JOURNALISM students at Darlington College of Technology scooped four out of five top awards in their industry exams.

The outstanding results were gained in the National Council for the Training of Journalists (NCTJ) examinations taken last October.

Sam Strangeways, 27, who has joined The Northern Echo from the Ilkley Gazette, won the Pamela Meyrick Memorial Award for the most promising trainee from the North of England and North Wales.

Sam, based at our newspaper's Middlesbrough office, followed the Newsquest block release course at the college in 2000, as well as doing a variety of workshops. She also completed a refresher course in September.

The Eric Dobson Memorial Award for the best candidate in the North-East was awarded to Guy Anderson from the Sunderland Echo.

Benedict Pennington from the Thurrok Gazette gained the Society of Editors' Award for the best news interview and the Esso award for the best speech was awarded to Matthew Danks of the Dudley News.

Candidates from News-quest newspapers, the parent company of The Northern Echo, gained a 60 per cent pass rate in the exams, compared to the 41 per cent national average, while the college's first-time pass rate is now 75 per cent.

Sue Campbell, director of external relations and former head of the college's school of journalism, media, art and design, said: "This is a tremendous achievement for the college, which constantly delivers some of the country's most talented journalists."