The Evening Standard, The Independent and Press Association partner to offer apprenticeships to diverse candidates

The Evening Standard, The Independent and Press Association (PA) have today announced a partnership to offer apprenticeships to encourage greater diversity in newsrooms.

The scheme follows the success of a previous initiative from the Evening Standard and The Independent, which saw four apprentices passing their NCTJ Diploma in Journalism exams.

Two apprentices are being recruited to join the two year programme, which includes a 17-week NCTJ Diploma in Journalism course at Press Association Training followed by on-the-job training at the Evening Standard, The Independent and in the PA newsroon.

The employers, who are all big supporters of the NCTJ's Journalism Diversity Fund, are particularly keen to recruit candidates from a diverse range of ethnic and social backgrounds. 

Doug Wills, group managing editior at ESI Media Group, said: ““Our previous apprentices have excelled both on the NCTJ course and in the editorial teams they have joined. We have been proud and delighted of the contribution they have brought to the titles.”

Pete Clifton, editor-in-chief at Press Association, said: ““We look forward to giving the apprentices a rich and rewarding experience over the next two years. This scheme creates routes into journalism for promising candidates who might not have considered it as a career option. It’s more important than ever that newsrooms reflect the communities they cover.”

During the two-year scheme, the apprentices will be supported by workplace mentors, their NCTJ tutor and editorial executives.

Full details can be found at http://esimedia.co.uk/about-us/work-for-us/ and the closing date for applications is Monday, 9 July.