A journalism training centre is celebrating a double award win for the performance of its students.

News Associates London has been named the top performing accredited course overall for 2020-21 by the National Council for the Training of Journalists.

The centre took the prize after 76pc of students on its sports media diploma course achieved the gold standard after studying for the NCTJ’s diploma in journalism.

News Associates London also came out on top for having the best performing independent fast-track course, with a 70px gold standard rate from the 87 students on course.

News Associates managing editor James Toney, pictured, told HTFP: “We’re once again thrilled to see the hard work of our trainees and tutoring teams recognised with these awards – proving we are still the best in the business.

“The success of our graduates was also recognised at the NCTJ Awards for Excellence 2021 when six of our alumni won awards for their work.

“Proving News Associates trainees excel in the newsroom as well as the classroom.”

The top higher education courses for the period were at the University of Central Lancashire, for its BA Journalism course, and Cardiff University, for its MA News Journalism course. Glasgow Clyde College was named the top performing further education course.

Emma Robinson, accreditation manager at the NCTJ, said: “Congratulations to those centres that have been named as delivering top-performing courses in the 2020-21 academic year.

“Tutors on our accredited courses have again shown determination, adaptability and teamwork as they have continued to navigate the changes and challenges to teaching from home, in centre and through hybrid models.

“Yet again we have seen real dedication from tutors to ensure their students experience unrivalled expertise and training, no matter how the training is delivered.

“Alongside this training, tutors have gone above and beyond to provide pastoral support to students, and their efforts to maintain standards should be celebrated. All students should be commended for their achievements and dedication to their journalism training.”