The three Sun Apprentices started their first day in the office today (Friday) after an intensive few weeks of training with News Associates.

Joe Archer, Oscar Paul and Jordan Davies are the successful candidates for The Sun’s 12-month apprentice programme that will include a full-time, fast track multimedia journalism NCTJ diploma.

The apprentices will have six months training while doing one day a week at The Sun before going full time at the title.

Oscar and Jordan will work on the Sport desk with Joe on News.

So far in their News Associates training, the recruits have been tackling topics including journalism law, public affairs, general reporting and shorthand.

The Sun TV reporter, Lucy Jones was part of the scheme last year. Since joining The Sun she has quizzed Prince Harry, spent the night in a haunted hotel with TV presenter Christine Lampard, and interviewed celebs such as actor Tom Hiddleston and 1D’s Louis Tomlinson.

She says: “Working on The Sun is a dream job. There’s nowhere like it.”

New recruit, Jordan Davies said: “Being a Sun apprentice is pretty much the best I could have hoped for when starting out in journalism. Working for the biggest newspaper in the country is an absolute honour and one which I intend to take full advantage of from the get-go. So far, on my course, I’ve travelled to the likes of Leicester, Peterborough and Barnet to cover rugby and football, learning some valuable skills in match reporting, as well as post match interviews and press conferences.

“Over the course of the apprenticeship I’m most looking forward to learning from the best in the business and soaking up everything they have to offer to become a better journalist.”

Oscar Paul said: “So far it has been an intense crash course into what it takes to be a top journalist. I’ve been to men and women’s football matches, interviewed a Championship footballer, attended a cricket press-conference in Worcester and a gymnastics competition in Stoke- all in the first three weeks, which has been heavily classroom based.

“Being a Sun Apprentice has given me an opportunity, which I otherwise may not have got, to fulfill a dream of becoming a sports journalist. To turn a hobby into a profession is what everyone wants, and while it will be a huge challenge and take a lot of hard work to achieve it, this Apprenticeship has given me that opportunity.”

Joe Archer said: “I feel so fortunate to now be working in the best industry in the world for Britain’s best-selling newspaper. Brilliant programmes such as the News Academy and The Sun’s Apprenticeship scheme show how accessible the industry is.”

The Sun Apprentices were recruited by the News Academy before the final three were selected by The Sun. Jordan and Joe both attended the News Academy’s 2016 summer school, which is being revamped this year as the Digital Academy summer school, with journalism, designer and developer applications being accepted here.