The GCHQ National Language Competition 2024

This year, the competition takes newspapers as its theme. Entrants are asked to put together the front page of a fictional newspaper in the German-speaking world. The catch: they are writing the final edition of 2024 and must select the most important stories of a year that has not yet finished.

Who knows what the year might bring? How is our understanding of events influenced by the way they are reported? By writing two or three short articles from different categories, participants have complete freedom to imagine how the year might unfold and bring their unique voice and perspective to the reporting. It allows entrants to explore the world of news and German-language media and play with different writing styles.

All winners will be invited to a journalism workshop and prize ceremony in London, with an overnight stay for those coming from outside of London! This will take place in October 2024.

Teaching materials:

We would especially like to draw your attention to the teaching and learning material which we have prepared to accompany the competition this year. A workbook can be found on our website with exercises on topics related to journalism for students at all levels, and which can be used both for classwork and individually. There is also a separate document which compiles background information on the press in Germany, a useful newspaper glossary, German media resources for learners to explore and further teaching materials designed by German organisations explicitly for use in schools!

I am writing to you because I thought you might be especially interested, given your status as an NCLE Hub school. It is very important to us that as many pupils as possible have the chance to take part in the competition, so please feel free to spread among your network, or do let us know if you think there are other schools we should be contacting. If necessary, we would be grateful if you could forward to the relevant department in the school!

How to enter:

You can find all information about the competition including the brief, instructions on how to take part and the teaching and learning material on our website: DAAD/ILCS German Language Competition 2024 - DAAD Branch Office in London.

The closing date for entries to the competition is the 6th of June 2024.