Eighteen out of 20 entrants passed the November NCE test for photographers held at Sheffield’s Norton College.
Norton remains the only NCTJ-accredited vocational photography course in Britain and has a 100 per cent success rate at finding its students jobs in the industry. According to course leader Paul Delmar, members of the NCTJ board said they thought the standard this year was the highest ever.
Students were required to produce a portfolio of published work, including a picture spread on a set subject, as well as pass tests on the day under exam conditions.
Prizes were awarded for the best students out of those who took the exam in May and November, based on their work over the course of the year. The work was judged by the NCTJ exam board .
The South Wales Argus Prize for best picture spread went to Steve Haywood from the Coventry Evening Telegraph for a feature on the subject of debt.
Fuji photographer of the year was Jane Barlow from the Derby Daily Telegraph, whose portfolio included a picture of Katy Sexton winning the women’s medley at the British Swimming Championships, astronomer Sir Patrick Moore on stage at the Derby Assembly Rooms and students gazing into the Sky Mirror sculpture outside Nottingham Playhouse.
The successful November NCE candidates were: Emily Barber (Leicester Mercury), Matt Barron (Coventry Evening Telegraph), Veronique De Viguerie (Lincolnshire Echo), Anthony Devlin (Gloucestershire Echo), Janna Dixon (Leicester Mercury), Colin Finch (Hinckley Times), Sarah Gaunt (Basingstoke Gazette), Rebecca Harley (Bristol Observer), Clare Lewis (The Sentinel), Nitu Mistry (Slough and Windsor Express), Alison Raven (Harrogate Advertiser), Lewis Whyld (freelance), Toby Williams (Edinburgh Evening News), Katherine Batchelor (Northampton Chronicle and Echo), Christopher Booth (Scarborough Evening News), Steven Haywood (Coventry Evening Telegraph), Rose Pearce (Burton Daily Mail).
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