LOGBOOKS
- 131 candidates;
109 passed (83 per cent)

This was the first time logbooks had been assessed as an integral part of the NCE. Most first-time candidates were required to submit the new 'green' logbook and of the 131 who did, 109 got through - a pass rate of 83 per cent.

The markers, teams of senior journalists from papers across the country, praised the large number of excellent entries showcasing a wealth of young talent encouraged by conscientious trainers. It was gratifyingly clear that regular in-house assessments were taking place in the majority of offices.

Passing the logbook section of the NCE should be easy. All candidates have to do is fill in accurate details of themselves and their papers, and submit evidence that they have satisfactorily undertaken 17 basic reporting tasks. It was disappointing that one in six candidates failed so straightforward a task.

Fifteen per cent of the marks were awarded for presentation. It was remarkable how many candidates threw away these marks by omitting information, submitting pages littered with erasures, corrections and mis-spellings (one candidate even got the name of his paper wrong), or failing to get all the key tasks signed off. Indecipherable handwriting (trainers' as well as candidates') didn't help.

The main reason logbooks were rejected was failure to submit cuttings backed by original copy for all 17 key tasks. Markers wanted to see what candidates had actually written, not what appeared in the paper after being subbed (in some cases badly), and without original copy it was sometimes impossible to judge a reporter's work fairly.

The need for original copy is made clear in the logbook compilation instructions and has been emphasised in all NCTJ training guidance for the past 18 months. But it is quite evident that some candidates and trainers failed to read the instructions until the last minute, when original copy had long been wiped from newspaper archives. The markers had sympathy with candidates whose trainers explained that computer malfunction was to blame for the occasional piece of original copy being lost, but could not accept failure to provide such copy for all or most submissions covering periods of a year or more. One trainee, who claimed that his newspaper's computer system had been unable to print anything out for two years, got short shrift when it was noticed that other candidates from his office supplied full sets of original copy.

Regular in-house assessments should have picked up the problem and given candidates plenty of time to submit alternative, copy-backed cuttings.

Markers were as generous as possible this time, but trainees sitting the NCE in future are warned that the absence of original copy will be condoned only in very rare circumstances.

A handful of candidates failed to submit cuttings for one or more key tasks, saying they had not covered any appropriate stories. This excuse was usually rejected. These key tasks are the minimum reporters should undertake if they are being properly trained, and the markers could not accept claims that "we don't cover any stories to do with statutory bodies" or "we don't do stories with figures in them".

There were a few cases of stories being rejected because they were clearly inappropriate. They included a picture story illustrated only by a blurred headshot, a numeracy submission without a single figure in it, a chip-pan fire submitted as a 'major incident', and a review which an alert marker, impressed by its authority, entered on Google and discovered was almost word for word a press release from a wine company.

Few candidates failed because the markers felt their copy simply wasn't good enough, but there were some stories, incomprehensible, ill-structured, riddled with literals and fraught with errors, which were unacceptable.

Why trainees or their trainers allowed such items to go forward for assessment is a mystery.

The markers noted sadly that, even in the better logbooks, clean copy - literal-free, grammatically correct, written to house style - was uncommon. Comparing raw material with published stories demonstrated clearly that even in these days of spell-checks and grammar-correcting software, many reporters think it's the subs' job to turn their offerings into acceptable English. That apart, the vast majority of the 4,454 stories read by the markers, are proof that they are capable of doing a competent and often excellent job in the workplace.

The introduction of the new logbook and its assessment has been a learning process for the NCTJ and its markers as well as for trainees and trainers. The NCTJ welcomes comment on the logbook, its composition and assessment, and changes may be made in response to feedback.

A revised guide to logbook compilation and submission will be available shortly on the NCTJ website www.nctj.com, and a seminar for trainers is being planned.

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