Becoming A Proofreader
- Guaranteed work with our partner, Proofed
- Your path from beginner to confident trained professional
- Invest in yourself and start a flexible, fulfilling new career
- One-on-one support from friendly, expert tutors
- Join hundreds of happy learners living a new lifestyle of freedom and flexibility
Buy now, pay later with
What Our Students Are Saying
About The Course
Do you obsess over grammar and love perfect punctuation? If so, Becoming A Proofreader is the perfect way to refine your skills, invest in yourself, and start a fulfilling new career. Now’s the time to take the leap, gain experience, and start your journey towards rewarding work that’s flexible to fit your lifestyle.
Guaranteed Work
Uniquely, we don’t just teach you the skills you need to proofread – we give you the chance to jump-start your new career with our partner company, Proofed.
Learners who pass Becoming A Proofreader with distinction (80% or over) gain the opportunity to work with Proofed on a trial basis. Once you’ve successfully completed 20 documents and passed the trial, you can begin working with Proofed as a full-fledged freelance proofreader. This means you don’t have to spend weeks searching for your first client and can begin earning in your new career as soon as possible!
What’s Included?
Becoming A Proofreader is an expertly devised and a fully assessed comprehensive 13-module course. It guides you step by step as you build your skills through practical tasks. Learn about common mistakes, working to style guides, and the nuances of proofreading all types of writing – from creative to business and academic.
On Demand webinars and one-on-one feedback from our friendly tutors help you emerge ready to take on professional assignments. Learners who pass with distinction (over 80%) gain the opportunity to work with Proofed, our partner company.
By completing Becoming A Proofreader, you’ll gain:
- Professional proofreading skills
- Confidence in finding common spelling, grammar, and punctuation mistakes
- The ability to proofread according to style guides
- Insight into working with clients and authors
- An understanding of working as a freelance proofreader
Save 15% with the Proofreader & Editor Course Bundle.
Give your new freelance career a boost by purchasing the Proofreader & Editor Course Bundle.
Buy now, pay later with
Curriculum
Module 1: An Introduction To Becoming A Proofreader
Know what to expect from our Becoming A Proofreader course and get situated before delving into the details of what it means to be a proofreader.Module 2: Proofreading And Editing
Find out why editing and proofreading have traditionally been treated as separate tasks in print publishing, as well as how they often merge in digital work. Get to grips with the ethical issues you might encounter while proofreading. And meet the different client types you might work with once you start your career as a professional proofreader!Module 3: The Basics Of Microsoft Word
If you’re a bit rusty on computing, this module will oil you up! Take a tour through all the tools in Microsoft Word you’ll need to get started with proofreading. If you are a technophobe, worry no more! Our back-to-basics course covers tracking changes, changing the proofing language, setting your user name in Microsoft Word, and more.Module 4: Common Spelling Mistakes
Finally, you can nail the difference between ‘there’, ‘they’re’, and ‘their’, and much more. Get to grips with British, US, and Australian spelling, clear up the rules about irregular plurals, and impress friends with your knowledge of closed, open, and hyphenated compounds!Module 5: Common Grammar Mistakes
Perfect your prepositions, parenthetical clauses, and parallelism! Fix fragments and faulty agreement! And free yourself from dangling and misplaced modifiers forevermore! Grind down the grammatical gremlins of UK, US, and Australian English, and bust some well-worn myths as you boldly go where no non-proofreader has gone before!Module 6: Common Punctuation Mistakes
Queries about question marks? Extremely excited about exclamation points?!! Do you, put, too, many commas, in your sentences? We’ll iron all that out. If you’re the type who goes shopping with a paintbrush to correct grocer’s apostrophes, you’ll be right at home here.Module 7: Other Common Errors
Take our guided tour through everything else you need to know about the nitty-gritty of language, including Latin terms, abbreviations, acronyms and initialisms, number use, and capitalisation. Find out where most people trip up and separate your ‘i.e.’s from your ‘e.g.’s for good!Module 8: Proofreading In Practice: Style
What’s the difference between a style guide, a style sheet, and a referencing style? Worry no more, we’ve got you covered in our style module. We’ll also talk you through written tone, technical jargon, avoiding offensive language, and how to turn clunky confusion into elegant flow.Module 9: Academic Proofreading
We’ll take you back to school with an in-depth look at proofreading academic documents, ranging from undergraduate essays to journal articles and PhD theses. We’ll show you how to work with LaTeX (no, it’s nothing kinky), how to make sure quotes are used properly, when the active and passive voices are appropriate in academic writing, and much more.Module 10: Academic Proofreading: Referencing And Citations
Does Harvard hurt your head? Does APA make your eyes ache? Are you shy about Chicago? And what does ALWD even mean? We’ll soothe all your referencing woes with our extended guide to some of the major citation styles, as well as some not-so-well-known ones.Module 11: Creative Writing And The Publishing Industry
Learn how to work with authors and publishers as we guide you through how to proofread creative writing. This module looks at both fiction and non-fiction, as well as non-standard English, authorial voice, and proofreading dialogue. After completing the lessons, you will be primed to proofread a range of different writing styles and document types common in the publishing world, including book manuscripts, screenplays, and PDF page proofs.Module 12: Proofreading Business Writing
Here, we teach you how to proofread for different business clients. We take you through working with brand voices and understanding how grammatical point of view works in different types of business writing. After completing this module, you will know how to proofread many document types and formats common to business writing, including formal reports, website copy, Excel spreadsheets, PowerPoint presentations, and Google Docs.Module 13: Finding Work And The Final Assignment
Drum roll, please! It’s time to show off what you have learned! In this final part of the course, you'll learn about how to find work as a freelance proofreader. We'll guide you through top revision areas and provide you with a practice mock assignment. Then you’ll take two proofreading tests on which you’ll receive detailed tutor feedback. If you score 80% or above, you will be offered the opportunity to undertake a trial as a freelance proofreader with Proofed.
FAQs
Do I need to have a degree or any other qualifications to take this course?
No qualifications or previous experience are needed – we teach you everything you need to know to work as a professional proofreader.
What equipment will I need?
You’ll need a laptop or desktop computer, a full version of Microsoft Word, and an internet connection to complete the course successfully.
You can use Microsoft Word 2016, 2019, 2021, or 365, but not free or partial versions of the program (for example Microsoft Office Online or Open Office). As smartphones, tablets, and Chromebooks don’t support the full version of Microsoft Word, you wouldn’t be able to complete the course, or professional proofreading assignments, using them. Clients will require you to have the right professional tools for the job and Becoming A Proofreader ensures you can use these tools with confidence.
How soon can I start work as a proofreader after getting my distinction?
If you score 80% or higher (distinction) in your Becoming A Proofreader final assessment, you’ll have the opportunity to work with our partner company, Proofed, on a trial basis. Within around two weeks of receiving your results, we’ll send you the information you need to start your trial period. After that, you’ll be guided through your first assignments on your way to becoming a professional proofreader. You should note that Proofed is a US company, so payments to its freelance team must comply with US tax law. That means you can only work with Proofed if your country of residence has what’s known as a ‘dual-tax treaty’ with the US. You can check the Internal Revenue Service’s list of countries to find out if you qualify. For more details about the trial period with Proofed, visit our Guaranteed Work page.
How much work will I get?
As you get started, the Proofed team will support you with your initial assignments. These will be short documents that let you test your skills and build your confidence. Over time – as you gain experience, build speed, and receive positive feedback – the volume of work can increase. You can build up to working on longer and more complex documents, and you can get regular work with some of Proofed’s business clients.
There’s no fixed amount of work you’ll receive – that will depend on your availability and interests, as well as on your skill level and the opportunities Proofed has at any given time. Head over to our Guaranteed Work page for more details on working with Proofed.
Who can I work for?
As a successful Knowadays Learner of Becoming A Proofreader, you’ll be set to take on professional proofreading assignments. That might mean working independently as a freelancer and building a portfolio of clients. Or you could be permanently employed by one business. With your Knowadays qualification, you have the flexibility to choose which approach suits you.
Is there a time limit on how long I have to complete the course?
When you sign up for a Knowadays course, you gain access for life. Users who are inactive for more than 90 days may have access to their account suspended. If this happens, just get in touch and we’ll reactivate your account immediately. Where course content is updated after purchase, you’ll receive these updates free of charge.
Does it matter where I’m based?
As long as you have a PC, Mac, or laptop with the latest version of Microsoft Word and an internet connection, you can take the course and proofread anywhere. If you pass your course with a distinction of 80% or over and want to pursue our guaranteed work offer with Proofed, where you’re based will matter. You’ll need to reside in a country that has a dual-tax treaty with the US and is on the Internal Revenue Service’s list. This is important, as Proofed is US-based and must comply with US tax laws when working with freelancers.
Will I need to buy extra resources to do the course?
Aside from a laptop or desktop computer, access to an internet connection, and Microsoft Word 2016 or later, you won’t need to buy extra resources to complete the course. We provide all course materials, including real-world sample documents for you to download and practice proofreading.
What language is the course in?
We offer our Becoming A Proofreader and Becoming An Editor courses in UK and US English. You will have the option to select your course language after purchase.
Don’t worry, Becoming A Proofreader still covers all the essential regional spelling, punctuation and grammar differences you need to proofread in American, British and Australian English. If you would like us to add the UK version of the course to your account, let us know by emailing us at hello@knowadays.com.
Questions?
We’ve got answers! Email us at hello@knowadays.com or click here to make an appointment to have a chat. Our friendly team is always happy to help!
