Applications are now open for The Telegraph’s 2024 Editorial Graduate Programme. Applications close on December 18.
But hold up — if you’re thinking about applying, this guide should be your first stop. In fact, several people we’ve interviewed for this piece told us they’d used it as part of their own successful application processes.
To give you the best shot, we’ve spoken to people who have applied, interviewed, and landed the gig at the end of it. We’re not just looking at the application process, but also what life is really like in the job, so you can understand how it might work for you.
If you’re on the scheme yourself, we’d love to hear from you to add to this guide — we’re always looking to update, improve, and help encourage more applications.
The Editorial Graduate Programme
There is just one journalism scheme at The Telegraph and it lasts almost two years. You’ll be given training across the whole spectrum of a national newsroom, from news and features to business and sport. This includes formal training and plenty of on-the-job experience, both at The Telegraph and at partner local and regional newsrooms across the country.
Typically, after the initial training you’ll spend three months at a regional newspaper and three months at PA Media, before returning to The Telegraph to work across a variety of different desks. For Poppie Platt, who joined the scheme in 2021, this was her favourite part of the job. “Even though you don’t apply to work on one desk or one area, you get to move around every few months and they’re really game for you to try new things.”
Io Dodds, former trainee and US tech reporter, particularly praises the training: “I learnt a lot and gained a lot of invaluable experience. The PA training course was magnificent, it taught me a lot of skills that I still remember and use, and forms the basis of a lot of my work today.”
As well as formal learning, you’ll get stuck in from day one, going out and about to cover stories, as well as getting to grips with news editing and digital skills. Jacob Freedland, part of the 2023 cohort, tells Journo Resources: “In the first month you attend daily news conferences — so you see how the paper works, how the news editors make decisions, how things get commissioned. That means if you have good stories you know you can get them published right after that.”
Similarly, head of special projects and planning Jamie Johnson, who initially joined the paper as part of the graduate scheme, tells us he’d already reported from 13 different countries by the time he took up his current role in 2021.
Day-to-day though, you’ll be based at The Telegraph’s main offices in Victoria, London. As with most graduate schemes, they fit the academic year. Applications open in November and close on December 18. You can expect to hear back in February, with interviews held in March. Successful candidates will start in September.
It’s a standard contract with the newspaper, so you’ll be generally working eight-hour days, but as with any journalism job, you’ll need to be flexible when news happens. The Telegraph doesn’t disclose salaries on job adverts, but the 2025 scheme is listed above the London Living Wage, as you’d expect.
It’s also worth noting that while this is a two-year training scheme, the newsroom does hope that if it’s a good fit you’ll be able to find a role with them afterwards. Previous trainees include political editor Ben Riley-Smith, chief sports writer Oliver Brown, and features writer Eleanor Steafel. Other big names to have passed through include Josie Ensor, who previously worked as the US correspondent, Tom Ough, who used to work on long reads, and former foreign editor Jessica Winch.
The Application Process
As far as application processes go, the first stage is pretty standard. As well as providing your details, you’ll submit a CV and cover letter, which should include links to three pieces of your previous work. You should talk about the pieces of work in the cover letter text itself and make sure to include the links themselves at the end.
According to Jamie, the key is to make sure you show the breadth of your work. “Don’t necessarily just put in three pieces about one topic,” he tells Journo Resources. “Try and show a bit of variation on different types of writing,” For example, your three pieces might span an interview, a news piece, and a feature.
He also urges you not to worry about where your pieces have been published. “If you’ve got anything in a newspaper, that’s quite good. If it’s a student newspaper that’s fine as well. I think the point is that you’re not the finished product and you shouldn’t be.”
Jacob agrees: “I actually would say some good stories from a student paper are more valuable than a week’s work experience at a national where you didn’t get anything published. [Equally] a really local story [like one I wrote on college kitchens] is better than writing a politics blog about whether Rishi Sunak is a good prime minister.
Cameron Henderson, who spoke to Journo Resources while on placement with SWNS news service as part of the scheme, recommends being purposeful when selecting your submission portfolio. Instead of just choosing your personal favourites, try to demonstrate how your work is relevant. “Link back to what it was about that story in particular, how it fits into your interests, the interests of Telegraph readers, and why it makes you a good candidate,” he advises.
Ruby Cline, part of the 2024 cohort, also advises making sure your portfolio echoes the range of work published by The Telegraph. “I tried to show that I can write a really light-hearted piece about Christmas dinner and, next to it, a very serious piece about what’s been going on in the town centre. I think showing that you can adapt to what they want from you, is something they look for. They’re going to put you everywhere in the newsroom, so you have to be able to handle everywhere in the newsroom.”
You’ll also need to confirm that you meet the eligibility criteria: that you’ve got a degree or postgraduate qualification, that you have some experience in student, local, or other news organisations, and that you’re not an established professional journalist.
Natasha Leake, who’s just started on the most recent cohort, recommends thinking about how your experience could tie in with the paper. “I tried to show how my experience made me the right fit,” she recalls. For example, having previously worked at Tatler she spoke about writing multiple royal stories — something she also knew The Telegraph valued.
Natasha also dedicated time in her cover letter to talking about what exactly it was she liked about the outlet. “It would publish stories that maybe other newspapers wouldn’t want to publish. It would be bold and take risks — and that was something that I really admired about it. So, I said that in the cover letter.”
Need a bit of inspiration for your CV and cover letter? We got someone who’s hired in national newsrooms before to tell us everything he’s looking out for on your CV and cover letter. You can also watch our free workshop on nailing job applications here.
After the initial application, applicants will be invited to do a written test and a pre-recorded video interview. The tasks will likely change slightly with each intake, but for Cameron’s cohort, the written assessment consisted of two timed tasks. The first was piecing a story together from details that were deliberately muddled up.
He explains: “They just wanted to see that you know how a news story works, how it should look, have you got an eye for a story, can you identify the most eye-catching, pertinent pieces of information and put them at the top so the reader sees them first.”
The second part of the written task was taking an item from the day’s news agenda and coming up with ideas for spin-off features. As for the video interview, applicants would film themselves answering a set of provided questions. According to Cameron, this was the most challenging part of the application process because he found it awkward having to speak into a light at the top of his laptop — but if you have dabbled with TikTok at all, this shouldn’t be too problematic. Relax knowing that you can film multiple takes on your own time!
Emily Smith, who joined the scheme in 2024, says that while it can be tempting to script your answers word by word or use AI tools to help polish them, this can take all the personality out. “Someone spoke to me with feedback when I started that my video interview was really authentic. I think you can really tell when someone’s [scripted it].”
“I did write down a couple of points that I definitely wanted to get in, but I just tried to be a normal human person. If you put your personality into it, it comes across better.”
Ruby also recommends being honest about what you still need to learn. “I think people forget; they come across as very serious and then sometimes a bit too confident. Come across as genuine because ultimately, you’re not just being judged on how good a journalist you are, you are also being judged on how willing you are to learn, how will you grow from this, and will you make a good co-worker? I think that’s a really important thing to keep in mind, don’t fake it.”
You may also be asked to take part in an online test, for which Ruby recommends practising editing and sub-editing other people’s pieces.
From there, shortlisted candidates will be invited to an assessment centre where they will take part in group activities and interviews. The aim here is not just to test what you know, but how you collaborate and listen to others.
Emily continues: “I made a really big conscious effort to be mindful in the group things; making sure everyone was speaking. If someone was cut off I’d be like: ‘Did you want to say anything or add anything?’ Just be a decent person to the people you work with, because everyone’s trying to impress everyone and it can be competitive and scary.”
Matilda Head, who was part of the 2022 cohort, remembers exercises at the assessment centre that were based on the day’s news, as well as an interview with two editors from The Telegraph.
Ella Nunn, who joined the paper in 2023, also remembers being asked to “develop stories from the morning into further, future ideas” as part of a group. However, she says that whatever the task, the main thing is to take your time.
She tells Journo Resources: “Try to take the time to really plan out and think about what you’re going to do [or say]. Even if it’s something where you’ve got a time limit, just try to take a step back and take a deep breath before going in with a clear head.”
“It’s just about thinking outside the box, being creative, thinking about what you’d want to read, what you would want to learn more about and trying to develop some good, original ideas.”
It’s advice echoed by Emily, who recalls that the entire process centred around ideas. She recommends flipping stories on their head if you’re struggling to link them to The Telegraph’s primary audience.
“You can take, for example, an issue that you really care about, something you’ve done for your student paper and think, right, how would you make that interesting to a Telegraph audience? To parents or grandparents? If it’s to do with younger people, how would it impact their family?”
Ruby also recommends thinking about stories which have greater longevity. “In my head, I think of it as big, medium, and small,” she explains. “Huge major stories last for weeks, medium-level stories a couple of days, and then there will be some stories that are just that-day straight news stories. I use it to develop feature ideas and work on follow-ups to the news lists.”
Typically, as well as standard interviews, the process involves a spelling and grammar test and group sessions, where you’ll discuss how to tackle a specific problem as a group.
At all stages though, you’ll be informed of what’s coming next in plenty of time to prepare. Matilda adds: “The assessment centre required the most preparation in terms of making sure I was on top of the news that week.”
Cameron also echoed this sentiment, strongly advising that applicants keep up-to-date by reading The Telegraph in the weeks leading up to and during the application stages. “Skimming is fine, but you want to try and develop a sense of what The Telegraph reader is… because you are writing to that readership,” he says. Keeping a target in mind will help with completing any tasks you’re set.
Natasha took things even further to really understand the paper: “I got loads of different highlighters and was highlighting different areas of the paper. I’d have a highlighter for royals, a highlighter for foreign, a highlighter for health… I was sort of colouring it in, so I could literally see the way they chose to prioritise different stories.” She says this was particularly useful for tasks in the online assessment.
It’s advice Emily took herself after reading this piece. She adds that it can be a useful exercise to do over a longer period of time to notice trends: “I would go through and put things into categories of what they would prioritise every day to notice patterns.”
What Are They Looking For?
According to Cristina Criddle, a former grad who has since gone on to work on both the BBC Today Programme and the Financial Times, originality is a key component. She tells Journo Resources that you shouldn’t just say what you think the team wants to hear. “Don’t be grey and boring,” instead showcase your ideas, experience, and personality.
It’s also a tactic echoed by Poppie, who adds: “[Don’t] be afraid to bring a bit of personality into the application and cover letter. Don’t just make it the same one you’d use to apply for any other job.” As well as “going in on experience” that you’ve gained from work experience, freelancing, or student media, she also suggests thinking about “[Telegraph] pieces you’ve read, things that you’ve enjoyed, or things that you think they could have done better.”
Understanding the publication, its goals, and its audience is also crucial for Jamie, who says it’s vital to do your homework on “the brand, the sort of paper, and the product itself, the website and all the rest of it”. Knowing what stories have made the paper and what columnists are writing — and thinking about why they’ve been commissioned — is vital homework.
“It probably sounds a little bit obvious,” says Izzy Lyons, who joined the scheme after completing an NCTJ at News Associates, “but you need to be able to show [that you understand] what issues matter to us. You have to know what our readers are interested in and what they believe on certain issues, and how the paper is laid out.” Poppie recalls reading the paper “every day for two weeks” in the run-up to applying. “I always read it online, but never used to buy the print version — but I definitely [recommend] reading the print paper because most of the stuff in it isn’t online.”
Or, as Jacob describes it: “There are little pockets you see in print that you don’t see on the website.” He also recommends knowing the names of writers whose work at the paper you particularly admire, adding “I think a lot of people overlook that aspect of it.” This is something Emily also says she was asked about at interview — for example, if you’re pitching a story, who do you think might be best placed to write it?
Cristina Criddle says: “Ultimately this [scheme] helped me to decide the direction of my career”. She continues: “The experience and training were amazing, they invest a lot of time in you and you get the opportunity to work across the paper, meet (and learn from) all of the talented journalists and editors, as well as the experience of working on different sections.”
Jamie also recommends taking things one step further, and really trying to understand the strategy and forward planning of an outlet, something he says is good advice for all schemes. For example, what have newsroom leaders spoken about at industry conferences or to media titles such as Press Gazette? “You can find that on the internet, it’s not come from any internal memos”.
More generally, the team is looking for people with a love of writing who want to uncover original stories from a wide range of people. This job description also makes explicit mention of digital and audience strategy, so they’ll want to see that you consume a wide range of media and understand what format works best for a story.
Matilda adds: “The Telegraph has a great range of platforms for its journalism — don’t just think about print, but the website, the app, social media, video, audio, etc. So, if you can show skills at adapting to different audiences, that may help. For example, I had been running a news TikTok channel for a year or so before I applied. I drew on that in my interview to show how I was comfortable with experimenting with new formats. Show that you’re willing to get stuck in.”
It’s also important to demonstrate that you are a team player, as teamwork is essential to the operation of a newsroom. Cameron says of being at the assessment centre: “In that sort of environment with a lot of ambitious, young journalists who are desperate to get recognised in a very small period of time, obviously the pressure’s on. But don’t speak over people, basically. It’s that balance between trying to be a team player but also showing yourself in the best light.”
Lastly, being a self-starter who’s not afraid to give things a go will also score you points. Jamie recalls that is how he got his first foreign reporting trip from the Calais migrant camp. Lyons agrees: “When you’re a trainee, the piece of advice I was given — and I would echo it — is to say yes to pretty much everything. Give everything a stab. And, at the end of the day, they expect you to struggle slightly, you’re a trainee, but I think doing that in your first few years of journalism, it’s definitely got me quite far.”
And Finally…
If you’re somehow still on the fence about the scheme, take it from our interviewees. When asked to describe the scheme in three words, the words “engaging”, “fun”, and “eclectic” all came up.
“A lot of trust is put in grads, which is mostly cool,” says Tom Ough who was able to cover events like Wimbledon and the Euros early on in his scheme. Similarly, Jamie recalls interviewing Marcus Rashford and going to Harry and Meghan’s wedding. “It opened up my eyes to a whole world of opportunity and made me really excited for what stories I’d be able to cover in the future.”
Izzy concludes: “There’s a great camaraderie in the newsroom. Your colleagues are fantastic and will take you under their wing, and that’s definitely one thing that I think is an asset of The Telegraph.”
This article was supported and made possible by The Telegraph. Article compiled and written by Jessica Lord, Hannah Bradfield, Jem Collins, and Catharina Cheung.
Last updated December 2024.