Introduction to Freelance Photo Journalism at QLS Level 2

The course consists of seven study units as follows:

Part A Introduction to Freelance Journalism

This gives you an overview of the basic skills needed to be a freelance journalist. This section of the course will cover the following topics:

Unit 1: Introduction to Freelance Journalism

• What is news?
• The elements of news
• News in the community
• Community newspapers

Unit 2: What makes a good Freelance Journalist?

• What makes a good Freelance Journalist?
• The function of a Freelance Journalist

Unit 3: Gathering the News

• The beat system
• Sources and tools

Unit 4: Interviewing

• Preparing mechanically for interviews
• Developing note-taking skills
• Picking the interview location
• Conduct pre-interview research
• Conduct the interview
• Conduct the post-interview

Part B Introduction to Photo Journalism

This gives you again the basic skills to needed to combine photography and writing together into a good combined package of skills.

Unit 5: Understanding Photo Journalism

• Taking photographs for publication
• Two visual considerations
• Depth of field
• Isolating a subject
• Lenses and perspectives
• Composition
• The principles of composition
• Action in still photographs
• Stopping action.

Unit 6: Obtain and Record Cutline Information

• Who gathers cutline information?
• How to record the information
• What to record
• Match up the information with the photograph
• When to record the information
• Sports photography hints
• Filing cutline information

Unit 7: Writing a photographic Cutline

• Introduction
• The four-part cutline
• Equipment available

At the end of this course successful learners will be given the option to receive a Certificate of Achievement from the Quality Licence Scheme and a Learner Unit Summary (which lists the components the learner has completed as part of the course).

The course has been endorsed under the Quality Licence Scheme.  This means that Kendal Publishing Ltd has undergone an external quality check to ensure that the organisation and the courses it offers, meet defined quality criteria. The completion of this course alone does not lead to a regulated qualification* but may be used as evidence of knowledge and skills gained. The Learner Unit Summary may be used as evidence towards Recognition of Prior Learning if you wish to progress your studies in this subject. To this end the learning outcomes of the course have been benchmarked at Level 2 against level descriptors published by Ofqual, to indicate the depth of study and level of demand/complexity involved in successful completion by the learner.

The course itself has been designed by Kendal Publishing Ltd to meet specific learners’ and/or employers’ requirements which cannot be satisfied through current regulated qualifications.   The Quality Licence Scheme endorsement involves robust and rigorous quality audits by external auditors to ensure quality is continually met.  A review of courses is carried out as part of the endorsement process.

The Quality Licence Scheme is part of the Skills and Education Group, a charitable organisation that unites education and skills-orientated organisations that share similar values and objectives. With more than 100 years of collective experience, the Skills and Education Group’s strategic partnerships create opportunities to inform, influence and represent the wider education and skills sector.

The Skills and Education Group also includes two nationally recognised awarding organisations; Skills and Education Group Awards and Skills and Education Group Access. Through our awarding organisations we have developed a reputation for providing high-quality qualifications and assessments for the education and skills sector. We are committed to helping employers, organisations and learners cultivate the relevant skills for learning, skills for employment, and skills for life.

Our knowledge and experience of working within the awarding sector enables us to work with training providers, through the Quality Licence Scheme, to help them develop high-quality courses and/or training programmes for the non-regulated market.

*Regulated qualification refers to those qualifications that are regulated by Ofqual / CCEA / Qualification Wales

Paper Based Version

The course comes to you as a paper-based pack delivered by courier.

You will be given guidance through the Study Guide on the nuts and bolts of studying and submitting assignments.

Postal assignments cannot be accepted without prior permission from the tutor.

Online Version

Our online courses are fully digitised versions of the paper-courses, so you can study on any PC or smart device when connected to the internet.

As with the paper course, your online learning programme is completely flexible, so you can study at a pace that suits you.

All of our online course content is broken down into bite size chunks to make your learning more manageable and effective.

The course contains a number of assignments which your tutor will mark and give you valuable feedback on. We call these Tutor Marked Assignments (TMAs). You need only send the TMAs to your tutor for comment, not the self-assessment exercises which are also part of the course to help you gauge your progress.

This course can be taken over a 12 month period but you can complete it as fast or as slowly as you wish.

You will have access to a tutor via email who will mark your work and guide you through the course and will assist you with any problems you may have. In addition you will be supplied with a comprehensive Study Guide which will help you through the study and assessment process.