FIVE first year media studies students from a sixth form college got the chance to work with Radio 1 over the Big Weekend music festival in Middlesbrough.

The students from Queen Elizabeth Sixth Form College in Darlington took part in an interview with DJ and presenter Jordan North.

Josh Brewster, Alice Butterfield, Daniel Lordon, Matt Prest and Lily Watson-Morris discovered how Jordan became a host on Radio 1, while he discussed the skills they would need to work in radio.

The students learned about the planning and execution of outside broadcasts, saw the preparations for Big Weekend and worked with presenters from Newsbeat, the news programme on the station.

They also looked at OFCOM regulations concerning live news broadcasts. The day concluded with the group visiting a variety of stalls which provided a detailed and fascinating insight into the different strands within the BBC, including BBC Introducing and BBC Bitesize.

Daniel Lordon said: "The workshop was extremely useful and allowed us to obtain a good understanding of how the BBC functions."

Nicola Naisbett, Course Leader for A Level Media Studies at QESFC, said: "This was a fantastic opportunity for the group and the fact that the College was invited to this event speaks volumes about the calibre of our Media Studies students. This type of employer engagement not only enhances work completed in the classroom by enabling students to put what they learn into real life contexts, but it also showcases the number of jobs available in the one of the UK’s biggest employment sectors."