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Seniors exam pass rate shows year-on-year rise

NCTJ logo final cmykThe pass rate for trainee journalists passing their seniors’ exam last month has shown a year-on-rise with 68pc of candidates gaining the qualification.

Last November’s National Qualification in Journalism exam saw a 61pc pass rate which the chief examiner described at the time as “disappointing.”

However while this November’s results were slightly down on the record breaking pass rate percentages of 74pc and 76pc for the March and July sittings of the exam, the National Council for the Training of Journalists described the results as “solid.”

In all, 40 of the 59 candidates who sat the exam achieved passes in the four secitons required to achieve senior status – interview, media law and practice, news report and logbook.

Said chief examiner Steve Nelson:  “The November sitting is always that bit more special for those candidates who achieve a pass because it makes for a fantastic early Christmas present.”

Pass rates for the individual sections were: Logbook 98pc, media law and practice 80pc, news report 71pc and interview 67pc.

In their report, examiners said weak shorthand had posed problems in the news report section.

Said the report:  “Candidates with weak shorthand are unable to get down accurate quotes and information, which leads to either made-up direct quotes or an incomplete story.”

The full list of successful candidates is as follows:

Philippa Allen-Kinross    Wimbledon Guardian
Lucy    Ball    Buxton Advertiser
Jordan    Bluer    Dover Express
Enfys    Bosworth    Tivyside Advertiser
Georgina    Campbell    Oxford Mail
Victoria    Castle    Kentish Express
Saul    Cooke-Black    Stroud News & Journal
Dan    Cooper    Newbury Weekly News
Elaine    Davies    Lincolnshire Echo
Grace    Earl    Weston Worle & Somerset Mercury
Isobel    Frodsham    Leicester Mercury
Alistair    Grant    Edinburgh Evening News
Naomi    Herring    Oxford Mail
Amber    Hicks    Swindon Advertiser
Louise    Hill    Bracknell News
Daniel    Holland    The Bolton News
Rachel    Howarth    Knutsford Guardian
Maria    Hudd    Eastbourne Gazette
Charlotte    Jones    Lincolnshire Echo
Simon    Leonard    Scunthorpe Evening Telegraph
Kenneth    Lomas    Middlewich Guardian
Sarah    Marshall    Doncaster Free Press
Connor    McLoughlin    Henley Standard
Kate    McMullin    The Bolton News
Gemma    Mitchell    East Anglian Daily Times
Rebecca    Murphy    Eastern Daily Press
Tara    O’Connor    Baylis Media
Christopher    Ord    Newbury Weekly News
Jemma    Page    Nottingham Evening Post
Alex    Peace    Dorset Echo
Lewis    Pennock    Bristol Evening Post
Matt    Reason    East Anglian Daily Times
Candice    Ritchie    Surrey Advertiser
George    Ryan    Eastern Daily Press
Kit    Sandeman    Burton Mail
Bethany    Sharp    Southern Daily Echo
Gemma    Sherlock    Lancaster Guardian
Hannah    Somerville    Oxford Mail
Daniel    Windham    Harrogate Advertiser
Ashleigh    Withall-Prince    Ripley & Heanor News

The following candidate gained the National Qualification in Journalism for Press Photographers:

Leanne Bagnall, The Sentinel

2 comments

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  • December 14, 2016 at 4:18 pm
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    “Candidates with weak shorthand are unable to get down accurate quotes and information, which leads to either made-up direct quotes or an incomplete story.”
    I could not defend a lack of shorthand but it is no use if you can’t write.
    One of the finest local news reporters I ever worked with had no shorthand and in about 50 years on a paper covered court, council, inquests, theatre reviews, concerts, sport, you name it, without a single complaint about accuracy.
    On the other hand I used to be amused by shorthand whizz kids who scribbled down every single word of an inquest or council debate, instead of instantly sifting it mentally, and then spent the best part of
    a day sorting out 4,000 words for a 300 word story.

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  • December 19, 2016 at 3:33 pm
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    Spot on that paperboy. I used to know I’d got a headline as soon as I heard it in court and then would relax instantly knowing that anything else was a bonus. Very often there’d be someone next to me writing everything, and I do mean everything, ‘if it please the court I just need to find my yellow writing pad’. I used to just wonder what I was missing here.

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