News Associates named top UK journalism course; trainees dominate performance awards

News Associates has been named the UK’s top performing journalism course, heading the NCTJ league tables issued by the National Council for the Training of Journalists. In addition, our trainees dominated the annual NCTJ performance awards in Bournemouth.

With an 88 percent pass rate – well in excess of double the national average – News Associates beat off competition from a range of courses, from university undergraduate and postgraduate programmes to further educations colleges and other press agencies.

“To be named the UK’s top NCTJ journalism school and head the NCTJ league tables for the second time is a tremendous honour for News Associates and a spectacular achievement by our trainees and our staff,” said Andrew Greaves, head of journalism.

In additional four former News Associates trainees – more than any other course – were honoured in the NCTJ’s annual Awards for Excellence in Journalism.

Eleanor Ross, who now works for The Sun, was named student news journalist of the year with judges commenting she ‘clearly has an eye for a story’.

Hull Daily Mail business reporter James Coldwell was named trainee news journalist for ‘a superb range of hard-hitting human interest stories sharply told’.

Thomas Allnut, who now works as a sports journalist at the Watford Observer, was named trainee sports journalist of the year.

And the prize of NCTJ reporter of the year went to Lauren Potts, from the Pontefract & Castleford Express, who passed the NQJ in November 2012 with the highest marks in the country during the year.

Lauren said: “It’s a privilege to be given such a prestigious award and it was the last thing I expected.

“It’s made all those nights sitting with McNae’s in the run-up to the exams worth it.”

News Associates course director Richard Parsons paid tribute to the success of our former trainees.

“It’s great that we were honoured for having the best exam results but the results of the Awards for Excellence in Journalism made us just as proud,” he said.

“We want our trainees to be deliver gold standard results in the classroom but we also want them to deliver in the newsroom and we’re very proud of a graduate job record we believe is unrivalled.

“Last year we were delighted that four of our former trainees won awards. To match that achievement this year is a spectacular achievement but the pressure is now on the classes of 2013/2014 to deliver again.”