How you’d get this certificate
- Zavmo teaches you. You learn the units one-to-one with an AI tutor, on your own work.
- You register with an approved centre. That is a college, training provider or employer NCTJ Training has approved to offer this qualification. Zavmo is not an approved centre, so you register with them, not with us.
- The centre assesses, and NCTJ Training awards. A qualified assessor at the centre judges your evidence, and the certificate comes from NCTJ Training.
The NCTJ Level 3 Certificate in Foundation Journalism is a vocationally-related qualification. It focuses on developing core journalism skills, such as gathering information and telling news stories. Learners will also learn feature writing and how to use audio and images for publication in the media and communication sector.
These are the units NCTJ Training registers against this qualification. It is a catalogue, not a syllabus. Which of them you take depends on the combination the qualification requires, and that is set by the awarding body rather than by us. Every unit here is regulated. Zavmo teaches towards them on your own work, and work done here is recognised as prior learning under the agreements we hold.
Zavmo is not an awarding body, is not an approved centre, and is not affiliated with NCTJ Training. It does the teaching and the mapping. NCTJ Training sets this qualification and awards it, and a qualified human assessor makes the assessment decision.
Free first step
Try a free Future Fluency lesson first
The free part is a Future Fluency lesson on using AI at work. It is not part of this qualification. Next, a free account. We build your plan for this qualification as you set up. Teaching towards this qualification begins when you subscribe.
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What each unit actually teaches you to do
Community Radio Newsgathering Real unit · NCTJ Training
What you'll be able to do
- Use community radio broadcasts to build contacts and find news stories
- Create a community news bulletin that is accurate and engaging
- Control a news-based studio discussion, ensuring all voices are heard and the discussion remains focused
- Understand how to broadcast live on-air from the studio or a remote location, adhering to best practice
- Understand the rules and regulations under which community radio stations broadcast news, including Ofcom guidelines
Feature writing Real unit · NCTJ Training
What you'll be able to do
- Identify suitable subjects for feature articles
- Write feature articles for impact and attention on two different topics
Finding and using data Real unit · NCTJ Training
What you'll be able to do
- Find data from a range of sources, including official statistics, research reports, and public records
- Access data from a range of sources, understanding the different formats and access requirements
- Interpret data gathered, identifying trends, patterns, and anomalies
- Demonstrate how to use data effectively in journalistic storytelling, ensuring accuracy and clarity
- Use graphics and illustrations drawn from the data to help readers understand the story, presenting information visually
Gathering Information Real unit · NCTJ Training
What you'll be able to do
- Research stories suitable for publication
- Research stories ensuring accuracy of information
- Identify dangers of internet research
- Understand the principles of what makes a good interview
- Interview people to gain facts and opinions
How society works Real unit · NCTJ Training
What you'll be able to do
- Explain the roles and responsibilities of government structures in supporting society in the UK.
How to tell a news story Real unit · NCTJ Training
What you'll be able to do
- Produce an accurate news story suitable for publication
How to use the English Language for Journalism Real unit · NCTJ Training
What you'll be able to do
- Demonstrate the ability to write English in a clear and direct manner suitable for journalistic purposes.
- Demonstrate the ability to use correct spelling, punctuation and grammar when writing English for journalistic content.
- Demonstrate the ability to communicate information in a clear, direct and grammatically correct manner.
Legal and ethical considerations for journalists Real unit · NCTJ Training
What you'll be able to do
- Understand what is meant by libel and slander, and how to avoid them in journalistic practice
- Understand how the law of copyright works, and how it affects the use of copyrighted material in journalism
- Understand how privacy laws can affect a journalist’s work, including the right to privacy and data protection
- Understand the contempt of court laws and how they affect the work of a journalist, including reporting restrictions
- Know what to do if legal problems arise in journalistic practice, including seeking legal advice
- Understand the difference between legal regulations and codes of conduct in journalism
- Understand where legal regulation applies and who is the regulator, including Ofcom and the Independent Press Standards Organisation (IPSO)
Recording Information Real unit · NCTJ Training
What you'll be able to do
- Understand the various methods of gathering and recording information, including interviews, observations, and document analysis
- Know the equipment available for recording information, including microphones, recorders, and cameras
- Understand the legal and ethical considerations of using recording equipment for interviews or in other places, including data protection and privacy laws
Reviews and Comment Articles Real unit · NCTJ Training
What you'll be able to do
- Review material in a fair and accurate manner, providing balanced and objective assessments
- Comment on material in a fair and accurate manner, offering informed and reasoned opinions
Sports reporting Real unit · NCTJ Training
What you'll be able to do
- Understand the rules and competition formats of major UK sports
- Understand the national governance of major UK sports and how this relates to local, grassroots clubs
- Understand how to prepare to cover a match or event, including research and logistics
- Understand who to interview before a match and event and afterwards, and how to conduct effective interviews
- Compile a match or sports event report, adhering to journalistic principles
- Understand the dangers of defamation in sports reporting and how to avoid it
Taking Images Suitable for Publication Real unit · NCTJ Training
What you'll be able to do
- Produce images suitable for publication from a range of settings
- Prepare images for publication on a range of platforms
The History of News Real unit · NCTJ Training
What you'll be able to do
- Understand how UK newspapers developed over the centuries
- Understand how UK news broadcasting has developed
- Understand how digital news publishing has developed
Using Video to tell a Story Real unit · NCTJ Training
What you'll be able to do
- Demonstrate the ability to record video footage, including sound, to a usable standard for storytelling purposes.
- Demonstrate the ability to edit video footage effectively to tell a coherent and engaging story.
Using audio to tell a story Real unit · NCTJ Training
What you'll be able to do
- Record audio to a useable standard
- Edit audio recordings to tell a story
- Make a podcast
Using the English Language for maximum effect in journalism Real unit · NCTJ Training
What you'll be able to do
- Demonstrate the ability to select appropriate words and phrases to convey a powerful and impactful message in journalistic writing.
Writing for a Specific Purpose Real unit · NCTJ Training
What you'll be able to do
- Write for a newsletter, demonstrating appropriate style and content
- Write a press release, adhering to industry standards and conventions
Writing for digital media Real unit · NCTJ Training
What you'll be able to do
- Demonstrate the ability to write engaging and informative blog posts.
- Demonstrate the ability to write clear and concise articles for websites.
- Demonstrate the ability to use social media platforms effectively for communication and engagement.
The national standards these units are built against
What the job actually needs, in the words employers and awarding bodies already use for the work itself.
- Standard
Comply with UK legal and regulatory requirements when working in journalism
- Standard
Comply with codes of conduct, regulations and standards when working in journalism
- Standard
Write Text
- Standard
Write headings for editorial content
The jobs these credits are mapped to
A qualification is never a dead end here. Each of these is a job record this qualification is a mapped route into.
- 1 record
- 1 record
- 1 record
- 1 record
- 1 record
- 1 record
Showing 6 roles, drawn from 9 job records mapped to this qualification. Near-identical records are folded together, and each row says how many it stands for.
Where this can lead
Trainee Media Lawyer
This role can lead to work as a senior media lawyer handling complex matters, or into in-house legal counsel roles advising media businesses directly.
See the whole journeyThe credits, and who awards them
Level 3 credits are regulated, and they are awarded by NCTJ Training rather than by Zavmo. They don’t vanish when a subscription ends or a website closes. They travel to any employer, and Zavmo keeps the map of what you have covered and what is next.
What you would be collecting
Community Radio NewsgatheringFeature writingFinding and using dataGathering InformationHow society worksHow to tell a news storyHow to use the English Language for JournalismLegal and ethical considerations for journalists
Each one is a real unit registered against this qualification.
How you’d practise it
You don’t watch this. You do it.
You are not assessed on remembering this. You are assessed on applying it, analysing it, evaluating it and producing something. So that is what the practice is: projects, role play and your own live cases, with a tutor in the room.
The Practical Builder · your make-it-real tutor Illustration - Draft the real one Create
You do “Recording Information” on a real document of your own. Zavmo works on the draft you have to send anyway, so the coursework and the job are the same piece of work.
- Map a live decision Analyse
“Finding and using data” runs on a decision you are facing now. Zavmo maps it with you and shows what the second-order effect looks like before you find out the slow way.
What you leave holding
The standards this credential builds, in the shape the product keeps them
Nothing here is marked learned. There is no learner on a public page, so the map shows what the qualification covers rather than what anybody has done.
- Comply with UK legal and regulatory requirements when working in journalism
- Comply with codes of conduct, regulations and standards when working in journalism
- Write Text
- Write headings for editorial content
How you would learn this
One to one, on the work you already do
A tutor sets the task against your own job and marks the reasoning, at your pace. There is no cohort to fall behind.
A lesson from Community Radio Newsgathering, one of this qualification's own units.
Applied to your work in any of these jobs
Learners will acquire skills to gather community news, produce news bulletins, and manage studio discussions for community radio. The unit also covers live broadcasting techniques and regulatory requirements.
- 1 Remember
- 2 Understand
- 3 Apply
- 4 Analyse
- 5 Evaluate
- 6 Create
It is £70 a month, billed monthly. Your free first module is Future Fluency, and you can cancel any time. Teaching towards this qualification begins when you subscribe.
Built for NCTJ Level 3 Certificate in Foundation Journalism
18 units in this credential, in the order it lists them, awarded by NCTJ Training.
- Community Radio Newsgathering
- Feature writing
- Finding and using data
- Gathering Information
- How society works
- How to tell a news story
and 12 more in the full unit list below.
Free tools
Want a read on where you stand?
Three free tools, no account needed. Each one ends with a role, a level and a way in.
Learned on your own work, taught one-to-one.
Everything you just read, learned one-to-one on the job you already do. Your free first module is Future Fluency, so you can see how the teaching works before you pay for anything.
Build my plan, freeNo card. See how this qualification maps onto your role and meet the tutors who’d teach it, free. The learning begins when you subscribe. It’s £70 a month, billed monthly. Cancel any time and billing stops.
The title, level, credits, guided learning hours and unit learning outcomes on this page are taken from the Ofqual Register of Regulated Qualifications. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Where this data comes from.