The 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
“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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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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