Clearing 2024 - Amy Sutton transcript

00:00

Hello I'm Amy. I studied multimedia journalism at Solent and I work for ITV News, and I went through clearing to join Solent. So my journey to clearing was a bit unexpected to be honest. I just didn't get the grades that I needed for my course and I'd been really poorly so I'd missed one or two of my A-level exams, so although I had the coursework it just still missed the mark. I'd been down to Solent and visited for an open day - it was one of the many universities that I'd visited and I'd also had an interview at Solent for my course so I had my heart absolutely set on going there. So my first and only option after opening my results was to get on to clearing and try to make it happen. During the clearing process the staff were so kind and encouraging; and actually it's quite daunting to make that call, I remember that, and if you think about it it's a frantic day for them as well, but I just made sure that I didn't hang up from that call without asking all the questions I needed to and check a thousand times that I'd got all the right information that I needed. But I recall it being quite quick and it certainly brightened up what was really, at first, a really stressful day. So my advice would be to just have patience. Have a clear vision of what you want but, you know, to be open to discuss new possibilities. It's really cliched to say "don't panic" because why, like, it's your future! But also don't be too afraid, embarrassed, or worried when going through clearing because, like, in my case, it turned out the exact way I wanted it to all along. I got the place on the original course that I wanted. So at ITV I'm blessed to have worked in several different roles - producing, reporting and presenting. We do everything from finding stories, to going out and actually doing the interviews, editing the footage, creating graphics, and doing voiceovers and then updating to the ITV News website. And as a bulletin producer, we also choose the news that you watch, so that's a huge privilege, you know, despite the pressures that come with that. I've been able to tell the stories of people who are underrepresented and mistreated, those celebrating or grieving, plus recently I've been a trusted presenter to actually deliver the news that our team works so hard to gather so that's a blessing, especially so early on in my career. So my course was as realistic as you can get, I think. The lecturers worked in the industry so they just really got it. We had the same newsroom format facilities and edit systems as the television jobs that I went into, and some still use now. The range of topics were covered from print journalism, digital, to TV, and radio. It meant that I had a wider knowledge of going into the industry, knowing what I did and didn't want to do, which is as equally important. I still keep in touch with some of my lecturers all these years later and I've really thanked them for their brutal honesty and advice at times so that, you know, the encouragement, it just pushes even when I was feeling uncertain. I can't imagine having been anywhere else really.

Solent alumna, Amy Sutton is stood talking to camera in front of a large video wall in ITV studios.

02:53

Solent's brand graphic. A red wave made of multiple thin strips appears from left of screen, rippling across left to right, before curving back across the camera and filling the screen with red. The red shrinks down to the Solent logo in centre screen: a red circle with white text reading Solent University, Southampton.