We’ve got great trainers – and lots of them
This isn’t sales talk. You won’t learn from full-time lecturers or freelancers hoping to make a bit extra on the side. You won’t be taught by someone who couldn’t hack it as a journalist. We use working journalists who pass on their specialist skills. Some will teach you; others will deliver short, sharp seminars. Others who may be teaching elsewhere in our media centre will pop along to see your progress.

Click here to check out the biographies of some of our trainers.

We know the industry
PMA has run training workshops for the magazine industry for 27 years. We created many workshops now considered standard within the industry. We know the editors, publishers and most of all the magazines. We’ve trained thousands of journalists. We can advise you on good jobs (and bad ones).

The industry knows us
Every day, journalists from a wide range of titles come for training to our Centre for Media Excellence in Islington, London. We run the largest short-course journalism programme in the World. Many of those attending these one or two-day workshops are editors. They often phone us and ask if anyone from our course is looking for a job. If there is a job going, you’ll hear about it first. And we’ll put in a good word for you.
No other course can offer this facility.

We’re right in the heart of things
Our Centre for Media Excellence is based in Camden, London. If there’s a press conference a show or exhibition, it will be happening near us. We don’t need to fake press conferences because they take place all around us. When you’re looking for a job, you won’t have far to go. (Magazine journalism is very M25-centric.) You won’t have to waste a day attending interviews. And Camden is a wonderful area not only to find stories, but to be based. It’s got a famous market, lots of cheap restaurants and plenty of bars!

Even years later, we’ll help you
Those who took this course in the 1990s still keep in touch and occasionally ask for help. Should I take this job? What’s my next career move? Do you know someone who’ll take this great feature idea? We’ll help you out if we can.

We’re flexible
If we like the sound of your application, we’ll interview you at any time. You don’t have to attend special interview days. We let you know straight away whether you’ve won a place.

We treat you as a journalist from the first day
You’ll get a business card with your name and "Reporter" underneath. Not "Trainee" or "Student". We’ll expect you to behave like a professional reporter, to work to tight deadlines and to write to exacting standards. We’ll also help you get a National Union of Journalists press card.

We don’t care if you’re not a graduate
We want people who are hungry to be journalists – though a degree shows application and stickability. It doesn’t matter if you’re 19 or 35. Our course is called a postgraduate course simply to reflect the level of the training.

TIP: Don’t take the cheapest course on offer (or even the most expensive – assuming it must be good). Ask how many graduates have jobs within a month of the course ending. Ask whether they count occasional freelance work as a job. We don’t.

Among our tutors

Roberta Cohen
Roberta Cohen has vast experience editing, launching and relaunching a range of business magazines from Marketing Week to Leisure Week. She has guided many trainee journalists into glittering media careers.

Keith Elliott
Keith Elliott has worked on several national newspapers, and edited magazines on subjects as varied as computing, general practice, exports, independent healthcare and taxidermy. He writes a weekly sports column for the Independent on Sunday, as well as various weekly and monthly columns for other publications. He also runs his own international sports magazine and is chairman of PMA Training.

Andy Jones
Andy Jones has worked on several national newspapers in a senior capacity, from The Sun and News of the World to the Daily Star and Today. He has also worked as a copywriter for ABTA, a studio manager for BBC Radio and layout sub for British Airways News. He is currently editor of the Irish Sun.

Humphrey Evans
Humphrey Evans has been editor and commissioning editor for a range of publications. He freelances for several magazines and newspapers, both as a writer and sub-editor.

Frank Nelson
Frank Nelson is a freelance trainer specialising in all aspects of DTP and the Internet. He has worked as editorial systems manager for Readers Digest and Haymarket, among others.

Adrian MacLeod
Adrian MacLeod develops content-based websites for a number of commercial clients, as well as training new and existing journalists. He also writes for technical and business publications and websites, and is an expert in media law and ethics.