Basic 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 Basic 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 Basic 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 Basic Editing for the broader grounding in publishing skills.

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

There are no specific entry requirements for the course, 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 40 hours of study to complete Basic Editing. The estimated time including post, administration and marking is 7 to 9 months. If you do not finish the course within a year, you will be offered the opportunity to study for a further 12 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.

If you have chosen the online version of the course, you will need access to a computer with an internet connection in order to access the course materials. If you are signing up for the printed version, you will not need a computer to do the course. A scanner would, however, be very useful so that you can scan your assignments before posting them to us for marking.

In addition to a computer with internet access, a copy of MS Word 2007 (or later) or MS Word 2008 for Mac (or later) is required for the online version of this 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.

Basic Editing is a vocational course and as such we have set a relatively high pass mark of 65%. This mark reflects the high expectations publishers have of their staff and freelancers.

Pass – you have an aptitude for editing but need further practice before applying for paid work.

Merit – you show an aptitude for editing and could apply for paid work.

Distinction – you have reached a high standard and should feel confident about applying for paid work.

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 you should note that we use the British Standards Institution proofreading and editing symbols, which are not used by American publishing houses. There are also grammatical and spelling differences which you will come across if you are an American student.

You can enrol at any time of year.