National Qualification in Journalism exams rescheduled to avoid election

National Qualification in Journalism (NQJ) exams have been rescheduled after the general election was announced this week.

On Wednesday, 22 May, prime minister Rishi Sunak made a statement outside 10 Downing Street to call a general election on Thursday, 4 July.

NQJ exams due to take place in that week in July will now take place the following week:

• The media law and ethics in practice exam will now take place at 10am on Thursday, 11 July.
• The big news story exam will now take place at 10am on Friday, 12 July.
• The community journalism exam will now take place at 10am on Tuesday, 9 July.

Results from these exams will be released on Tuesday, 13 August.

The e-logbook submission deadline has also been postponed by one week, and is now at 5pm on Friday, 5 July.

Lyn Jones, head of qualifications at the NCTJ, said: “A general election is a very busy day for many journalists, some of whom will be working through the night to bring their audiences the latest news as the polling results unfold.

“We know the day is an especially crucial experience for trainee journalists as it may be their first time covering a general election.

“It represents an important opportunity to hone and implement their political reporting skills – and one which only comes around every few years.

“We wouldn’t wish our NQJ candidates to miss out, and so we have postponed the exams.

“We wish all of them good luck, both on election day and in their exams the following week.”

Please contact exams@nctj.com with any questions about the changes.