PA Training added to the government’s Register of Apprenticeship Training Providers

  • PA Training will contract directly with companies receiving the apprenticeship levy to develop budding journalists and communications professionals
  • Its new status builds on existing apprenticeship partnerships with leading news brands across the UK delivered as a sub-contractor.

11 November 2019: PA Training – a sister company of PA Media, the national news agency for the UK and Ireland – will now contract directly with companies receiving the apprenticeship levy to develop budding journalists and communications professionals.

The business has been added to the Register of Apprenticeship Training Providers (RoATP), a list of organisations that are eligible to receive government funding to train apprentices. PA Training’s new status as a government-endorsed supplier follows its approval by the Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA).

PA Training’s inclusion on the RoATP builds on a long heritage as a leading provider of comprehensive journalism and corporate communications training across sectors including news, sports, magazines, broadcast, charities and government. The business currently delivers apprenticeship training, as a sub-contractor, for major news brands including The Telegraph, Independent, Evening Standard, Sky News, Archant and the KM Media Group.

As a Main Provider on the RoATP, PA Training will provide entry-level instruction to school-leavers and graduates across the following apprenticeship standards: L3 Junior Journalist and L4 Public Relations and Communications Assistant.

Underpinned by the National Council for the Training of Journalists (NCTJ) Diploma, the L3 Junior Journalist standard includes modules in media law, multi-platform storytelling and ethics. The L4 Public Relations and Communications Assistant programme provides essential grounding in skills such as producing multi-platform content, managing PR campaigns and crisis management.

Mark Wray, Managing Director at PA Training, said:

 “The approval from the EFSA is an important step in allowing us to further provide employers with exciting and innovative journalism-centred apprenticeship programmes, tailored to their needs.

“We can offer assistance with the advertising and recruitment process, as well as advise employers on how to support, stretch and mentor their young trainees.

 “Working alongside the national news agency for the UK and Ireland, our trainees have unparalleled access to some of the industry’s finest journalists and instructors.”

Courses will be led by Rosalind McKenzie, Apprenticeship Training Manager at PA Training. Three of her recent apprentices are shortlisted in the 2019 NCTJ Awards for Excellence. Mitch Waddon, from West Ham, has received one of only two nominations in the Sports Journalism category, while Yohannes Lowe from The Telegraph and Maddy Morrison from Sky Sports News are shortlisted for ‘Apprentice of the Year’.