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NCE Examiners' Report: Autumn 2000

The Autumn 2000 NCE results showed only a 35 per cent pass rate.

Here we publish the Examiners’ Report from the NCTJ, showing how and where the candidates slipped up.

The report about the Newspaper Pratice paper said: “Collectively, the candidates’ scripts were the poorest seen in memory.

“In abundance was evidence of ignorance and misunderstanding of law, newspaper terminology, basic vocabulary and use of language.

“This was accompanied by lack of initiative, poor general knowledge, suspect news values and an apparent inability to see an innocent or beneficial aspect in a given scenario.”

In the News Interview, candidates forgot to ask the very question that could give them the banner headline; their stories suffered from awkward phrasing and there were simple errors.

There was the usual crop of howlers:

  • “PC Frank Jamieson was stretchered to hospital…” (No ambulances available?)
  • “…a light-coloured pullover, aged between 20 to 40 years.” (And somewhat frayed at the edges by now.)
  • “The driver may have panicked when he saw the sirens.” (Or heard their seductive singing?)

    For the Speech paper, of 180 submitted, only about a dozen offered first-class stories which their newspapers would have been pleased to use.

    And accuracy in copying down the names given was “far short” of 100 per cent.

    Click here for more on the:
    Newspaper Practice
    News Interview
    Speech

    For a full list of successful Autumn NCE candidates, click here.