The Successful Seven

Charlotte Bentley, (Shropshire Star) Gurjeet Nanrah., (Notts live)

Seven Midland entrants are among the latest successful trainee reporters to have achieved the National Qualification in Journalism (NQJ) during 2020-21.

They are Jack Rawlins, who covers Redditch, Bromsgrove and other parts of Worcestershire for Newsquest Midlands; Charlotte Bentley (pictured) and Harriet Evans, community reporters at the Shropshire Star; Daniel Morris, features writer and sub-editor at the Shropshire Star; Gurjeet Nanrah (pictured), life writer at Nottinghamshire Live; Liam Keen, sports reporter at the Express & Star and Tom Banner, a reporter at the Worcester News.

Charlotte and Tom studied at the City of Wolverhampton College.

Announcing the results, the National Council for the Training of Journalists said that 56 candidates had been successful in achieving their NQJ. This represented a pass rate of 60 per cent – ten per cent less than the previous year.

Of the newly-qualified, 20 passed with distinction and 24 with merit.

The NQJ is the NCTJ’s professional senior qualification that examines all-round competence in a range of essential journalism skills. It is designed to meet the needs of employers and to provide trainee or apprentice journalists with the knowledge and skills required by a senior journalist working across the media sector.