significant progression in skills and confidence across study years. Broken down into the four categories, progression is stronger in statistics (categories ii–iii). The most problematic category is basic calculations, where the average score is low and progress across study years is poor.

A suggestion is presented for how to reform the curriculum in order to improve progression in basic calculation by emulating the methods used for teaching statistics, where progression is better.