Five more journalism training centres have had their courses accredited by the National Council for the Training of Journalists.

The institutes must adhere to the NCTJ’s industry-recognised guidelines, teach its syllabus and undergo regular inspections to ensure high standards are maintained.

There are now 70 NCTJ-accredited journalism training courses at 22 universities, 13 further education colleges and seven private providers across the UK.

The newly-accredited courses are:

The University of Strathclyde’s qualification follows on from a course previously offered by the Scottish Centre for Journalism Studies due to close down this summer.

The previous course was accredited by the NCTJ for 15 years.

From September next year, the MLit/PgDip is expected to be based at a new purpose-built multimedia newsroom at the university’s Glasgow city centre campus.

Andrew Jones, journalism course leader at The Robert Gordon University, said: “We are very excited to be working with the NCTJ.

“Our partnership ensures that our degree will have real external relevance for students and that they have the best possible chance of securing a long-term career in journalism.”

The accreditation panel which visited Staffordshire University said: “The course is committed to all students sitting and passing NCTJ examinations far in excess of the eligibility benchmark.

“The team aspire to run quality courses and are fully committed to achieving excellence.”