Journalists working towards their Level 4 NVQ in Newspaper Journalism will be dealing with a new awarding body from September.

Education Development International will be taking on the task of running the vocational qualification that sets a standard across the industry.

NVQs in newspaper journalism are equal to a British university degree pass, and can be added to an in-house scheme and a company's own bespoke diploma.

EDI is a leading global awarding body and a pioneer in online assessment and is the third largest awarder of vocational qualifications in the UK, delivering almost 100,000 qualifications annually through 800 centres. It also provides a comprehensive range of online tests mapped to the National Curriculum, with over half a million individual tests being taken in over 1,000 schools.

Chairman of the Newspaper Qualifications Council Keith Parker, who is also managing director of Express and Star Ltd, said: "This exciting opportunity again demonstrates the initiatives being undertaken to support and develop training and personal development for employers and employees within the newspaper industry."

The NVQ in newspaper journalism involves writing, production (sub-editing), press photography and graphics journalism.

It requires a detailed knowledge of newspaper law, ethics and public affairs plus evidence of published stories, photographs and other material. The writing qualification covers the use of shorthand in the workplace.