Plan to scrap college journalism course is put on hold

Fife College plans to scrap a journalism course next year have been postponed after the concerns of students were highlighted in The Courier.

However, bosses have warned that unless demand for the course grows in future, there is no guarantee it will run beyond 2019.

The Courier revealed that members of the HND practical journalism course at Kirkcaldy held a meeting with college management last Monday after they received letters the previous week telling them they would be able to graduate with an HNC at the end of this academic year, but would not be able to continue on to their HND year.

Students feared they would be unable to qualify for their National Council for the Training of Journalists (NCTJ) qualification which is only offered during the second year of the course.

A Fife College spokesperson confirmed yesterday that course numbers had been “consistently low” making it “unsustainable financially”, but said it had decided to continue to run the HND for a further year into 2018/19, enabling students to continue their studies in Fife.

The spokesperson said: “The college is making no commitment at this stage beyond 2018/19 but the decision to give continuity to our students will give the college time to work with the industry and other stakeholders to decide how the course can be reshaped and promoted in future years to ensure it attracts sufficient numbers of students to make it viable.”

Course student Alasdair Clark said they were “very pleased”, adding that he hoped the industry would offer its help to “reinvigorate the course”.