As I approached the News UK building at the beginning of the Summer School week along with my fellow young journalists, I was unsure what to expect from the organisation that published some of the most popular titles across the country.

It only took the 20-strong group an instant to warm to each other – as we all had the same vision of creating a tabloid newspaper for young people.

The hard work began instantly. On the following morning after my arrival, I headed off to HM Treasury to interview the Financial Secretary to the Treasury, David Gauke MP, on what the Budget delivered for young people.

It was a surreal experience to be sat in his office (along with what seemed to be his whole Press team there) discussing the different policies the Government wanted to deliver – with particular reference to corporation tax, “higher wages, lower taxes” and maintenance grant changes. The interview was a great scoop for our paper, The Edge, and gave me a really strong insight into the heartbeat of the Government.

However, I still had a long way to go until our paper was finished. We were honoured to be joined throughout the week by great guest speakers such as Guto Harri and Eleanor Mills, offering great advice and tips. I particularly enjoyed the broadcast journalism item with TV presenter and The Sun’s Jamie East, where I marvelled the opportunity of being on the TV cameras (to the huge surprise of my colleagues).

As the week progressed, so did the pressure of completing the newspaper. I had been working with David Wooding; Political Editor of the Sun on Sunday, to secure an interview in what seemed a deserted Houses of Parliament. On the Thursday morning, we managed to speak to a former Minister in the last Labour Government, John Spellar MP, as well as bumping into veteran MP Dennis Skinner.

The climax of the day was speaking to Wales’ national Welsh-language television channel, S4C, about my experience at the News Academy. It was one the easiest interviews I had ever done, as I had plenty to talk about, and had been well trained in the broadcast journalism session the previous day.

Our final day consisted of an outing to Broxbourne News Printers to see thousands of copies of The Edge being produced. It was a sobering moment for the entire group to see the accumulation of our hard work rolling off the presses.

The News Academy Summer School has allowed me to learn the many different aspects of journalism, and reinstated News UK’s commitment to investing in the future of journalism.

You can watch Theo’s full interview with S4C here at 13:20, subtitles are available.

Read more about The News Academy here.