Six young Scots journalists have achieved 'senior reporter status' after passing the National Certificate Examination – described by awarding body, the National Council for the Training of Journalists, as “acknowledged by editors as the industry’s national standard for professional journalists”
The successful Scottish candidates are: David Blackwood, Fife Free Press; Louise Brown, the Glasgow South and Eastwood Extra; Stephen Christie, the Press and Journal; David Hepburn, Kirkintilloch Herald; Irene MacKinnon, Linlithgow Journal and Gazette; and Ross Thomson, Carluke Gazette.
Of the 79 candidates who sat the exam, 51 were first-timers, and their pass rate of 63 per cent is significantly higher than the 44 per cent pass rate among their counterparts from last year. Overall, the pass rate was 62 per cent.
There are four sections which make up the NCE: news interview, news report, newspaper practice and logbook.