A former community news reporter with a regional daily who now works for MailOnline has been named the NCTJ’s trainee of the year.

Megan Howe was presented with the annual award after achieving the highest marks out of all the journalists who completed the NCTJ’s National Qualification in Journalism (NQJ) during the 2022/23 academic year.

Megan, who earned a distinction in all three NQJ assessments, was a community news reporter at the Shropshire Star until November when she landed a job as a news reporter for MailOnline.

Other shortlisted candidates for trainee of the year were William Payne, who trained at TTG Media, Victoria Finan of the Yorkshire Post; and Jacob Panons, who was a trainee at the Eastbourne Herald.

Will Gore, head of partnerships and projects at the NCTJ, said: “Megan was a brilliant community news reporter from the very beginning of her time with the Shropshire Star.

“She achieved the rare feat of achieving the gold standard in her Diploma in Journalism and a distinction in every element of the NQJ, all within two years – as well as proving herself a terrific asset in the newsroom.

“Her onward career success comes as no surprise and it’s fantastic to know that the Community News Project is, thanks to the hard work and talent of reporters such as Megan, creating a lasting legacy.”

The trainee of the year award was one of 21 presented at the NCTJ’s Awards for Excellence 2023 ceremony on Friday which was hosted by Times Radio presenter and former BBC political reporting legend John Pienaar.

Student of the year was Eve Bennett of News Associates London, who also works for Sky News. She achieved seven A grades and 100 words per minute shorthand in her Diploma in Journalism assessments.

And the University of Sheffield’s Lisa Bradley won the innovation of the year award, with the university also providing the other two shortlisted entries.

The full list of winners was as follows:

INNOVATION OF THE YEAR  – sponsored by i

🏆 Lisa Bradley, University of Sheffield – Winner
🏅 Polly Rippon, University of Sheffield – Highly commended
🎖️Mark Bradley and Michelle Rawlins, University of Sheffield – Commended

EQUALITY, DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION AWARD – sponsored by the Financial Times

🏆Emaan Warraich, BBC – Winner
🏆 Liverpool John Moores University journalism department – Organisation winner
🏅 Zeenia Naqvee, Cardiff University – Highly commended

STUDENT NEWS JOURNALISM – sponsored by Iliffe Media

🏆 Daniel Wood, Bournemouth University – Winner
🏅 Tempany Grace, NCTJ distance learner – Highly commended
🏅 Max Kendix, News Associates London – Highly commended
🏅 Martin Read, NCTJ distance learner – Highly commended

TRAINEE  NEWS JOURNALISM – sponsored by Iliffe Media

🏆 Dolly Carter, East Anglian Daily Times – Winner
🏅Kia-Elise Green, iNews – Highly commended
🎖️Jamel Smith, PA Media – Commended

STUDENT SPORTS JOURNALISM – sponsored by Sky Sports News

🏆 Leon Imber, University of Brighton – Winner
🏅 Adwaidh Rajan, St Mary’s University – Highly commended
🎖️Elise Hamersley, News Associates London – Commended

TRAINEE SPORTS JOURNALISM – sponsored by Sky Sports News

🏆 Alec McQuarrie, freelance – Winner
🏅 Ben Parsons, bunkered magazine, DC Thomson – Highly commended
🎖️Uma Gurav, talkSPORT – Commended

STUDENT TOP SCOOP – sponsored by Sky News

🏆 Bethan Wild, Cardiff University – Winner
🏅 Lily Shanagher, City of Portsmouth College – Highly commended
🎖️Oliver Murphy, News Associates London – Commended

TRAINEE TOP SCOOP – sponsored by Sky News

🏆 Sabrina Miller, The Mail on Sunday and Daily Mail – Winner
🏅 Ruth Cassidy, KentOnline – Highly commended
🎖️Harry Baker, Live Science – Commended

STUDENT FEATURE OF THE YEAR – sponsored by Mark Allen Group

🏆 Connie Bowker, News Associates London – Winner
🎖️Harry Robinson, The University of Sheffield – Commended

 TRAINEE FEATURE OF THE YEAR – sponsored by Mark Allen Group

🏆 Rory Bennett, MyLondon – Winner
🏅 Bethan Finighan, Kennedy News and Media – Highly commended
🎖️Charlotte Alt, The Times – Commended

STUDENT PODCAST OF THE YEAR – sponsored by Politico

🏆 Michael Johnston, St Mary’s University – Winner
🏅 Francisco Santos, Shing Hei (Reagan) Yip, Nottingham Trent University – Highly commended
🎖️Jonny Bentley, University of Salford – Commended

TRAINEE PODCAST OF THE YEAR – sponsored by Politico

🏆 Jacob Evans, BBC – Winner
🏅 George Crafer, BBC – Highly commended
🎖️Carla Rosch, BBC – Commended

STUDENT DATA JOURNALISM – sponsored by Market Research Society/British Polling Council

🏆 Max Kendix, News Associates London – Winner
🏅 Eleanor Gunn, News Associates London – Highly commended
🎖️Petra Matijevic, NCTJ distance learner – Commended

TRAINEE DATA JOURNALISM – sponsored by Market Research Society/British Polling Council

🏆 Eamon Farhat, Bloomberg – Winner
🏅 Hayley Clarke, BBC News – Highly commended
🎖️Jack Fifield, The Oldham Times – Commended

STUDENT PROJECT OF THE YEAR – sponsored by The BMJ

🏆 Asher Gibson, News Associates London – Winner
🏅 Megan Sarah Payton, University of Kent – Highly commended
🎖️Kaleigh Pritchard, University of Gloucestershire – Commended

COMMUNITY NEWS PROJECT AWARD – sponsored by Meta

🏆 Eszter Tárnai, Glasgow Times – Winner
🏅 Paul McAuley, Liverpool Echo – Highly commended
🎖️Maxine Denton, Cornwall Live – Commended
🎖️Jack Fifield, The Oldham Times – Commended
🎖️Mirek Gosney, Newbury Weekly News/ Newbury Today – Commended

APPRENTICE OF THE YEAR – sponsored by Yahoo

🏆 Amrit Singh Mann, Sky News (training centre: PA Media Academy) – Winner
🏅 Ella Hambly, BBC (training centre: University of Kent) – Highly commended
🎖️Karimah Bangura, Channel 5 News (training centre: PA Media Academy) – Commended
🎖️Eamon Farhat, Bloomberg (training centre: PA Media Academy) – Commended
🎖️Ayisha Gharu, Haymarket (training centre: PA Media Academy) – Commended
🎖️Albert Tait, Newsquest (training centre: Darlington College) – Commended

STUDENT OF THE YEAR – sponsored by The News Movement

🏆 Eve Bennett, News Associates London – Winner
🏅 Harriet Muckle, University of Salford – Highly commended
🎖️Alexandra Bánfi, Cardiff University – Commended
🎖️Bethan Finighan, News Associates Manchester – Commended
🎖️Noah Keate, News Associates London – Commended
🎖️Molly Pavord, News Associates London – Commended

TRAINEE OF THE YEAR – sponsored by Alder Media

🏆 Megan Howe, Shropshire Star – Winner
🏅 William Payne, TTG Media – Highly commended
🎖️ Victoria Finan, Yorkshire Post – Commended
🎖️ Jacob Panons, Eastbourne Herald – Commended

CHAIRMAN’S AWARD

🏆 Paul Wiltshire, course leader, University of Gloucestershire – Winner