![\"BBC](\"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/BBC-London.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\nThe corporation said the move was to address an ‘under-representation of people from ethnic minority backgrounds in script editing roles’.<\/span><\/p>\n But one unsuccessful applicant accused them of flouting their own anti-discrimination rules by not granting him an interview based on his white ethnicity.<\/span><\/p>\n The 26-year-old, a media graduate, said: ‘It’s racial discrimination to disregard someone based on them being any race.<\/span><\/p>\n ‘It’s just wrong and as far as I know it is illegal. Coming from the BBC, it’s amazing<\/span><\/p>\n ‘If you applied for a position and got a reply saying it was only open to white applicants you would quite rightly not be happy.\u00a0This is exactly the same.’<\/span><\/p>\n The applicant, who chose to remain anonymous, added: ‘Opportunities like this hardly ever come up.<\/span><\/p>\n ‘Of course there was no guarantee I would have got the job, but to be told I wasn’t even allowed to apply because of the colour of my skin was appalling. I thought that became illegal years ago.<\/span><\/p>\n ‘Diversity is incredibly important and I am wholly against any form of discrimination – which is why I don’t understand why the BBC think they can get away with this.<\/span><\/p>\n ‘The colour of someone’s skin shouldn’t even be questioned when applying for a role.’<\/span><\/p>\n The advert was for two full-time drama assistant script editors for the trainee scheme, with an annual ‘allowance’ of up to \u00a325,205.<\/span><\/p>\n One role was based in London, working six months on Holby City, and six months in a development position.<\/span><\/p>\n The other was based in Cardiff or Glasgow, and the candidate would split their time between development and production.<\/span><\/p>\n It was listed on the BBC website’s job section and said BBC Drama believed ‘content should accurately reflect and be enjoyed by as many people as possible’.<\/span><\/p>\n The job description added that the two posts were ‘exciting training and development opportunities for those from black, Asian and other ethnic minorities’.<\/span><\/p>\n But it didn’t explicitly ban other people applying and added recruiters were looking for candidates ‘passionate about getting into Drama script writing’.<\/span><\/p>\n When applicants applied for the role they received a generic email from an internal BBC recruiter explaining the ban on white candidates.<\/span><\/p>\n It said: ‘The positions are only open to those from black, Asian and other ethnic minority backgrounds who are passionate about getting into Drama script editing.’<\/span><\/p>\n Figures reported this year show that 13.4 per cent of the BBC’s workforce are from Black, Asian and other ethnic minorities.<\/span><\/p>\n That is more than the 13.1 per cent figure nationally from the 2011 Census which showed the proportion of the UK population from Black, Asian and other ethnic minorities.<\/span><\/p>\n The BBC said the scheme was a training opportunity, and allowed under the Equality Act, and claimed the advert made it clear it was for BAME candidates.<\/span><\/p>\n A spokesperson said: ‘This is a training and development programme designed as a positive action scheme to address an identified under-representation of people from ethnic minority backgrounds in script editing roles at the BBC.’<\/span><\/p>\n