RG ‘traditional’ subject degree v non-RG NCTJ accredited Journalism degree

2

I’m interested in a career in journalism. Do the top journalism employees - (print, broadcast, media) prefer to employ those who’ve been to a RG uni and studied a traditional degree such as English and then take the NCTJ Diploma in Journalism or do they prefer to employ those who’ve been to a non-RG uni and studied an NCTJ accredited Journalism degree which means you come out with a Journalism degree and the NCTJ Diploma in Journalism?

Reply 1

Tigerbalm

3

Hiya,
I've just completed my NCTJ diploma with one of the private providers. I'm a career changer with many friends in the industry, several of whom teach on journalism MAs, so I'm fairly well informed. Here's my take:

•

Journalism degrees do not seem to be widely respected in the industry. However, doing one which will give you an NCTJ diploma makes sense - but first of all, I would ask the uni how many students pass the degree with the diploma and how many have to go and retake it elsewhere. I heard from one NCTJ provider that they have a steady stream of journalism graduates who passed their degree but not the NCTJ bit and have had to retake it after they graduated, costing them a further £5k.

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Doing a non-journalism degree will give you a breadth of knowledge and could help you with a specialisation - for example, if you do a STEM subject (very few journalists with this background), law or languages.

•

Finally - radical suggestion - do you need to do a degree at all? Why not go straight into the NCTJ? This will cost you far less money. There were at least three people on my course who hadn't been to university first.
I hope this helps!

Reply 2

hlt88

OP

2

Original post by Tigerbalm

Hiya,
I've just completed my NCTJ diploma with one of the private providers. I'm a career changer with many friends in the industry, several of whom teach on journalism MAs, so I'm fairly well informed. Here's my take:

•

Journalism degrees do not seem to be widely respected in the industry. However, doing one which will give you an NCTJ diploma makes sense - but first of all, I would ask the uni how many students pass the degree with the diploma and how many have to go and retake it elsewhere. I heard from one NCTJ provider that they have a steady stream of journalism graduates who passed their degree but not the NCTJ bit and have had to retake it after they graduated, costing them a further £5k.

•

Doing a non-journalism degree will give you a breadth of knowledge and could help you with a specialisation - for example, if you do a STEM subject (very few journalists with this background), law or languages.

•

Finally - radical suggestion - do you need to do a degree at all? Why not go straight into the NCTJ? This will cost you far less money. There were at least three people on my course who hadn't been to university first.
I hope this helps!

What was your previous career? Would you mind letting me know your age bracket? Not to criticise just trying to understand what qualifies you to suggest journalism degrees are not respected - who has said this and what are their names/credentials? Or is this just your opinion please? Reason I ask is you are making such a sweeping statement without providing any backup to support this. Journalism degrees are in fact highly regarded both in the industry where those coming through this route are ahead of other candidates in skills and user experience compared to those who have either a subject degree and/or those who just have the NCTJ diploma which provides the qualification and a certificate but lacks any experience or skills in this fast paced and ever changing industry. I say this having since my original post, communicated and spoken with current journalists and sub editor on National newspapers as well as the BBC graduate apprenticeship HR department. I’m inclined to take their expertise and advice. Their advice was do a journalist degree which provides the academic rigour but importantly the skills and experience, as well as a journalism degree being sought after in other transferable careers such as law, (aside from the more obvious career alternatives). Their other advice was do a journalism degree OR an journalism apprenticeship as it’s all about having skills and experience in order to stand out compared to other candidates who have qualifications but that’s it. Journalism jobs advertised on JR by all those in the industry are asking for a candidates to have a degree in journalism - most especially to gain access to entry level jobs where an apprenticeship is not on offer.

I guess the name of this site “The Student Room” needs to hugely be borne in mind when posting and answering questions because it just offers opinions rather than career and professional advice from professionals. I will significantly bear this in mind in future and not make decisions based on comments a social media site.

(edited 11 months ago)

Reply 3

jaimejourno

1

Original post by hlt88

I’m interested in a career in journalism. Do the top journalism employees - (print, broadcast, media) prefer to employ those who’ve been to a RG uni and studied a traditional degree such as English and then take the NCTJ Diploma in Journalism or do they prefer to employ those who’ve been to a non-RG uni and studied an NCTJ accredited Journalism degree which means you come out with a Journalism degree and the NCTJ Diploma in Journalism?

Sheffield has a NCTJ accredited journalism degree and is a russel group 🤷🏽*♀️ I think employers want to see experience and industry knowledge more than anything

RG ‘traditional’ subject degree v non-RG NCTJ accredited Journalism degree

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