More than 120 reporters were successful in October's National Certificate Examination.

That means there was a pass rate of 47 per cent.

Some 259 journalists sat the NCE at 14 centres across the UK, with 123 proving successful.

To pass the NCE and qualify as senior reporters, journalists have to get through four different sections: news interview; speech; newspaper practice; and the logbook section. They must achieve an average of 60 per cent across all four sections to be successful.

For the full list of NCE candidates who passed, click here.

Click here to see the successful photographers.

Significant changes to the newspaper practice paper increased the emphasis on the law section to reflect its importance and permitted reference to a legal textbook to make the exam more realistic. 53 per cent passed this part of the NCE.

The examiners' report said: “That there was no significant drop in the pass rate from that achieved in April reflects that candidates were well aware of the change.

"Most can be congratulated on having made the effort to prepare for the added challenge.

"Permitting the use of legal text books, giving access to the ready reference available in news rooms to make the test more realistic, may have added to candidates' confidence.

"It certainly didn't lead to a major improvement in marks or provide any evidence to indicate, as critics of the change forecast, a dumbing down of the examination."

The pass rate for the news interview section was 63 per cent, a story about an attack on a Trading Standards officer during a raid to seize counterfeit brandy at a car boot sale.

In the speech exam, trainees were asked to report on the problem of binge drinking by young people, its effect on town centres and the cost to society, and 67 per cent passed this section.

The logbook section was passed by 157 candidates, a pass rate of 92 per cent.

Now an established integral part of the NCE, as well as being signed off by trainees' editors or trainers, all logbooks are marked by independent senior working journalists and moderated to ensure the standard is consistent across the UK.

To be eligible to sit the NCE, trainees must first pass preliminary examinations in practical journalism, media law, public affairs and shorthand at 100wpm.

They also have to complete a minimum of 18 months employment and training with a newspaper and submit a logbook which includes a record of their development, three-monthly assessments for their training period and 34 cuttings of original work for 17 different reporting tasks.

Click for more on this year's: