Highest pass rate of the year for NQJ senior reporter exams

Sixty-two percent of candidates taking the National Qualification in Journalism passed to become qualified as senior reporters.

A total of 54 out of 88 reporters passed National Council for the Training of Journalists exams on media law and practice, news reporting and interviewing.

This is the highest pass rate since the National Certificate Examination became the National Qualification in Journalism in March this year.

Lizzie Dearden from the Ilford Recorder won the Ted Bottemley Award for her media law and practice paper, described by the examiner as “a joy to mark”.

Emma Rigby of the Wirral Globe was awarded the Esso Award for news reporting due to her “accurate and informative content”.

Ramzy Alwakeel from the Romford Recorder wn the Society of Editor’s Award for his “readable” news interview which has a “great use of colour”.

Jonathan Taylor from the Western Gazette secured the Newsquest Award for his logbook of work, described as a “competent member of the newsroom” by the examiner.

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All four scooped £250 cash prizes for their work.

Rigby, who trained at the Northwich Guardian before moving to the Wirral Globe, said “Passing the NQJ is a dream come true and the perfect Christmas present. After an agonizing wait, I was delighted to hear that I had been successful in becoming a senior reporter – winning this prize is an overwhelming bonus.”

The judges were particularly pleased to see a marked increase in the scores for the media law exam, up 29 percentage points on the last exam. In addition, 100 percent of candidates passed the logbook section, with promising and praised results.

Shorthand, accuracy surrounding reporting statistics and questioning technique were considered to be the main weaknesses, which led the moderator to question how often trainees are carrying out face-to-face interviews on the job.

The full list of all the candidates who passed are as follows:

Matthew	Abbott	Thurrock Gazette
Ramzy	Alwakeel	Romford Recorder
Gemma	Angell	Courier Newspapers
Ellis	Barker	Newbury Weekly News
Kathryn	Cain	Bedford on Sunday
Johanna	Carr	The West Briton
Elise	Chamberlain	Sutton Coldfield Observer
Marcus	Chippindale	Bucks Herald
David	Cosgrove	Hertfordshire Mercury
Robin	Cottle	Bexley Times
Jessica	Cree	Lancashire Telegraph
Robert John	Dalling	Llanelli Star
Lizzie	Dearden	Ilford Recorder
David	Doyle	Rotherham Advertiser
Anna	Dubuis	Barking & Dagenham Post
James	Dunn	Grimsby Telegraph
Alexander	Evans	Weston Worle & Somerset Mercury
David	Freezer	Eastern Daily Press
Sam	Inkersole	Courier Newspapers
Ben	James	The Argus
Laura	James	The Sentinel
Nicola	Jaques	The Garstang Courier
Lydia Sofia	Johnson	Hereford Times
James	Johnson	News and Star
Alex	Johnston	Ackrill Media Group
Craig	Jones	Wiltshire Times
Luke	Lambert	Evening Echo Newspapers, Basildon
Lucy Elizabeth	Leeson	Hull Daily Mail
Samantha	Lewis	Herts Advertiser
Stephanie	Manley	Westmorland Gazette
Katie	Mansfield	Essex Enquirer
Michael John	Marsh	Somerset County Gazette
Hardeep	Matharu	Epsom Guardian
Daniel Robert	Milligan	Somerset County Gazette
Sophie	Morgan	Western Gazette
Samuel James	Morris	Lincolnshire Echo
Andrew	Nowell	Wigan Evening Post
Amanda	Nunn	Ilford Recorder
Lisa	Porter	Target Series
Thomas	Potter	East Anglian Daily Times
James	Preston	Maidenhead Advertiser
Jonathan George	Pritchard	Shropshire Star
Jason	Pritchard	Banbury Guardian
Emma	Rigby	Wirral Globe
Alexander	Robertson	Courier Media Group
Sarah	Robinson	Whitehaven News
Daniel	Robinson	Henley Standard
Anna	Slater	Hendon Times Group
Sophia	Sleigh	Sutton Guardian
Francesca	Taffs	North Devon Journal
Jonathon	Taylor	Western Gazette
Christopher	Terris Taylor	Warrington Guardian
Sarah	Trotter	News Shopper
Emma	Walker	Dorset Echo