NCTJ success for Finnish MA student

By UKJournalism

He only moved here from Finland four years ago, but MA Magazine Journalism Topias Kauhala has passed both of his NCTJ preliminary exams.

The exams, essential for students entering the print-based journalism industry, consist of two papers; a newspaper journalism exam and a press release handout.

Both aim to test studentsí ability to grasp the main news angle of a story, ensure all details are accurate and suggest follow ups that may keep a story running.

Topias took his preliminaries in early February. He said: "I thought the exams were quite tricky. Weíd had lots of practice for them, but it really depends on how you perform on the day.

Surprised

"I was surprised when I found out that Iíd passed the both of them because I didnít think I had a chance with either.

"When Cathy (Darby ñ MA Magazine Journalism Course Leader) was reading out the names of those that had passed, I thought she was reading out the oneís that had failed because I heard my name. But when I realised I was chuffed.

The 24 year-old studied Sociology at Manchester University when he first moved to England, but became interested in journalism and decided to do a postgraduate course.

"I read more magazines than newspapers so when I saw the Magazine course on the ukjournalism website it looked ideal for me," he said.

Demanding

"The course is really demanding, and thereíss lots of hard work to do but itís really useful. Coming to Preston made me realise just how little I knew about journalism beforehand."

"I donít know if my English will be good enough for me to get a job as a journalist in England when I graduate, but if I can do, my ideal job would be to write about either football or music."

Topias is on his way to fulfilling his ambition as he prepares to do a one-month work placement at football magazine Four Four Two in London.

More info:
MA Magazine Journalism >

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See also:
Four Four Two website >

Extra and related information

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