Pimlico student breaks into the media

She will now get the opportunity to learn all the tricks of the journalism trade from some top media professionals.

During a week of workshops at Canary Wharf and tours of newsrooms and studios at The Times, the BBC and Reuters, the YJA students will train in everything from feisty opinion writing to juicy celebrity reporting.

There will be workshops and seminars on finance journalism, sports writing, foreign news correspondence and more.

However, a planned visit to the News of the World was scuppered following the newspaper's closure.

The participants will be blogging about their experiences throughout the week.

The two best bloggers will be rewarded with work placements at The Times.

Aimed at 16 to 18-year-old London state-school pupils, the YJA Summer School teaches teens the nuts and bolts of journalism.

YJA coordinator, Nathalie Rothschild, said: "The YJA challenges the idea that you need to have the 'right' education or be lucky enough to have personal connections in the media world in order to be allowed to grace its hallowed halls.

"Our students learn that with enough ambition and drive, they can reach their goals - but that they also have to be prepared to put in some hard work.

"At a time when the future of newspapers has been called into question and even journalists are reluctant to make a principled defence for press freedom, the YJA hopes to inspire a new generation of reporters to learn the value of freedom of expression, truth-seeking and good grammar."

A total of 20 accomplished journalists, editors and front-line reporters have volunteered to run seminars at the YJA Summer School.

These include Alan Fisher, a senior correspondent with Al Jazeera; Ally Ross, a TV critic with the Sun and Dean Piper, showbiz expert and entertainment columnist on the Sunday Mirror.

The 2011 YJA summer school takes place between Saturday 30 July and Saturday 6 August.