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Centre for Investigative Journalism — Training, Fees and Bursary Explained

The Centre for Investigative Journalism is a UK registered charity, number 1118602, that trains journalists, researchers and editors in investigative technique. It runs scheduled short courses, bespoke in-house training, an annual summer conference and a training bursary, and publishes free handbooks.

This page sets out what the CIJ actually offers a working journalist, what it charges, who qualifies for the reduced rates, and how it is registered — drawn from the CIJ's own website and the Charity Commission register.

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See CIJ scheduled training →Cost and eligibilityFAQs

What the Centre for Investigative Journalism Is

The Centre for Investigative Journalism, usually shortened to the CIJ, is a training organisation for investigative reporting. It is a registered charity in England and Wales, number 1118602, held on the Charity Commission register under the name Centre for Investigative Journalism Limited. The same number appears on the CIJ's own site, which states: “UK Registered charity number 1118602.”

On its own account, the CIJ “was founded in 2003 by the late investigative journalist and filmmaker Gavin MacFadyen and others as a response to the worrying decline in investigative reporting”, and it describes itself as “an independent UK registered charity based in London”. It states its purpose as follows: “We train and connect journalists, researchers and editors in the UK and around the world to investigate and collaborate on projects that support quality public-interest reporting and accountability.”

Its contact address is at Goldsmiths, University of London — Department of Media, Communications and Cultural Studies, 8 Lewisham Way, London SE14 6NW — with general enquiries handled at info@tcij.org.

What the CIJ Runs

The CIJ's output falls into four groups: paid courses you book individually, training commissioned by an organisation, a funded bursary route for people who cannot pay, and free published material.

Scheduled short courses

Regular online and in-person courses on subjects including FOI, OSINT, financial investigations, web scraping, data and audio. Booked individually, priced on a sliding scale.

Bespoke in-house training

The CIJ says it "continuously update[s] the curriculum of our scheduled training courses and offer[s] bespoke training tailored to the needs of your organisation/group", alongside screenings and talks.

#CIJSummer and other conferences

A two-day annual training conference at Goldsmiths, University of London, described as running for over two decades, plus the Logan Symposium and regional conferences.

Free handbooks and initiatives

A handbook series published as free downloads, plus thematic initiatives on climate reporting, source protection and community journalism, and the Lyra McKee training bursary.

What a Working Journalist Can Get From It

The CIJ says its courses are “open to all”, and the audience it names covers journalists, researchers, editors, students, campaigners and NGO researchers in the UK and internationally. In practice there are four distinct routes in, and which one applies to you depends mostly on who is paying.

  • ›
    Book a scheduled course yourself

    Short courses run through the year on FOI, OSINT, financial investigations, web scraping, data, audio and climate reporting. The CIJ states: "These courses are open to all, but we charge booking fees on a sliding scale to ensure that larger newsrooms subsidise places for freelancers and small organisations."

  • ›
    Attend the annual training conference

    The CIJ describes #CIJSummer as "an annual training conference for editors, journalists, researchers, activists and students" that "has been taking place for over two decades". In 2026 it runs over 25 and 26 June at Goldsmiths, University of London, in English, and past sessions are posted on the CIJ YouTube channel.

  • ›
    Apply for the Lyra McKee bursary

    A route for aspiring or very-early-career journalists from underprivileged backgrounds who cannot pay: the scheme covers CIJ training, six months of mentoring and a "Pitch to the Editors Day" with working UK and Irish editors.

  • ›
    Read the free handbooks and take a workshop

    The handbook series is free to download and includes The Investigative Journalist’s Guide to Company Accounts, The Hidden Scenario and The Story Tells the Facts. Access to Tools is a separate strand: a two-hour hands-on workshop taken into regional newsrooms, communities and universities in partnership with the Google News Initiative.

Cost and Eligibility

CIJ fees are set per course, not across the catalogue, and each course page carries its own tiers. The rationale the CIJ gives is consistent across pages: “In line with our non-profit mission, our pricing operates on a sliding scale, ensuring large organisations pay more to subsidise places for smaller newsrooms, freelancers and students.”

The tiers below are the ones published on a single course page — Financial Investigations, 22 to 24 September 2026. They show how the scale is structured. They are not a general CIJ rate card, and you should read the fee off the page for the course you want rather than budgeting from this list.

Goldsmiths students (full time)£97
Students (full time)£127
Freelancers£247
Small media, education or non-profit organisations (fewer than 10 staff)£306
Large media, education or non-profit organisations (10+ staff)£405
Other organisations£732

The freelancer rate is wider than it looks. The course page states that “employed individuals who cannot have their employers pay for the course are entitled to the freelancer rate”. So a staff reporter funding their own training books at the freelancer tier, not the organisational one. The tiers are self-declared and rely on honesty.

Student places are limited and checked. Student places are capped in number and student ID is verified ahead of the course, so the two student tiers are not simply the cheapest option available to anyone. The same course page set out a strict no-refund, no-transfer policy — worth knowing before you book around uncertain shifts.

Not every price is published. We did not find a published fee for the #CIJSummer conference on any CIJ page we checked, and the application window and number of places for the current Lyra McKee bursary cycle were not stated either. Check both directly with the CIJ rather than assuming they follow the short-course pattern.

The Lyra McKee Journalism Training Bursary

The bursary is the CIJ's main free-to-access route. The CIJ states its aim directly: “The aim of this bursary scheme is to train people from underprivileged backgrounds, who aspire to become journalists or who are journalists at the very early stages of their career.” It combines CIJ training with a mentoring programme running for six months and a “Pitch to the Editors Day” at which trainees pitch to working editors from the UK and Ireland.

Eligibility is narrower than the courses. The scheme “is open to UK and republic of Ireland residents only” and “applicants must be 18 years old”. The CIJ adds that it “especially welcome[s] applications from people of colour, people from poorer backgrounds, people with disabilities, carers, members of the LGBTQ+ community, travellers and anyone who cannot afford to pay for the #CIJSummer training”.

On scale and funding, the CIJ says “nearly 60 people have been trained during the first four years of the scheme”, and names its funders as the Lorana Sullivan UK Foundation, the Lyra McKee family and, in 2025, the Press Council of Ireland.

How the CIJ Is Registered and Governed

The CIJ is on the register of charities for England and Wales as Centre for Investigative Journalism Limited, charity number 1118602. The register records its charitable activity as the “education of the public in the principles and practice of investigative journalism, in particular by the provision of training, educational resources and publications”. That is the formal test its work is measured against, and it is a useful check on what the organisation is for: education, not campaigning and not regulation.

For the financial year ending 30 November 2025, the register records total income of £528,787 and total expenditure of £741,135. Expenditure exceeding income in a single year is not by itself a finding of anything — charities routinely spend down restricted grants received in earlier years — but it is the figure on the public record, and the register is where to look for the filed accounts behind it.

We did not find published staff numbers on any CIJ page we checked, so this page does not state a headcount. The register entry, linked in the primary sources below, is the authoritative place to check trustees and filing history.

Where to Start With the CIJ

Browse the scheduled courses

The course list is the practical entry point. Each course page carries its own dates, format and sliding-scale fee.

Scheduled training→

Commission training for a newsroom

If you are an editor rather than an individual booker, the CIJ offers training tailored to an organisation or group rather than an open course.

Bespoke training→

Apply for the bursary

For aspiring or very-early-career journalists in the UK and the Republic of Ireland who cannot pay for training.

Lyra McKee bursary→

Download the handbooks

Free guides on investigative technique, including company accounts analysis, aimed at journalists, campaigners and NGO researchers.

Handbooks→

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the Centre for Investigative Journalism?
The Centre for Investigative Journalism (CIJ) is a UK registered charity, number 1118602, registered with the Charity Commission for England and Wales under the name Centre for Investigative Journalism Limited. It trains journalists in investigative technique through scheduled short courses, bespoke in-house training, an annual summer training conference and regional events, and it publishes free handbooks. Its own site says it was founded in 2003 by the late investigative journalist and filmmaker Gavin MacFadyen and others, and that it is based at Goldsmiths, University of London. It describes its purpose as training and connecting journalists, researchers and editors in the UK and around the world.
What do CIJ courses cost?
There is no single rate card: fees are set course by course on a sliding scale. On one course page we checked — Financial Investigations, 22 to 24 September 2026 — the published tiers were £97 for full-time Goldsmiths students, £127 for other full-time students, £247 for freelancers, £306 for small media, education or non-profit organisations with fewer than ten staff, £405 for larger organisations with ten or more staff, and £732 for other organisations. Those figures are the tiers on that one course, not a general price list, so check the fee on the page for the course you actually want. The CIJ explains the structure by saying that its pricing "operates on a sliding scale, ensuring large organisations pay more to subsidise places for smaller newsrooms, freelancers and students".
Who qualifies for the freelancer or student rate?
The freelancer rate is not limited to people who are formally self-employed. The course page states that "employed individuals who cannot have their employers pay for the course are entitled to the freelancer rate", so a staff journalist paying out of their own pocket can book at that tier. The system is self-declared and works on honesty. Student places are capped in number and student ID is checked ahead of the course, so the student tiers are not open to everyone. The course page we checked also set out a strict no-refund, no-transfer policy, which matters if your shifts or commissions move around.
What is the Lyra McKee Journalism Training Bursary?
It is an annual bursary scheme whose stated aim is "to train people from underprivileged backgrounds, who aspire to become journalists or who are journalists at the very early stages of their career". Successful applicants get CIJ training, a mentoring programme running for six months, and a "Pitch to the Editors Day" at which they pitch to working editors from the UK and Ireland. The CIJ says nearly 60 people were trained in the first four years of the scheme, and lists its funders as the Lorana Sullivan UK Foundation, the Lyra McKee family and, in 2025, the Press Council of Ireland. Eligibility is geographically limited: it is open to residents of the UK and the Republic of Ireland only, and applicants must be 18. The CIJ says it especially welcomes applications from people of colour, people from poorer backgrounds, people with disabilities, carers, members of the LGBTQ+ community, travellers and anyone who cannot afford to pay for the #CIJSummer training.
What is #CIJSummer?
It is the CIJ annual training conference, which the organisation describes as being "for editors, journalists, researchers, activists and students" and says has been running for over two decades. It takes place over two days at Goldsmiths, University of London — 25 and 26 June in 2026 — is open to all, and is conducted in English. Past sessions are posted on the CIJ YouTube channel. We did not find a published conference fee on any CIJ page we checked, so treat the ticket price as something to confirm on the conference page itself rather than assuming it matches the short-course tiers.
Is anything from the CIJ free to use?
Yes. The CIJ publishes a handbook series as free downloads, described on its site as "a range of guides for investigative journalists, campaigners and NGOs" that "offer an in-depth look at investigative techniques and tools for researchers". Titles in the series include The Investigative Journalist’s Guide to Company Accounts, The Hidden Scenario and The Story Tells the Facts. Separately, the CIJ says it keeps training accessible "by subsidising fees and providing free-to-access initiatives for selected cohorts", of which the Lyra McKee bursary is the clearest example. Its Access to Tools workshops — two-hour hands-on sessions taken into regional newsrooms, communities and universities in partnership with the Google News Initiative — are a further route in.
Does the CIJ regulate the press?
No. The CIJ is a training charity and has no role in adjudicating complaints about published journalism. The Charity Commission records its charitable activity as the "education of the public in the principles and practice of investigative journalism, in particular by the provision of training, educational resources and publications". Press regulation in the UK sits with IPSO and IMPRESS for the press, and with Ofcom for broadcast. If you have a complaint about a published article or a broadcast, those are the bodies to approach, not the CIJ.
Is UK JournoHub affiliated with the Centre for Investigative Journalism?
No. UK JournoHub is independent of and not affiliated with the Centre for Investigative Journalism. We are not paid to feature them, and we receive nothing from them. This page is compiled from the CIJ’s own website and from the Charity Commission register, and it is not a recommendation made on anyone else’s behalf. Where the CIJ’s own account of itself could not be checked against a public register, we say so on the page rather than repeating it as established fact.

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