Proofreader | Explore careers | National Careers Service (2024)

You may find it useful to have a degree in:

• English
• publishing
• journalism
• digital media

Entry requirements

You'll usually need:

• 5 GCSEs at grades 9 to 4 (A* to C), or equivalent, including English
• 2 to 3 A levels, or equivalent, for a degree

More Information

• equivalent entry requirements
• student finance for fees and living costs
• university courses and entry requirements

You can apply to do a Publishing Professional Level 4 Higher Apprenticeship to get into this role.

This usually takes around 2 years to complete.

Entry requirements

Employers will set their own entry requirements.

More Information

• guide to apprenticeships

You could start as an editorial assistant then move into proofreading.

If you have a degree or expertise in a particular subject, you could use it to develop a proofreading specialism. For example, if you have a technical or scientific degree you could proofread scientific textbooks or journals.

Volunteering will help you get a better understanding of the job and is a good way to make contacts in the publishing industry.

You could volunteer to:

• proofread documents for family or people you work or study with
• write or proofread for student magazines or publications
• proofread for small businesses
• work on charity publications, websites or social media

Doing professional courses can improve your skills and your chances of finding work. You can find short courses through the Chartered Institute of Editing and Proofreading and The Publishing Training Centre.

Career tips

Experience working in publishing or journalism could help you to find jobs.

There's a lot of competition for work and many publishing companies do not advertise vacancies. Jobs are filled through word of mouth or recommendation.

You could develop a portfolio of paid or unpaid work you've done to show your skills to employers.

Further information

You can find out more about proofreading careers from the Chartered Institute of Editing and Proofreading.

You'll need:

• to be thorough and pay attention to detail
• knowledge of English language
• excellent verbal communication skills
• the ability to use your initiative
• the ability to work well with others
• excellent written communication skills
• persistence and determination
• to be flexible and open to change
• to be able to use a computer and the main software packages competently

You'll read documents to make sure they are ready to be published. You'll check the text to see that it follows the agreed style. You may find and correct:

• spelling mistakes
• inconsistencies in spellings where more than one way to spell the same word is possible
• punctuation errors like full stops, commas and capital letters
• bad word breaks to make sure the text reads easily
• text that is not in the right order (including page numbers)
• errors in chapter titles or headers, for example, those that do not match the list of contents
• confusing words