Ten per cent boost for last-ever NCE results

The last-ever set of National Certificate Examination (NCE) results saw a ten per cent increase in the number of passes compared with the last set.

This time around, 53 per cent of entrants – 56 out of 106 – passed all four modules of their NCE, the highest pass rate recorded since March 2011.

Since then, pass rates of 48 per cent, 52 per cent, 45 per cent and 43 per cent this July, have been announced by the National Council for the Training of Journalists (NCTJ).

The results also saw a 14 per cent increase, from 38 to 52 per cent, in the number of entrants passing first time.

The NCE – the senior reporter exam which journalists generally sit two years after gaining their initial NCTJ qualification – is to be replaced next year by the National Qualification in Journalism as the NCTJ aims to incorporate more law and ethics into the exams.

“This will be the biggest change in a generation,” said the NCTJ’s chief examiner in journalism, Steve Nelson.

“The exam will continue to be divided into four parts – Logbook, News Interview, News Report and the newly-created Media Law and Practice, which replaces Newspaper Practice.

“In part the new exam reflects concerns over ethics in journalism, but it also puts more emphasis on social media and has an improved structure.

“I am confident that the changes, which are evolutionary rather than revolutionary, will be met with universal approach by both editors and trainees.”