It’s just two years since she received her A-Level results, but today Zara Bilgrami is working in a media office on the shores of the Caspian Sea. In a few weeks she’ll be back at the London School of Economics, starting the second year of her degree in Social Anthropology and able to reflect on a summer spent living in a different culture. 

Zara Bilgrami: An Up To Speed Gap Year Success Story

Zara earned the chance to work for a Non-Governmental Organisation(NGO) in Azerbaijan, because she spent part of her Gap Year gaining a professional qualification in journalism at Up To Speed and subsequently working as an intern at CNN.

“The qualifications I gained at Up To Speed helped me gain an internship at CNN and a two month work placement in Azerbaijan
where I am currently re-writing the PR materials for an NGO, including their brochure, website and an award
application,” said Zara, 20.

“I have been putting the skills I learnt at Up To Speed into use every day.”

Two years ago Zara’s decision to opt for a seemingly serious option in her Gap Year was picked up by the Daily Telegraph.

At the time, Zara was at Cheltenham Ladies’ College and might have selected a more fun or exotic Gap Year experience, but she had the foresight to realise that she wanted her year to have more lasting value.

During her time at Up To Speed Zara published several articles for the course newspaper Poole People.

However, within weeks of finishing the course Zara was seeing her work published by CNN.

In the meantime, she had been able to use the time she spent in the UK on her UCAS application and by the time she had finished the course in February, 2008, Zara had been offered a place by the LSE. Only then did she opt to go travelling with a friend and use part of her Gap Year to see more of the world. 

“The course I had taken at Up To Speed was a great talking
point when making new friends at LSE and it also gave me the opportunity to get involved in extra-curricular activities,” said Zara.

Over the next two years Zara is planning to build on these experiences and to keep using her journalism qualifications. 

When she graduates in 2011, Zara will have formidable credentials.

Up To Speed’s Fast-Track Courses in Digital Journalism start each September and February and last for five months. To find out more, click www.uptospeedjournalism.com or ring 01202 761944.

In the fifth of our short series examining the benefits of an Up To Speed journalism course, we look at how it can help to prepare you for university and also develop an in-depth knowledge of some of the subjects you may wish to study.

Two of the corner stones of the course are its units in Politics and Law. You will study the country’s legal and political systems in minute detail and you will be expected to write stories based on them throughout the course.

On the second day of this September’s course, two Bournemouth magistrates are giving our students a guided tour of the courts complex. Students will see the inner workings of the court including the cells and will sit in on court cases. Later in the course, when they have covered the Laws relating to reporting the courts, and their shorthand speeds have built up, students will be encouraged to cover court cases and write the stories up for their portfolios.

The NCTJ Law syllabus covers the laws of Libel, Contempt, copyright and human rights, among other things. Media Law is a growing area of professional practice and the NCTJ qualification would give anyone planning to study Law a distinct advantage when seeking work on graduation.

For anyone wishing to study Politics at university, the NCTJ course offers incredible opportunities and insights. The Public Affairs syllabus covers both Central and Local Government and, once again, students are expected to get involved. They will meet politicians, interview MPs and councillors and attend political meetings. Our students leave with a detailed knowledge of all the country’s political institutions from parish pump to parliament. Students on our most recent course covered the MPs’ expenses scandal by interviewing local members of parliament, and students taking our September 7th course are faced with an even more exciting prospect when they complete the course: covering the 2010 General Election.

Up To Speed’s highly experienced tutors in these subjects can offer fascinating insights as well as expertise.

Our Law tutor Ken Brown has worked as a court prosecutor and rose through the ranks of the police to become an Assistant Chief Constable, and Acting Deputy Commissioner of the Royal Hong Kong Police. He has over 15 years experience of teaching the syllabus.

Politics graduate Andy Martin has been a journalist for 25 years and combines his work at Up To Speed with his role as News Editor for the Bournemouth Daily Echo. This allows him to give fresh, daily insights into the political stories affecting the agenda. Andy is also a member of the NCTJ’s national Public Affairs board.

Course director Tom Hill worked on award-winning programmes at ITN and was a producer on its 2007 General Election Special. As a BBC reporter he covered dozens of court cases including an IRA murder trial at the Old Bailey.

The Up To Speed Fast-Track journalism course also hones our students’ writing styles considerably, helping them in any subject they choose to study. In our next blog, we’ll be looking at the case of one of our recent Gap Year students, who is at the London School of Economics studying Social Anthropology.

For more information on Up To Speed’s courses, visit our website www.uptospeedjournalism.com or call us on 01202 761944.

In the second of our series on the benefits of a Gap Year Journalism course at Up To Speed, we look at ways it can help you even if you have not fully made up your mind that you want to become a reporter.

2. Transferrable Skills.

Students who opt to take a Gap Year course with Up To Speed will learn a variety of skills they can use throughout their lives.

Some of these skills are practical, others are technical and some of the most valuable are “people skills”. They can be useful in any walk of life.

Practical skills. One of the most challenging aspects of the course is shorthand. It may be a dying art in some areas of life, but it is still essential for reporters who are not permitted to record the proceedings of court cases and it remains a much more efficient way of recording, and subsequently writing up, an interview than any existing electronic alternative.  The ability to make a clear shorthand note can be handy in lectures, seminars and meetings of any sort.

In News Writing classes Up To Speed’s students learn to write clear, concise and accurate copy, which can turn seemingly dull reading material into an interesting story. This involves learning the ability to spot an angle, to focus the thrust of the story and to edit out any unnecessary verbiage. Students must also learn the discipline of writing to a specific word length, to a deadline and with attention to detail. 

In our news days, students are expected to chase up stories, often on the telephone and so they need to develop a professional and efficient telephone manner.

Technical skills

Up To Speed’s students have led the way when it comes to adopting multi-media and online skills and with each new course the range of these skills increases. They all learn how to film professional video stories using both professional cameras and the Flip cameras designed for YouTube and blogging. They learn to edit the footage they shoot on professional standard FinalCut software and how to voice over their stories to broadcast standards. Training is given in broadcast presentation skills. With our guidance, every student sets up, runs and maintains their own news blog, linked to their Facebook page and a dedicated Twitter micro-blog. Students also learn how to take and use still photographs on their sites.  They all learn how to use a content management system, how to write copy which will work online including search engine optimization skills. Technical skills are taught by qualified tutors and we don’t expect our students to arrive with any prior knowledge.

People skills. Students at Up To Speed are expected to come up with story ideas on their own initiative. However, to see their ideas come to fruition they have to learn to deal with people on a professional level. Explaining stories to potential interviewees, persuading them to take part and finally conducting professional and structured interviews. These skills may be essential for reporters, but they are also extremely useful in many other professions.

We hope that by taking some time to hone these skills in their Gap Year, people leave Up To Speed as more confident, mature and rounded people ready for any challenge.

To find out more, click on our website: www.uptospeedjournalism.com or ring 01202 761944.

Whether you’re suddenly confronting an unexpected Gap Year or about to embark on a year-off you’ve been contemplating for some time, there are five good reasons why a journalism course at Up To Speed could help you make the most of your time.

The Digital Journalism Fast-Track at Up To Speed offers you:

• a lifelong professional qualification, not just a one-off experience

• transferrable skills

• a structured and strategic Gap Year 

• workplace experience

• an academic bridge between A levels and undergraduate life including subject-specific study of Law, Politics and writing.

Over the next few days, we’ll be explaining a little bit more about each of these benefits. In the meantime, why don’t you check out our website at www.uptospeedjournalism.com or call us on 01202 761944. Courses start on September 7th and February 22nd. Our courses, based in our own training facility at the Daily Echo in Bournemouth, are accredited by the National Council for the Training of Journalists. 

Up To Speed caught up with Laura Herbert this week. Laura has just finished covering an eight-week murder trial and was literally in the thick of it when riot police were called in to deal with angry scenes outside court. You can see Laura’s on-screen and print reporting in our previous blog entry.

She’s been working as a reporter for a year now after taking the Up To Speed fast-track in her Gap Year. 

As Laura, 20, explains in this short video shot on one of our Flip cameras, it was a Gap Year that ended up being shorter than expected.