Apply for our Newsroom in the Classroom at Highbury College

Last year's Highbury College students at The News offices. Back from left, Lola Mayor, Peter Marcus, Imogen Marshall and Sasha Barker with, front from left, Oli Price, Ermis Madikopoulos, Shannon Johnson and Daniel Chalkley

Picture: Sarah Standing (151844-454) — Last year's Highbury College students at The News offices. Back from left, Lola Mayor, Peter Marcus, Imogen Marshall and Sasha Barker with, front from left, Oli Price, Ermis Madikopoulos, Shannon Johnson and Daniel Chalkley Picture: Sarah Standing (151844-454)

If so, you need to take action quickly as this is the last chance to apply for our ‘classroom in the newsroom’ which starts in September.

For the fourth year we have teamed up with journalism training centre, Highbury College, to run a one-year NCTJ-accredited Diploma in Journalism course at our 1000 Lakeside headquarters.

Starting this September, it will mix high-quality training alongside work experience at The News and our website portsmouth.co.uk.

Students will learn how to be a working journalist and will leave with all the skills they need to make it on a newspaper, website, TV or radio station.

Achieving the diploma can also pave the way for a job in public relations, social media, publishing and communications – all without having to pay thousands of pounds in university fees.

For the vast majority of applicants – particularly those under 19 – the course is free, so is a great alternative to getting into debt at university.

Paul Foster, journalism course leader at Highbury College, said: ‘This is a fantastic opportunity for anyone who wants to break into the media industry.

‘The skills you will learn on this course – and the qualification you will achieve – can open doors to whatever job you want to get into. Many of our previous students have moved into magazines, radio, social media as well as traditional print media.

‘The journalism diploma really is a stepping stone to getting a job.’

The diploma covers the essentials of journalism and includes reporting, public affairs, media law, court reporting, video broadcasting, and shorthand.

If you would like to apply, log onto highbury.ac.uk/journalism, call (023) 9238 3131 or e-mail [email protected] to arrange an interview.

For more information, search for the Highbury College Journalism Training page on Facebook.

PEOPLE applying for the one-year NCTJ-accredited Diploma in Journalism need at least five A to C grades at GCSE including English.

Ideally, they should have also achieved either two A-levels or an equivalent Level 3 qualification such as a Btec diploma.

At the end of the course you will achieve a Diploma in Journalism. The course runs for 39 weeks.