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Course Structure

Whether you choose to learn in Newcastle or London, you will follow the same programme of study,

The courses last for 17 weeks, including a week of video and video editing training at the end.

For the first five weeks, you will spend your days in an intensive classroom environment, working on course assignments and learning the fundamental principles of journalism.

You will also start immediately on the journey towards achieving the challenging 100 words per minute Teeline shorthand speed.

From week five, you will begin your once a week news drives. A patch of the region will be allocated to you and you will be expected to go out, find stories and write them.

In Newcastle, the best will be published by the Evening Chronicle, The Journal, Sunday Sun and on their associated websites.

In London, we work with news organisations across the capital to get the stories you pull in on your news drives into newspapers and websites. We also closely with the Press Association’s news and features teams.

On most courses we get more than 100 stories published, including front page and page lead stories that go on to make the nationals.

You will also begin learning law and public affairs straight away, working towards your end of course NCTJ examinations.

By the end of this intensive, five-days-a-week programme, you will have been expected to pass exams in Shorthand, Law parts one and two, public affairs parts one and two and have completed a portfolio of course work which will be assessed. There is also a news writing examination.

Throughout the course, you will be informed of job vacancies and given assistance in securing that all important first job.