More than £2,000 has been awarded to trainee journalists in recognition of their performance in exams.

Eleven journalists have been rewarded for achieving the best results in the 2021-22 National Council for the Training of Journalists’ Diploma in Journalism exams.

The top-performing candidates in each of the Diploma in Journalism subjects receive a cash prize of £250 from their respective awards sponsors.

Among the winners was Elizabeth Haigh, who scored 92pc in her essential media law exam. Her tutor Charlie Moloney won the same award after sitting the exam in 2018.

The 11 winners for the 2021-22 academic year

A total of 8,255 diploma exams were sat throughout 2021-22, with the NCTJ due to publish its examiners’ report for the academic year next month.

Joanne Butcher, chief executive of the NCTJ, said: “Congratulations to all the winners of our diploma awards. The diploma exams are a tough and exacting test of a journalist’s knowledge and skills, and to achieve the top marks is a huge achievement.

“It’s wonderful to see such a diverse range of career paths into journalism highlighted by the award winners in terms of where they trained and where they’re working.

“Winners come from further education colleges, universities, private providers, NCTJ distance learning courses, the Meta-funded community news project, Ability Today’s Academy for Disabled Journalists, and apprenticeships and in-company training schemes.

“They are working in local, regional and national print, online, broadcast and related media sectors as news, sports and freelance journalists, producers, content creators and communicators.”

Below is a list of the award winners:

The Newsquest essential journalism award
Conal Cunningham, City of Liverpool College
Conal is a trainee reporter for the St Helens Star and Leigh Journal, where he has worked for the past 18 months, reporting on a variety of people, plus court cases, council meetings and charity events.

The Oxford University Press essential media law award
Elizabeth Haigh, News Associates London.
Elizabeth is currently a UK news reporter for Mail Online, writing on all home topics, regularly bringing in exclusive scoops and assisting with foreign reporting when required.

The JPIMedia media law: court reporting award
Victoria Finan, who previously studied at the University of Sheffield but sat the court reporting exam as an external candidate.
Victoria said she was especially pleased to receive the award after teaching herself the syllabus as a distance learner. Her current role is the social affairs correspondent at the Yorkshire Post. She also went on to take and pass the NCTJ’s National Qualification in November.

The Oxford University Press public affairs award
Eleanor Lawson, Darlington College
Eleanor is a community news reporter for the Express and Star, focusing on the issues faced by young people in Wolverhampton and the Black Country. Eleanor has also written exclusives about strike action at West Midlands Metro and on the University of Wolverhampton axing 138 courses due to a £20million deficit.

The Sky Sports News shorthand award (100wpm)
Emma Curzon, Kingston University
Emma achieved the best 100wpm shorthand result with 100 per cent accuracy, and since graduating is operating as a freelance journalist.

The ITV News broadcast journalism award
Olivia Snelson, University of Salford
Olivia is currently working as a producer at Sky News on the breakfast programmes – The Early Rundown and Kay Burley. Her role involves working with correspondents to produce packages and deliver lives, writing scripts and managing output from the gallery.

The Meta editing skills for journalists award
Charlotte Moore, NCTJ distance learner
Charlotte has been awarded this accolade after achieving 80 per cent in the editing skills exam. She is now working at the National Literacy Trust in the communication department.

The Mark Allen Group practical magazine journalism award
Dave Bradshaw, PA Training
Since graduating from PA Training, Dave spent eight months as a reporter for SurreyLive and now works for digital media company WrestleTalk News, which covers breaking sports news and runs several YouTube channels.

The Independent videojournalism award
Maria Okanrende, Bauer Media Academy
Maria joined the industry via a junior journalist apprenticeship, studying with Bauer Media, and is a freelance reporter and producer at BBC 1Xtra and BBC Africa.

The Premier League sports journalism award
Jamie Green, distance learning with Ability Today’s Academy for Disabled Journalists
Jamie, who has cerebral palsy, studied for the diploma with Ability Today’s Academy for Disabled Journalists and now works as a trainee production journalist at ITV News Meridian as part of the ITV News traineeship scheme.

The Reach journalism for a digital audience award
Eirian Prosser, Bournemouth University
Eirian completed her NCTJ diploma while a community news reporter at the Oxford Mail and now works at the Mail Online as a trainee reporter.