Just five days to go until registration closes on the 19 January, for the Young Reporter 2024 Short Course.

This programme, similar to the full course, is a taster for those wishing to try out working for the media, writing monthly articles and seeing those articles published on Newsquest Media Group’s range of online newspapers.

The course, which only lasts four months is brilliant for young people to explore their local area and write about topics that are important to them.

In the two years this short course has been running, it has been hugely successful and schools are already signed up with students actively writing their first articles, ready for publication.

Young people signing up for the course, are treated as if they are real journalists and whilst they may not wish to follow in this type of career, they are still able to build up a portfolio of published work for use with their CV’s and UCAS applications.

With a monthly international readership of almost 40 million people, it helps them to focus on making sure that their writing is the best it can be.

Polly Harrison, Director of Extending Learning at Ursuline High School, who has been involved in the full course for many years, said: “Our students learn so much from taking part in the Young Reporter Scheme. They learn how to create a news story, think of ideas of what makes good content for the reader, how to work to deadlines, share ideas and finally they gain a great sense of achievement in seeing their work published.”

Many of our students who have done the short and full courses have said how much is has helped them work to deadlines and experience working for an outside organisation.

Monica Charsley, who completed the full course in 2016 and is now a news reporter for The Mirror, said: “Young Reporter is a fantastic scheme which offers students vital training as well as a practical step into the industry. The scheme helped me kickstart my early career and provided me with ongoing support.”

Students doing both courses can be fast tracked onto Newsquest Media Group’s apprenticeship programme. This programme offers students a secure position with Newsquest, a salary and free tuition resulting in an NCTJ journalism degree, which is the industry standard.

For schools wishing to take advantage of this unique and exciting opportunity, please visit the Young Reporter website and register on the site – www.youngreporter.co.uk