The Young Reporter Scheme has opened its registration portal for schools wishing to sign up for the September intake of student journalists.

 

For the fifteenth year running, this eight month programme, is keen to welcome all students between the ages of 14 and 18 years old, who are interested in doing real live work experience for inclusion on their CV and UCAS application.

 

Students joining the scheme are treated as if they are real journalists, writing one article per month, within deadlines and all the articles that they write, are published on the Newsquest Media Group’s online newspapers, which have a readership of 34million people per month.

 

This scheme has opened a lot of doors for many students and a great number of them have followed careers other than journalism.

 

Raveena Rao, who did the scheme in 2015 and went onto study law, said: “There were a number of different skills that the scheme helped me to work on. I definitely improved my writing skills and my communication skills, which is essential for any lawyer.”

 

Writing for a huge audience can be quite daunting for a lot of young people but with lectures and mentoring sessions from the Young Reporter team, they quickly adjust to the programme and endorse it wholeheartedly.

 

Elaha Moosa, who recently completed the scheme, said: "Overall, it was a wonderful experience that I wouldn’t get elsewhere. The scheme taught me vital skills for any sort of learning/work environment such as being punctual in my work through submitting articles by a deadline.”

 

Monica Charsley, who did the scheme in 2016 and went onto become a journalist with Newsquest Media before moving onto one of the nationals, said that taking part in the scheme made her stand out in university interviews, as they were impressed she had completed the experience.

 

This year, the scheme has expanded and now includes an apprenticeship scheme, which can be completed either as a Diploma or as a Master’s Degree in journalism. Both pathways are completed within the NCTJ parameters, which is the industry standard.

 

Those students doing the scheme in years 10 and/or 11 can be fast tracked onto the degree programme at 16, provided they are no longer in full time education.

 

It is very exciting time for the Young Reporter Scheme team who work closely in partnership with Newsquest Media Group; all of us look forward to welcoming the next cohort of 2022/23 students.

 

For more information, please see the Young Reporter website – www.youngreporter.co.uk