BBC Local Apprentices: Routes into radio

Starting your career at a radio station local to you is a journey a number of successful broadcasters have taken, as BBC Radio 1’s Huw Stephens, Radio 1Xtra’s Twin B and Yasmin and Asian Network’s Noreen Khan explain.

Huw Stephens, BBC Radio 1

I got into radio through hospital radio at quite an early age: I was 15 years old and I had my own show. I was 17 and doing my A-Levels when the BBC gave me the chance to present on BBC Radio 1, and slowly but surely over the years I have carried on doing it.

I never went to university and I got no official qualifications after my A-Levels, but I think just from doing it - getting in valuable experience and learning about how radio works - I’ve learnt on the job. It’s been the best opportunity ever.

I think this apprenticeship scheme is an invaluable opportunity to get that experience because more often than not it’s about ideas, it’s about creativity and it’s about passion and enthusiasm.

I also like that the BBC Local Apprenticeship scheme is not all about the presenters, it’s about really important people – the producers and the people who come up with ideas and the people who put those ideas on air. There’s a wealth of opportunities on offer behind the scenes.

Noreen Khan, BBC Asian Network

My advice would be: don’t hold back if you’re interested in this kind of career. Even if you don’t have any qualifications or are thinking “I don’t have A-Levels, I didn’t go to university”, it doesn’t matter. This is for everyone.

I am talking from experience here because I didn’t go to university and I didn’t have any major media experience. I started off in hospital radio because I had a real passion for music and I thought I would love to have my own show.

I later applied to a radio station in London and wasn’t sure if I would get in, but I did because they saw I had a genuine passion for radio. The fact I didn’t have any qualifications didn’t put them off.

Yasmin Evans and Twin B, BBC Radio 1Xtra

Yasmin:

I first got into radio by volunteering at a community radio station in Manchester because I loved music. I didn’t want to be a presenter, because I didn’t like listening back to the sound of my voice. I just wanted to play music. Then I started to get a bit more into it, networking and speaking to producers.

This scheme is a great opportunity to step your foot in the door and say: “I was made for this, I thought about doing it and it feels right”.

If you have the slightest thought telling you “it might be something that I want”, just do it. You can always learn from it, even if it doesn’t go lead on to what you have in your mind straight away.

Twin B:

I have always been obsessed with music and knowing the who, what, when, where and why of my local scene.

A lot of people I had grown up with were starting careers as artists and DJs, and I found this fascinating. It got me stumbling into local radio stations and doing guest shows, sneaking out of my house at 1am to do the only slots that were available.

If this scheme was around when I was trying to get into radio I would have jumped at the opportunity in a second. There are so many careers that exist in the world of radio and sometimes you just need to step in and give the opportunity a go.