Four newly-qualified journalists have been handed awards for their outstanding performance in the National Certificate Examinations.

Andrew McGill, from the Hunts Post, received the Society of Editors’ Award for his news interview paper.

The moderator said of his paper: “Andrew’s confident, tightly written copy reflected a fluent, relaxed interview technique. He clearly took an interest in his interviewee and covered all aspects of the story in considerable depth. The result was a cracking read.”

The Esso Award for the best news report paper was presented to Nicola Park, of the North West Evening Mail.

The moderator said: “Nicola won this prize for her good, solid reporting. She succeeded in blending the key detail from the handout material with the speech to produce an accurate, comprehensive and easy-to-read story which flowed logically from the intro to the final par.”

Manchester Metro News reporter Katherine Vine received the Ted Bottomley Award, sponsored by the Midland News Association, for her newspaper practice paper.

The moderator said: “Katherine combined a near-perfect answer on the law question with two very strong answers for the newspaper practice questions. Her law answer was clear, authoritative and methodical in approach. Her practice answers contained lots of imaginative, workable ideas. It was, all in all, a very impressive performance.”

Gemma Peplow of the Leicester Mercury took the Newsquest Award for her logbook.

The moderator said of the winning logbook: “It was excellently presented and submissions for all key tasks were of a very high standard, demonstrating the candidate’s ability to cover a wide range of stories with confidence, flair and imagination.”

All award winners receive a cheque for £250.