What Live Coverage Workshops Cost and What Moves the Price

Why a price question comes first

Most enquiries about Live Coverage Strategy begin with a sensible question: what will this cost me? I am Tom Ashworth, the student coordinator, and I answer that question several times a week by phone and through the contact form. Reporters paying out of their own pocket want a figure they can plan around. Editors booking a place for a colleague want to know what the invoice will say. This article sets out how the fee is built, so you can estimate it before you write to us.

The workshops cover planning live crosses, working with a crew, and handling breaking-news changes on location. They are taught by Daniel Pryce, our senior camera tutor, in small classroom sessions with practical exercises. Because the groups are small, the price follows the amount of tutor time, the length of the programme and the way it is arranged, not a fixed figure per head for every case. The exact amount always comes to you in writing on the quotation, and the prices page lists the current fees.

What the fee includes

The fee covers the tutor's teaching time, the classroom, the planning materials we hand out, and the practical exercises where you rehearse a live cross from start to finish. You are not paying extra for the paper checklists or the running orders we use in class; they come with the place. Where a session uses our camera kit for the rehearsal, that use is part of the course, so you do not need to bring your own equipment unless you want to practise with it.

Access to the study library is part of the arrangement too. Students on the programme can borrow from the reading lists on broadcast journalism and live reporting at their own pace, and I help choose what suits your level. A written confirmation follows your enquiry, listing what the fee covers for your dates and group, so nothing is left to assumption on the day you arrive. If something is not in that confirmation, it is not included.

• Tutor teaching time for every session
• Classroom use and printed planning materials
• Practical live-cross rehearsals with our kit
• Library access to the reading lists
• Written confirmation of what is covered

What drives the price up or down

Three things move the figure more than anything else. The first is length: a single workshop day costs less than a programme spread over several weeks, simply because there is less tutor time involved. The second is group size. A place in a shared class is priced differently from a session arranged for a whole crew, where Daniel builds the exercises around your own way of working and the kind of stories you cover.

The third is how much of the work happens on location. Classroom sessions are the simplest to arrange. If you want the rehearsal run outdoors, with a crew moving between positions and a mock breaking-news change thrown in halfway, it needs more preparation and more of the tutor's day. None of this is hidden: it is discussed before anything is confirmed, and the quotation shows each element as a line, so you can see where a saving could be made.

• Length of the workshop or programme
• Shared class or a session for a single crew
• Classroom only or part of it on location
• Extra tutor preparation for tailored exercises

What the fee does not cover

It helps to be clear about the edges. Travel to Taunton, accommodation and meals are your own responsibility, and we do not add them to the invoice. If you are coming from some distance, check the timetable with me first so you can plan the journey sensibly around the session times, which I can confirm in writing.

Equipment you wish to hire for your own use outside the course, or any broadcast licensing and permissions for filming in public places beyond what is needed for a rehearsal, are also outside the fee. We do not offer a guaranteed outcome either, such as a job or a promotion; what you are paying for is teaching, practice and feedback from tutors who have done this work. If a particular item matters to your decision, ask and I will tell you plainly whether it is in or out.

How ordering and payment work

Nothing is bought through the website itself. You send an enquiry through the contact page, telling me who the workshop is for, roughly when you would like it and whether it is one person or a crew. I reply with questions if anything is unclear, and then you receive a written quotation or confirmation setting out the dates, the content and the fee in pounds sterling.

Once you agree, we send an invoice, and payment is made by bank transfer. There is no card payment and no instant booking, which gives both sides time to check the details. If your plans change, cancellations and refunds follow our payment and refund policy, which is written in plain terms and linked from the site. I would rather you read it before you commit than find out afterwards, so please do ask me about any line you are unsure of.

Getting the most from the money

Before you write, decide what you actually need to improve. A reporter who mainly struggles with last-minute script changes needs different exercises from a crew that wants to tidy up how it hands over between presenter and operator. Telling me this at the start means Daniel can focus the time where it counts, and you avoid paying for material you already handle well.

If budget is tight, ask about a shared class or a shorter format first, then add practice later once you have seen how the sessions suit you. Bring a recent live piece, even a rough one, so the tutor can see your starting point. And arrive having read the short material I send ahead; it saves classroom time and makes the fee go further, which is the practical way to treat any training cost.

• Say which part of live work you want to improve
• Consider a shared class or shorter format first
• Bring a recent live piece for review
• Read the pre-session material before you arrive