A massive debate has sparked in the world of journalism in the UK: It's about the National Council for the Training of Journalists (NCTJ) and whether their examinations are really still needed, as leading colleges and universities drop the NCTJ modules from their syllabus.

And rightly so. The UK is the only country to have journalists trained at university coming out with degrees that are worthless unless top-up exams (read: NCTJ preliminaries) are being sat and passed.

My own degree did not provide me with full NCTJ qualification. The only exam I was allowed to sit was News Writing, and I see this as the most important exam. If you can't write at the end of a journalism degree, you chose the wrong profession. Simple as that. This should be the one exam that matters to editors... if they take somebody on who can take notes very quickly but cannot write a decent story, they simply picked the wrong employee.

Law was only briefly touched upon in my B.A. (Hons) Travel Journalism degree, the title itself a bit misleading, as it was Journalism and Tourism Management, rather than Travel Writing. However, due to the title, potential employers now think that I'm not up to gathering hard-hitting news.

No, editors would not be able to send me to court right away. But I do have the book, (I even dished out for McNae's instead of going for one of the cheaper ones that cover exactly the same) and these things can be learned. They do not necessarily have to be taught. Then again, where I come from, there are dedicated court reporters, and those that cover other local news.

In Germany, where I come from, you don't even have to study journalism to become a journalist. In fact, a pure journalism degree is frowned upon. All you have to do is get a Bachelor's degree in a subject of your choice. This is meant to provide the journalist with insight and expertise in one topic, and also shows editors that they are determined. Once you have a Bachelor's degree, you start as a trainee and you learn on the job. There is no better way of learning than learning by doing.

Work experience is the keyword here. But the NCTJ and UK editors are equally discriminating against foreign journalists who try to get a job in this country. When I tried to hand in my portfolio, my cuttings from a German daily newspaper which I work as a freelance for, were not accepted by the NCTJ. And that's after I translated it all into English. It's not the foreign journalists' fault that people in Great Britain tend to be rather ignorant when it comes to living abroad or learning another language. Just because the cuttings are in another language, doesn't mean they are not newsworthy! Besides, translating them in a way that still makes them clearly written, grammatically correct and newsworthy in English is quite a skill. Work experience abroad is meant to be a good thing. Shows that you can adapt, that you can write in a different language and that you tend to have a wider general knowledge because of your experiences.

I have studied journalism in the UK for three years. I have done work experience in Ghana, South Africa, the UK and Germany. Most of it in Germany, though, because I used to spend my semester breaks in my hometown. Which means, I applied the skills learned in England to journalism in Germany and guess what? It worked just fine. The NCTJ's excuse that the systems are not compatible is a lie, and even so: Some of the best books on journalism are written in America... surely their system is different too.

The one skill everyone keeps going on about is Shorthand. No other country relies on shorthand as much as the UK does. The way I see it: If you didn't learn to take notes in your own longhand or your own abbreviations during at least 16 years of education (college + at least a Bachelor's degree) then even shorthand won't help. You only need it for court. Plus, it is much easier to prove what you have written if you don't have to transcribe it first. You could show me a piece of shorthand and then tell me what it means - I won't believe you. I can't read it, the shapes don't make sense. I believe what I can see. "You need to have passed 100 words per minute". Rubbish. I have never misquoted anyone. And if they speak so fast that you would really need over 100 words per minute there's a simple solution. It's called a dictaphone! Voice recording. Even my mobile phone comes with the software. The easiest way of proving that somebody actually said it, is to play it back to them. I did an interview in 2008 with German comedian Ralf Schmitz, who is known for talking at approximately 220 words per minute. Even with shorthand, there would not have been a chance to keep up. So I took an audio recording and took down some notes to remind me of what questions I need to ask and the really important quotes. I managed to write the interview up in the way Ralf Schmitz really talks, because I had it all, word for word.

Try your shorthand at this:



Some editors I have spoken to do not have or do not use their NCTJ skills. Why do they then insist on their employees to have them? Surely they are meant to set an example?!

I have survived in the world of journalism in Germany just fine without any NCTJ's. In fact, the local news editor for the daily Solinger Tageblatt asked me twice to continue working for the Tageblatt, gave me a pay rise thanks to the quality of my work (yes, in Germany, even work experience is paid!) and all that without Shorthand, PA or what they're all called. And why? Because quality of work, professionalism, a sense for news and the ability to work to a tight deadline still matter there.

Let's face it: I am less likely to get a break in journalism, because the university did not provide me with NCTJ qualifications. I'll have to pay another GBP 400 just to do the course (which covers a lot of things I already learned in my GBP 9.500 degree) just to have a paper to show that I have skills that I could either learn on the job or teach myself through books.

The NCTJ qualifications are overrated. A strong and diverse portfolio should be what matters. A wide range of publications and a wide range of topics covered to show that you can deal with anything that happens in your patch. If what matters most to editors are your NCTJ scores then stop doing (unpaid) work experience right now!! It might look good on your CV, but in reality, it's worthless!

The problem with this university degree in travel journalism that I've been doing for the las three years is: it's not NCTJ accredited. Which means, in order to actually work as a journalist in the UK, I'll have to get these sought-after qualifications another way.

There are 6 preliminary exams in total, only two of which I can actually do right now. One is Newswriting and the other is handing in a portfolio of work.

I've just sat my Newswriting exam today, in which I had to write a 325-word news story, an 80-word story, a 50-word story as well as come up with sources and possible interview questions and how to make use of the internet for a pretend news story within the space of two hours. It's my only third year exam, and it's not even set by the University of Cumbria.

The portfolio will be handed in soon, just need one more story for that. Now I just have to sort out where and how to learn shorthand, PA, law etc. which I will need for the full qualification.

I'm just glad that with this exam, university is really over!

To be a journalist in the UK, you will need to pass your NCTJ (national Council for the Training of Journalists) exams at some point. These include News Writing, Public Affairs, Law, Shorthand and a Portfolio.

Studying journalism on an accredited course will get you these qualifications, or at least give you the lessons needed. When I enrolled for my B.A. (Hons) Travel Journalism course, nobody at the university told me that even though the Single Honours B.A. Journalism degree is accredited, mine isn't.

I feel a bit cheated, to be honest. If I'd known from the start - instead of finding out halfway through the degree - I could have changed courses. Now I am doomed to somehow get my NCTJ preliminaries on top of this degree.

I have therefore decided, to sit the News Writing exam at the end of the academic year (the one module within my degree that is accredited) and hand in my portfolio. Since I will have to work, and don't have money, time or enthusiams to do more university studies or a full-time top-up course, I will do it via distance learning from the NCTJ itself.

Funnily enough, studying journalism at university costs £3000+ per year., plus all teh books and other materials needed. With this distance learning course, you learn everything you need to know, have between 6 months and two years time to complete it, get your books and exam fees covered in the price and it only costs a little less than £400. And the NCTJ has already told me that although I would have to repeat the module as part of the course, I wouldn't have to repeat my exams.

Just wish I'd known about this earlier.