News Interview
- 226 candidates; 133 passed - 59 per cent

This story was about the death from meningitis of Oxdown High School's football team captain who had a promising career as a professional player. Following the outbreak, the school was closed indefinitely.

Candidates were required to balance the human interest and public service angles.

However, too many candidates ignored one of the angles, and in some cases, both, producing wishy-washy stories with no real detail or 'colour' for readers. In several cases, the boy's parents were not even mentioned. Some candidates talked about the PE teacher being deeply shocked without giving a thought about the parents. They saw this narrowly in a school context.

In 'real life' there has been a number of similar stories, indeed, a teenager died from meningitis the week of the exam. Therefore, a degree of familiarity with the subject/ repercussions was anticipated. Yet explanation of the condition, symptoms and general advice, all available, were missing.

There was a higher proportion of top scoring papers with candidates providing well-crafted stories that were a pleasure to read. With a few exceptions, most trainees also managed to write to length.

On the down side, sentence construction, grammar, punctuation, inability to calculate timings, failure to gain basic information (names/addresses) and spelling errors were all too evident. One marker wrote: "... (these) were not what one should expect from journalists for whom English is the tool of the trade."

A few candidates supplied lists of follow-up ideas at the end of their stories. The time would have been better spent checking copy as these ideas are not required and do not gain extra marks.

In many cases, story presentation left a lot to be desired - tiny print, single spacing, no catchlines or page-end indication. Presentation guidelines are given in the general instructions and should be followed.

Language

On the spelling front, most candidates had no problems with meningitis and meningococcal septicaemia. Perhaps thanks to the aid of computer spell checks. More worryingly, the three proper names given in the reporter's written brief (Elliott, Roger Ryan and Connelly) were frequently inaccurate. Obviously, no computer spell check for these, yet more damaging for the newspaper.

Equally, the names of the health authority and school, both in the written brief, were incorrectly produced, worst offenders being 'Oxdownshire' Health Authority and 'Oxford' High School. Editors and trainers would be wise to point out to trainees that spelling names correctly, particularly from a written brief, is crucial and basic journalism.

Nearly all of the papers said the ambulance 'rushed' to the hospital. This has become a rather overused expression and should join the cliché shelf alongside 'angry residents up in arms' and 'given the green light'; to name but a few grossly overworked phrases.

A few candidates described meningitis as a 'brain bug'. True, but an unattractive description which, in some cases, was left unexplained until much later in stories.

Howlers included: "...tragically died." (As one examiner put it: 'Is there another, happier way?)

"The school will be closed on Monday and maybe longer to give parents a chance to read the leaflets." (Slow readers?)

"He was rushed to hospital accompanied by Mr Ryan where tests were carried out." (...but Mr Ryan proved to be okay)

"Although a rare illness, teenagers form one of the most vulnerable groups." (A nasty dose of teenagers?)

" If you suspect someone has meningitis, go straight to your GP." (...who will tell you you're okay, and should have brought the person you think is ill)

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