BBC and NFTS target diverse scholarships in three-year training deal

The BBC and the National Film and Television School have secured a three-year training deal that includes scholarships for up to 20 diverse students.
Straddling BBC Television commissioning, Children’s, Sport, BBC Studios, BBC Film, BBC Academy, BBC Scotland and BBC Wales, the deal will support emerging national and regional tent at NFTS' Glasgow and Leeds hubs. The NFTS will provide 60 free short course training opportunities for the BBC’s small indie fund companies, two-thirds of which are based outside London.
The BBC will now sponsor 10 NFTS courses – six MAs and four diploma courses including a diploma in writing and producing comedy and MAs in directing documentary and entertainment. Up to 20 BBC scholars will be funded by the BBC, each with a commissioning or production mentor, on top of 100 free NFTS Short Courses places. 
Senior BBC commissioning and production execs will provide masterclasses and join networking events and will have first-look options with students on some coursesThe BBC will provide career guidance and work experience placements and link students to a range of other BBC opportunities as required.
BBC chief content officer Charlotte Moore said the partnership "raises the bar" on training partnerships.
"Strengthening our creative input to build stronger links with new and diverse talent at the start of their careers is vital," she said.
"For the NFTS to play a more active role in addressing skills gaps and inform our out of London requirements couldn’t come at a more important time by providing a direct link between new talent and our editorial teams.”