65 journalists make the grade as senior reporters as 72 per cent pass the NQJ

Some 72 per cent of candidates made the grade as senior reporters passing the National Journalism Qualification exams in March.

This equals the previous 72 per cent record pass rate achieved in July 2014 for the exams organised by the National Council for the Training of Journalists.

Chief examiner Steve Nelson said: “In offering my congratulations, I think it is worth reminding ourselves of just how tough these exams continue to be. Candidates face three exams – media law and practice, news report and news interview – over the course of a day, on top of having to produce a logbook of material generated over at least an 18-month period.

“They are now invariably multi-skilled working across different platforms and are facing perhaps more pressure and requirements than ever before to be competent in dealing with legal and ethical issues.

“These requirements and abilities are all tested in the exams, which represent the gold standard in journalism.”

The exam is only open to journalists who have already passed their NCTJ preliminary qualification and have been working in the industry for two years.

Some 65 candidates passed in total this time round.

The final National Certificate Examination for Sports Reporters saw four out of five candidates achieving senior reporter status. The qualification is being discontinued due to a fall in demand

Award winners (with examiners' comments)

The Ted Bottomley Award for the best media law and practice paper went to Kate Dickinson of The Westmorland Gazette.

"This was an outstanding paper. It included a near-perfect answer for question 2, plus excellent ones for questions 1 and 3.

"Katie not only showed good knowledge of law and ethics, but she also expressed it with clarity. She picked up on the problems and explained logically how best to deal with them. To drop only nine marks is exceptional. Well done."

The Esso Award for the best news report went to Edmund Crosthwaite of the East Anglian Daily Times.

"Edmund produced a story containing all the key content, written in a logical and very readable fashion, underpinned by some excellent ideas in part B. Overall, he demonstrated a high level of news sense. Congratulations."

The Society of Editors' Award for the best news interview went to Charlotte Austen-Hardy of the Chelmsford Weekly News.

"Charlotte is a worthy winner. Her interview copy told the story in a straightforward, easy-to-follow manner with good chronology. She captured the drama very well. Her use of quotes was excellent."

The Newsquest Award for the best logbook went to Jonathan Robinson of the North West Evening Mail.

"This was an excellent logbook and a great example of the standards we expect to see from candidates. The most pleasing aspect of Jonathan’s submission is that he delivered some of the basic key tasks very well. Tasks such as family events, writing to pictures and numeracy were delivered in a strikingly clear but engaging way and we have no hesitation in naming this entry as our award winner."

Full list of NQJ passes:

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