Trainee, student and apprentice journalists are set to be honoured after making the final shortlist for the National Council for the Training of Journalists’s 2017 Awards for Excellence.

A record number of entrants, more than 300, have been whittled down to 43 nominees competing across 16 categories.

Those competing for the NCTJ’s Trainee of the Year prize will be Laura Drysdale, of the Wakefield Express, Hannah Somerville, of the Oxford Mail and Abigail Weaving, of the Saffron Walden Reporter.

Other accolades up for grabs include News Journalism, Sports Journalism, Top Scoop, the Features Award and Multimedia Story or Campaign of the Year – with each category honouring both a student winner and a trainee winner.

Hampton Court Palace, where the ceremony will be held

There were 13 entries for the new Innovation of the Year award, which is open to centres running NCTJ-accredited courses who are pioneering new approaches to educating and training journalists.

Bournemouth University, UCFB Wembley and the University of Gloucestershire have been shortlisted for the inaugural prize.

All shortlisted entrants are invited to attend the gala dinner and awards ceremony at Hampton Court Palace on Thursday 23 November.

The full shortlist is as follows:

Student News Journalism
Garrick Alder, Kingston University
Isaan Khan, University of Central Lancashire
Aaron Renfree, University of Lincoln

Trainee News Journalism
Neil Athey, Lancashire Telegraph
Samar Maguire, Cambridge News and Newmarket News
Joe Middleton, Kent and Sussex Courier

Student Sports Journalism
Jordan Campbell, Glasgow Caledonian University
Mats Fredrix, St Mary’s University
Fiona Tomas, News Associates Manchester

Trainee Sports Journalism
Katie Falkingham, Sportsbeat
Nick Gullon, Northern Echo
Matthew Smith, MailOnline

Student Top Scoop
Keumars Afifi-Sabet, News Associates London
Jarrad Johnson, University of Lincoln
Anna Whittaker, University of Sheffield

Trainee Top Scoop
Samantha Booth, Croydon Advertiser
Thomas Mackintosh, Croydon Advertiser
Caleb Spencer, Cambrian News

Student Features Award
Emma Calder, University of Lincoln
Jessica Davis, University of Sheffield
Rowan Nevin, University of Portsmouth

Trainee Features Award
Will Hayward, Media Wales
Carly Minsky, Pageant Media
Aniesa Mirreh, South West News Service

Student Multimedia Story/Campaign of the Year
Jason Lewis, Bournemouth University
Faith Ridler, University of Sheffield
Roshan Roberts-Crooks, Bournemouth University

Trainee Multimedia Story/Campaign of the Year
Sian Elvin, Kent and Sussex Courier
Bethany Lodge, The Gazette

Best Student Project
Bournemouth University, The Forgotten Survivors
University of Central Lancashire, Dine magazine
University of Kent, Echoes of Horror

Apprentice of the Year
Daniel Boswell, Sky Sports News
Safeeyah Kazi, Evening Standard and Independent
Rachel Matthews, Telegraph Group
Kerry Parvin, BBC Radio Cumbria
Tristan Shale-Hester, Blackball Media

Student of the Year
Mojo Abidi, University of Sheffield
Thomas George, News Associates Manchester
Christopher McKeon, Press Association Training London
Anna Schaverien, News Associates London
Timothy Stickings, University of Sheffield
Jasmine Watkiss, Press Association Training Newcastle

Trainee of the Year
Laura Drysdale, Wakefield Express
Hannah Somerville, Oxford Mail
Abigail Weaving, Saffron Walden Reporter

Innovation of the Year
Bournemouth University
UCFB Wembley
University of Gloucestershire

Chairman’s Award
To be announced at the ceremony