Mansfield-based Broadcast And Achieve CIC has launched a new initiative – the Broadcast and Achieve Media Academy – to help shape the futures of local young people.

The academy will be an extension of Broadcast And Achieve CIC’s current work and will offer students, predominantly over the age of 16, formal qualifications relevant to the creative media industry.

Training provider NCFE will be providing the accreditation and the courses’ final grades are usually the equivalent of a GCSE, A-Level or AS-Level qualification and all carry a credit value for further education, such as university.

The Broadcast And Achieve Media Academy will operate 39 weeks per year (term time) and said it would adopt a unique learning method to make it stand out against other colleges, sixth forms and schools.

It said students would essentially ditch text books and be allocated job roles, working within the organisation to provide a range of media-related products to clients.

The first course to be run will be a Level 3 Diploma in Creative Media for Radio.

A spokesman said: “We are encouraging young people who are about to leave school, or already have, to get involved and shape their future in a more creative and hands-on environment. It will enable them to express themselves and make the tough transformation into adult life and the working world a lot smoother.”

The Broadcast & Achieve Media Academy has three main aims:

To provide career and industry specific courses that have the same accreditation value as GCSE and A-Level.
To “teach” these courses in a completely different way by giving students real-life, hands-on experience, working with industry-experienced tutors and mentors.
To work as closely as possible with schools and colleges to ensure that students can study other subjects elsewhere if they wish.

The spokesman said: “It is also our intention to help students build up enough industry experience to find work placements and forge a successful career within what ever sector they choose.”

The Broadcast And Achieve Media Academy will be predominantly project funded, which will allow it to give students a place on the scheme free of charge and employ people with a wide variety of industry experience.

There are eight places available for the first course, the Level 3 Diploma in Creative Media for Radio. The course will be full time study, starting in September, and will last for one year (39 learning weeks).

Students will become full-time broadcast journalists and will work as presenters, producers, news and sports journalists and more, both individually and in small groups, in the company’s professional, in-house radio station, called Educate FM.

Interested students must be aged 16 and over and must have a keen interest in the media with a big focus on radio broadcasting and production. Entrants do not need any GCSE qualifications in functional skills as specialist training will be provided if a student gets below a C grade.

The academy also want to hear from students wishing to study A-Level media who are facing problems, such as the subject not being on offer or not being able to fit it in with other subjects at their school/college.

Level 3 Diploma in Creative Media for Radio is the equivalent of an A and AS-Level qualification and is worth up to 60 UCAS credits.

Those wishing to take part should call head of centre Craig Priest on 07449 541 902 or email [email protected]

Further courses focusing on other areas such as sports journalism, video production, product design and more will be added soon.