An annual awards which aims to recognise the best student and trainee journalists has opened for entries.

The NCTJ Awards for Excellence rewards students completing NCTJ courses and journalists with less than two years’ experience in the industry.

A new award has been created for 2015 to recognise the NCTJ apprentice of the year.

The awards, sponsored by NFL UK, continue to be free to enter and prizes will be presented at the Journalism Skills Conference in November.

For the first time, the awards are being opened to those studying the Diploma in Journalism by distance learning.

Joanne Butcher, NCTJ chief executive, said: “We have made a number of changes to the awards this year to reward the work of our apprentices and reflect the diverse range of journalism jobs that NCTJ alumni are going into.

“An increased contribution from NFL UK has made it possible for all shortlisted candidates to attend the awards dinner for the first time. This generous contribution will help to make the awards bigger and better than ever.”

There are five categories for students and trainees to enter for the best news, sport, top scoop, features and multimedia story or campaign.

There is also a student project of the year category for NCTJ-accredited course providers to enter.

Nominations are invited for the NCTJ chairman’s award which recognises an individual’s outstanding contribution to high standards of journalism training.

The awards will also see two prizes handed out for the best results in the prelim exams and the National Qualification in Journalism.

The deadline for entries is 18 September and work produced must have been produced between September 2014 and August 2015.

For further information on entering, click here.