One of the UK’s oldest journalism training courses at Highbury in Portsmouth has confirmed its closure after 60 years.
The closure of the 28-week NCTJ-accredited newspaper journalism course at Highbury Campus, part of the City of Portsmouth College, comes six months after the closure of the Centre for Journalism at the University of Kent.
But the closure does not appear to be part of a wider decline in journalism education but rather due to the changing landscape of the sector with more degree-level courses on offer.
Employers typically require entry-level reporters to have NCTJ-level qualifications which can be acquired at further education colleges like Highbury or Harlow College in Essex in as little as 20 weeks.
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But many degree-level journalism courses are now also available which offer education in the academic study of journalism alongside more practical training in skills like news writing and media law.
Highbury Campus, formerly Highbury College, has turned out hundreds of journalists over the last 60 years including the likes of Sky’s Mark Austin and Times Radio’s John Pienaar, and was training a cohort of around 20 per year.
It also provided day-release training for school leavers working at local papers whilst obtaining a Level 5 apprenticeship qualification.
Highbury also provided Meta-funded training for community reporters. Meta announced the end of the scheme which funded 100 reporters for under-served communities around the UK in September. The last funded places, which came with NCTJ training, are now winding up.
Writing in Press Gazette earlier this year, former head of the Kent Centre for Journalism Ian Reeves said the removal of the “numbers cap” for universities had led to a dramatic shift where older universities “have successfully leveraged their heritage” to build popular journalism courses at the expense of less glamorous institutions more grounded in practical journalism training.
The City of Portsmouth College blamed the “changing face of the industry” and a “steady decline in student interest” on the closure of the course.
But this is not borne out by statistics from the NCTJ which show overall numbers on their accredited courses are broadly stable in recent years. There are also many students on non-NCTJ accredited journalism degree courses not accounted for in these statistics.
The real reason for the closure may be that smaller courses run by FE colleges are losing out in the marketing battle with bigger institutions.
A degree costs a student in the UK £27,750 in fees over three years whereas an NCTJ-accredited course at an FE college, which often provides a more industry-recognised qualification, costs around £5,000.
A spokesperson for the City of Portsmouth College said: "Our Highbury Campus has a long and proud heritage of journalism training spanning six decades. During that time we have trained some of the country's finest journalists.
"The decision to end training was certainly not taken lightly but reflects the changing face of the industry which has sadly resulted in a slow but steady decline in student interest.
"We are of course committed to supporting all students and apprentices currently on courses through to completion.
"The very small number of new applicants for this September will receive the appropriate careers, information, advice and guidance from our specialist team to support them with their next steps.
"Should there be a resurgence in interest in future years we will of course look at reintroducing journalism studies but at this stage it's simply not viable."
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