Sussex is paying students £500 because their course wasn’t good enough

The uni apologised in face to face meetings


Sussex Uni is paying journalism students up to £500 because their course wasn’t up to scratch.

The journalism course failed to meet industry standards and will not be properly accredited, so students are getting compensation – but no qualification.

Sussex described the course as “seeking accreditation”, and faculty members frequently told students accreditation would be achieved.

This means students will be lacking a NCTJ and BTCJ qualification, which are considered essential for a career in journalism.

One recent graduate told The Sussex Tab: "A journalism degree doesn't cut it."

"The editor of a local newspaper that I'd done work experience for told me he would never hire someone who didn't have a NTCJ or BJTC qualification."

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A University of Sussex spokesperson told The Sussex Tab: "Journalism students at the University of Sussex have been told that the university will pay for the students to take the NCTJ correspondence course at any time."

Emily Hume, who recently graduated from the university's journalism course told us of her and her peer's dismay at being told they would not graduate with an accreditation: "I was just really annoyed that I had put all the work in for nothing. News days didn't count towards our degree and the module that was made up of them in third year was awful.

"I felt like I couldn't develop my skills because the module just consisted of creating pieces independently with very little feedback and no guidance from tutors."

The University of Sussex recently fell to 41st in the Guardian League Tables, despite our Vice-Chancellor remaining one of the highest paid in the country.