Copy Editing - FAQs

Without any previous publishing experience, we recommend that you start with Basic Proofreading by Distance Learning. Once you have successfully completed that, and have gained professional work experience as a proofreader, you will be ready to go on to Copy-Editing by Distance Learning. If you are already working in publishing or have had proofreading experience (either as a freelancer or in-house), and you now want to broaden or refresh your skills Copy-Editing is the course for you.

Or you may have valuable specialist subject knowledge that you want to exploit as an editor (eg medical or legal); if so, you can choose to go directly to Copy-Editing for the broader grounding in publishing skills.

• editorial staff in publishing houses
• freelance proofreaders interested in editing.

No specific qualifications are required, but you should have an understanding of the publishing process and / or proofreading experience. You will also need:

• an eye for detail
• the ability to concentrate
• a good command of English grammar, spelling and punctuation
• good general knowledge and an enquiring mind.

You will need to spend at least 70 hours of study to complete Copy-Editing. The estimated time including post, administration and marking is 7 to 9 months. If you do not finish the course within 18 months, you will be offered the opportunity to study for a further 18 months following payment of a re-registration fee. Any extensions beyond this are at the discretion of The Publishing Training Centre.

No. If you already work in publishing, the courses supplement and consolidate in-company training or work experience. Companies who have registered their staff include: AA Publishing, BMJ Books, Blackwell Publishers, Blackstaff Press, Cambridge University Press, Churchill Livingstone, Haynes Publishing, Heinemann Educational Books, Larousse, Macmillan Publishers Ltd, Royal Society of Medicine, Scholastic Ltd, Times Mirror International.

A computer is not necessary, as all the course materials you need are paper based. However, if you have Internet access you will be able to take full advantage of the additional online training and support we now offer. You can access the pre-course material now, free of charge, but as a student on Copy-Editing you will be entitled to much more. Follow this link to Online Training for full details. It is still perfectly possible to complete the course without accessing the online material - when the online element was added, nothing was taken away from the paper based course.

An editing course cannot guarantee immediate freelance or in-house work. However, on successful completion of the course we are confident that publishers will view your applications for work more seriously. It can take time to become established, however, and our experience shows that you will need 18 to 24 months' work experience in editing to become reasonably competent.

Since the demise of the publishing NVQs, there is no generally accepted formal qualification in copy-editing. If you complete this course successfully you will be awarded a graded certificate. We have been training publishing professionals for the past 30 years and we are the organisation appointed by the publishing industry to represent its views on skills and training to government, which means that your certificate of achievement should be widely recognised throughout the publishing industry.

Yes. We have had students from all over the world. The skills you will gain from the course can be applied in any English speaking country. However, if you will be working on American English text this course is not recommended. If you're based overseas there is an extra £35 charge to cover additional postage.

You can enrol at any time of year.

Copy-Editing is a vocational course and as such we have set a relatively high pass mark of 60%. This mark reflects the high expectations publishers have of their staff and freelancers.