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NQJ examiners praise increase in newsroom support for trainees

darren istedJournalism examiners have praised the increased support trainees are receiving from their newsrooms – but have issued a warning about would-be senior reporters being over-reliant on “official statements” in stories.

The annual examiners’ report has been published for the National Qualification in Journalism by the National Council for the Training of Journalists after 56 new seniors qualified in 2020-21.

The best result in terms of pass rate came as a result of the e-logbook aspect of the examinations, with just one out of 64 candidates failing in the category.

The section’s chief moderator Darren Isted, pictured, praised a “pleasing period” for logbook submissions and credited newsrooms for the way they had supported their candidates over the course of the past year.

In his report, Darren wrote: “Logbooks submitted this year covered news and community journalism roles.

“The standard of key tasks submitted across these two pathways has risen and markers noted stronger work across a number of these tasks.

“It has also been noted that candidates seem to be getting more support from within their own organisations – this and the rise in quality may be connected.”

An overall 63pc pass rate was recorded in the practical skills exams, with chief moderator Faith Lee noting a “tendency to rely on official statements to tell the story rather than the human angles” from some candidates in two of the tests that were set during 2020-21.

Media law and ethics in practice chief moderator Crispin Clark wrote in his report: “Overall, the top-performing candidates produced some superb answers, relating their knowledge to the exam scenarios, analysing the problems, and giving clear and well-structured answers.

“As always, each exam had defamation and contempt questions, along with copyright, confidentiality, court reporting restrictions, anonymity requirements and numerous clauses from the Editors’ Code of Practice.”

Congratulating the newly-qualified seniors, NQJ chief examiner Andy Martin said their success had been “no mean feat given the extraordinary challenges of the past year-and-a-half”.

In his summary, he added: “Many journalists have found themselves working from their bedrooms or dining room tables during the pandemic, away from the buzz, close support and creative camaraderie of the newsroom.

“Indeed, for some new to the industry, that is all they have known so far. This makes their work in reporting the news day in and day out even more impressive – and one that is more important than ever for so many reasons.

“As things return to more like normal, we look forward to an even better set of results in the next round of exams.

“Lastly I would like to pay tribute to the wonderful staff at the NCTJ who have worked extraordinarily hard and flexibly to ensure the work of the organisation has continued uninterrupted during the pandemic and all our trainees have received the very best support and guidance.”