Are you looking to assume the mantle of those unsung heroes of the publishing world that have come before you and become an eagle-eyed proofreader? Or do you see proofreading as the first step in your editing career? Whatever your reasons, it’s never a bad idea to develop your skill set further by taking a proofreading course. 

In this post, we’ve assembled a list of online courses that’ll show you how to become a proofreader. For quick reference, here’s a breakdown of the courses we’ll be looking at:

Course Name	Provider	Cost	Average Time Commitment	Best for…
Becoming a Proofreader	Knowadays	$499	2 to 4 weeks	Aspiring pros looking for immersion
Essential Proofreading: Editorial Skills One	The Publishing Training Centre	£395 (Around $500)	50 hours	Aspiring pros looking for immersion
Proofreading and Copyediting with The Chicago Manual of Style	Editorial Freelancers Association	$190	Self-paced, around 3 to 6 months	Aspiring pros looking for immersion
Proofreading 1: Introduction	Chartered Institute of Editing and Proofreading	£190 (Around $250)	Self-paced, around 3 to 6 months.	Aspiring pros looking for immersion
Proofreading Power Basics	Udemy	$85.99	1.5 hours	Aspiring pros with a $100 budget
Proofreading and Copyediting 101	Universal Class	From $95	11 hours	Aspiring pros with a $100 budget
Kickstart a Freelance Editor & Proofreader Career on Upwork	Udemy	$94.99	2 hours	Aspiring pros with a $100 budget
Proofreading Basics Certificate Course	New Skills Academy	$25	1 hour	Beginner proofreaders, writers, students
How to Find & Correct Writing Errors	Udemy	$64.99	1 hour	Beginner proofreaders, writers, students
Grammar Fundamentals	Editorial Freelancers Association	$190	Self-paced, around 3 to 6 months	Beginner proofreaders, writers, students

Knowing how to proofread is an important skill for almost everyone in today’s media-saturated world, but if you want to become a professional proofreader or editor (or even a writer), learning how to perform a professional final check on a piece of text to ensure there are no errors could make all the difference to your career.

From in-depth programs to short overview classes available at various price points, there’s bound to be something in this post that’s suited to your needs. 

But before we take a closer look at what these courses offer and who they might benefit, let’s briefly talk about proofreading certificates and whether you need one to get hired.

Can I become a proofreader without a certification?

While you don’t necessarily need a well-known industry qualification to become a proofreader, adding at least one widely recognized proofreading certification to your CV can definitely give you a leg up, especially since the demand for editing services is continuously on the rise.

With more and more people looking to become proofreaders — not to mention AI proofreading software becoming more advanced — a strong CV and unmatchable expertise will help you stand out among your competitors, so if you have time and money to spare, why not invest in yourself and your future?

Professional proofreading

Being a professional freelancer (as most proofreaders are) involves more than just the mastery of proofreading skills — it also means understanding and adapting to the style used by each client, knowing how to market yourself, and managing your finances. Luckily, some courses cover these topics in addition to the hard skills of the trade, taught by experienced proofreaders themselves.

If you’re serious about becoming a professional proofreader, be sure to look out for courses that offer certificates widely acknowledged in the industry. That way, you can verify your own expertise once you’ve “graduated” and set yourself up for a successful proofreading career.

To get more freelance tips and advice from Reedsy professionals, follow us on LinkedIn.

Becoming a Proofreader (Knowadays) 

🎯 Perfect for: Aspiring professionals looking for immersion

💰 Cost: $499. Sign up here.

⏰ Average time commitment: 2 to 4 weeks

Knowadays (previously known as Proofreading Academy) isn’t messing around: their flagship course covers everything from style guides and academic proofreading to getting the most out of Microsoft Word!

While that might seem too basic to many aspiring professionals out there, remember that keeping up to date with the latest features and software could be crucial to your success and efficiency as a freelance proofreader. And in addition to its 78 lessons – which you can complete in 2 to 4 weeks – the course also offers a CPD-accredited certificate upon completion and on-demand tutor support. So if you’re willing to invest in your career, this is a serious contender.

Essential Proofreading: Editorial Skills One (The Publishing Training Centre) 

🎯 Perfect for: Aspiring proofreaders looking for immersion

💰 Cost: £348 Inc. VAT. Sign up here.

⏰ Average time commitment: 50 hours

Since The Publishing Training Centre’s (PTC) intensive proofreading course is intended as a training program for professionals, it is assumed that students already have a good grasp of the English language, grammar and spelling included.

With those basics already locked down, this 50-hour self-paced course focuses instead on navigating the collaborative and technical elements of a proofreading job; explaining standard practices in the publishing business; and providing guidance on both paper and screen markups. It notably offers 30 self-check exercises, four long module assignments, support from a personal tutor, and a Publishing Qualifications Board completion certificate, which PTC claims to be “the most widely recognised industry qualification.”

While PTC is based in the UK, anyone from around the world who’s seriously interested in becoming a proofreader can join this course as the knowledge it offers can be applied almost anywhere where (British) English is the working language.

Proofreading and Copyediting with The Chicago Manual of Style (Editorial Freelancers Association) 

🎯 Perfect for: Aspiring proofreaders looking for immersion

💰 Cost: $190. Sign up here.

⏰ Average time commitment: Self-paced, around 3 to 6 months

If you want to be well-versed in what’s considered the standard for U.S.-style book publishing, look no further! This course from The Editorial Freelancers Association (EFA) will show you all there is to know about not just proofreading, but also copyediting with The Chicago Manual of Style (CMOS) as a foundation.

If you’ve got “an excellent grasp of college-level grammar,” as EFA states, then this course’s focus on style, punctuation, and citation, among other things, could help you go beyond learning the fundamentals of CMOS’s notes-and-bibliography system — you’ll also learn about “the practicalities of correcting a typical author manuscript,” which will definitely help boost your CV!

The course consists of 16 lessons, and each lesson has a 10-point quiz at the end to test your knowledge. Since the course is self-paced, how long it will take to complete will depend on each student, though a representative tells us that 6 months is usually more than enough time, even with only occasional study. Students are notably given a full year to access the course site and download materials from it for later review.

Proofreading 1: Introduction (Chartered Institute of Editing and Proofreading)

🎯 Perfect for: Aspiring proofreaders looking for immersion

💰 Cost: £199 + VAT. Sign up here.

⏰ Average time commitment: Self-paced, around 3 to 6 months

Another organization that is recognized across the industry is the Chartered Institute of Editing and Proofreading (CIEP). Based in the UK, they offer (yep, you guessed it) professional resources and guidance for editors and proofreaders, including self-paced and virtual courses on copy editing and proofreading. Their core course on proofreading is divided into three parts, with Proofreading 1: Introduction introducing aspiring professionals to the foundations of the craft. 

For £190 (roughly $250), students get access to the material for 6 months to work through it at their own pace. The course explains the difference between proofreading and proof-editing, how and where proofreading fits into the publishing processs, common issues proofreaders might come across and handy solutions. Graduates will be able to go out and seek projects and opportunities with this in their arsenal, or they may choose to dive deeper by following up with Proofreading 2 and 3.

Grammar Fundamentals (Editorial Freelancers Association)

🎯 Perfect for: Beginner proofreaders, writers, and students

💰 Cost: $190. Sign up here.

⏰ Average time commitment: Self-paced, around 3 to 6 months

If you want to take one of the proofreading courses that assumes a prior mastery of grammar, you might want to brush up on the fundamentals with this course from EFA. They currently offer 12 self-paced courses, but its Grammar Fundamentals course is open to students at all levels and includes plenty of useful proofreading-related modules, from “Parts of Speech” and “Sentences and Clauses” to “Verb and Modification Problems” and “Pronoun Problems.”

Since this course is self-paced, how long it will take to complete will depend on each student, though a representative tells us that 6 months is usually more than enough time, even with only occasional study.

In addition to in-depth lessons, handouts, and assessments, the course also offers real-time Q&A sessions via Zoom with the instructor. Students are notably given a full year to access the course site and download materials from it for later review.

High-level proofreading on a budget

If you’re on a tight budget but still want something in-depth, consider taking one of the courses below. They provide a comprehensive understanding of proofreading — without breaking the bank. 

Proofreading Power Basics (Udemy) 

🎯 Perfect for: Aspiring professionals on a budget

💰 Cost: $79.99*. Sign up here.

*Prices fluctuate according to region. We’ve also seen frequent promotions with prices as low as $13/month if you sign up for a Udemy membership, so keep an eye out for potential sales!

⏰ Average time commitment: 1.5 hours

Understanding proofreading marks, choosing your approach to a document, knowing how to address capitalization and numeration — these are just some of the things you can expect from Proofreading Power Basics.

As with many of the more advanced professional classes out there, make sure you come with a world-class understanding of grammar since there’s no talk of punctuation or homonyms here — in fact, the course’s creator states that to pass with flying colors, you “must at least have intermediate grammar skills.”

For learners on a budget who want to hone their professional skills and put them into practice right away, this just might be the class for you — and given Udemy’s frequent price drops, we think it’d definitely be more worth the wait to try and catch a sale. However, note that unlike a few other online classes in this post, you will not receive a recognized industry qualification upon completion.

Proofreading and Copyediting 101 (Universal Class)

🎯 Perfect for: Aspiring professionals on a budget

💰 Cost: $95 with no certificate, $120 with a certificate. Sign up here.

⏰ Average time commitment: 11 hours

If you’re able to shell out a bit more money, check out Proofreading and Copyediting 101, which takes 11 hours on average to complete. This self-paced course includes 14 lessons and 30 exams and assignments, and you’re required to pass a test at the end of each lesson before you can move on to the next one. 

Proofreading and copyediting are both covered, giving you a more diverse range of skills and more bang for your buck. PIus, if you’d like to add proof of formal training to your CV, you can pay just $25 more to obtain a CEU (Continuing Education Unit) certificate. Universal Class states that CEUs “represent a crucial benchmark in professional and personal development” and serve as “the industry measurement of non-credit education.”

Kickstart Your Freelance Editor & Proofreader Career on Upwork (Udemy)

🎯 Perfect for: Those looking to get started with freelancing

💰 Cost: $84.99*. Sign up here.

*Prices fluctuate according to region. We’ve also seen frequent promotions with prices as low as $13/month if you sign up for a Udemy mebmership, so keep an eye out for potential sales!

⏰ Average time commitment: 2 hours

In 25 bite-sized lessons, this class’s instructor shares his insights into becoming a freelance editor and proofreader on Upwork. Though it won’t teach you the hard skills of proofreading, consider taking this course if you want answers to plenty of complex questions and issues related to being a freelancer — from finding proofreading jobs to understanding personal finance.

In addition to obtaining a certificate of completion, you’ll also learn how to: write a strong bid proposal cover letter; fast-track your career trajectory; and improve your bidding chances, thereby winning contracts and receiving good reviews.

The instructor does touch on editing philosophies and which editing tools to master, but that should be considered additional information to the golden nuggets of wisdom you’ll hear about managing your independent work.

Similar to the previously listed Udemy course we mentioned, we think this one is worth it if you can catch a sale, but otherwise, go for one of the cheaper courses below or invest in the Knowadays or PTC course.

Top tip: Don't stop at creating a strong profile — also demonstrate your professionalism with a well-designed freelance proposal.

Free proofreading courses (and what "free" actually means)

Draft section for /freelancer/proofreading-courses/ — American English, matching existing page conventions.

Items marked [VERIFY] need checking against live pricing/terms before publishing. The reason this page needs work in the first place is stale specifics, so let's not fix that by adding more.

Free proofreading courses

Not everyone is ready to spend $200 on a career they haven't tried yet — and you don't have to. There are genuinely useful proofreading courses out there that cost nothing.

But we need to be straight with you about something first: almost every option below is free to take, but if you want the credentials, you'll have to pay. A handful of the courses you'll find advertised as free are also really free trials, or free samples of something paid, but they can be a good way to dip your toes.

Here's a quick overview:

Course	Provider	Actually free?	Certificate	The catch
An Introduction to Proofreading	Alison	✅ Yes	💰 Paid add-on	Certificate costs extra; free "Learner Record" available instead
Proofreading courses (various)	Coursera	⚠️ Partly	💰 Paid, or free via financial aid	First module free; full access needs a trial or upgrade
Proofreading 101	Edit Republic	✅ Yes	❌ No	5-day email course that leads into a paid program
Editing & Proofreading Masterclass	Skillshare	⚠️ Free trial	✅ Included	Subscription starts after one month
Editing and Proofreading Made Simple	LinkedIn Learning	⚠️ Free trial	✅ Shows on your LinkedIn	Subscription starts after one month

An Introduction to Proofreading (Alison)

🎯 Perfect for: Anyone who wants a real course, for real, for free

💰 Cost: Free to enroll, study, and complete. Certificate is a paid add-on. Sign up here.

⏰ Average time commitment: Approximately 3-4 hours.

Alison's introductory proofreading course is free from start to finish: no trial, no card details, no expiring access.

It opens with a diagnostic test that identifies your particular proofreading blind spots, then serves up exercises targeted at those weaknesses, which is a smarter design than most paid courses manage. Toward the end, a set of practice tests lets you check whether you can actually catch typos under pressure, and you'll get a bundle of downloadable reference documents you can reuse on real work.

The focus leans more toward reports, emails, contracts rather than book publishing, so it won't teach you manuscript markup or how to work with a style sheet. Treat it as a foundation, not a professional qualification.

The certificate is where the "free" ends. To become an Alison Graduate you'll need 80% or higher on each assessment, and then buy the certificate if you want one. If you'd rather not, you can still share your Learner Achievement Verification from your account settings, which is free and proves you completed the thing. For a first portfolio, that's often enough.

Alison also runs a wider catalog of free proofreading courses, so once you've finished this one, it's worth a browse.

Proofreading courses on Coursera

🎯 Perfect for: Anyone who wants university-grade material and is willing to work the system a little

💰 Cost: Free to preview; paid to complete — unless you apply (and are eligible) for financial aid.

⏰ Average time commitment: Varies by course

Coursera offers a variety of proofreading courses, taught by universities and companies, usually as part of a broader writing or communication track.

There are two ways you can take these for free. First, you can preview the first module of most courses at no cost, which is enough to judge whether an instructor is worth your time. Second, you can start a 7-day free trial and access the full content, which is doable if you can clear a week for it.

Coursera also offers financial aid which applies to certificates as well. If you're serious about proofreading and money is genuinely the obstacle, you can apply and, if approved, complete a full course and earn the certificate without paying. The application asks about your circumstances and why the course matters to your goals, and it takes a couple of weeks to process.

That's a real route to a credential at zero cost, and it's the closest thing to a free lunch in this entire post.

Proofreading 101 (Edit Republic)

🎯 Perfect for: Working out whether you actually want this career

💰 Cost: Free Masterclass. Sign up here.

⏰ Average time commitment: 5 days, a short lesson per day.

This one is a free 5-day email course which functions as a gateway to Edit Republic's paid training. But you don't have to join the paid courses to get something out of the free lessons..

What's useful about it is that it's not really a skills course. It's a career course. Over five days you'll cover what proofreaders actually do all day, why the work is in demand, the mistakes beginners make, how freelance proofreaders find clients, and — refreshingly — what you can realistically expect to earn.

If you're still at the stage of asking "is this even for me?", this will answer that question faster and cheaper than a $499 immersion course will.

The free-trial route (Skillshare and LinkedIn Learning)

🎯 Perfect for: Bingeing a course in a month and canceling on time

💰 Cost: Free for one month, then a subscription.

Both Skillshare and LinkedIn Learning offer a month's free access, which is more than enough to finish a proofreading course and several others besides. Just put the cancellation date in your calendar the day you sign up.

On Skillshare, the Editing and Proofreading Masterclass runs to around three hours and covers typos, spelling and homonyms, and a thorough tour of punctuation — commas, colons, apostrophes, hyphens, dashes, and parentheses. It's a solid grounding in the mechanics.

On LinkedIn Learning, Erin Rickard's Editing and Proofreading Made Simple packs a lot into roughly 40 minutes across 15 lessons. Rickard is a freelance copywriter, editor, and professor, and the course is built around what she calls the keys to effective editing. The genuine advantage here is that the completion certificate appears directly on your LinkedIn profile, where clients and employers might actually see it.

Neither will make you a professional but both are excellent value if you can lock in for a month.

Caveat: will a free certificate get you hired?

Before we move on, it's worth noting that a free course is unlikely to get you hired on its own, and you should be wary of any page that tells you otherwise.

The credentials that carry weight with publishers and serious clients are the ones from recognized industry organizations like the CIEP, the Publishing Training Centre, the EFA, and Poynter/ACES. A free course can teach you to spot a homonym, but what you're paying for with these professional courses is tutor feedback, assessed work, and a name that a commissioning editor recognizes.

That doesn't make free courses pointless. Far from it. They can be a great way to find out whether you enjoy this work before you spend real money on it, and they'll give you a foundation that makes a paid course go faster when you get there.

Beginner proofreaders, writers, and students

If you’re a student who’s looking to secure those A*s or a freelance writer who just needs to make sure all your submissions are flawless, you may wish to consider the courses below. 

While they don’t go into specific details like collaborating on a digital document or managing the nitty-gritty of formatting a manuscript, they do cover basic grammar mistakes and most major types of editing — enough to give you both a good introduction and the confidence to revise an array of texts. Plus, you can potentially save quite a bit of money by doing an initial proofread yourself before hiring a professional freelancer to check your work.

Proofreading Basics Certificate Course (New Skills Academy)  

🎯 Perfect for: Beginner proofreaders, writers, and students

💰 Cost: $25. Sign up here.

⏰ Average time commitment: 1 hour

In just one hour, this CPD-approved course will show you how to identify and correct common spelling, grammatical, and punctuation mistakes. It’ll also teach you how to use Microsoft Word and other programs for proofreading purposes.

If you need help at any point while taking this class, you can take advantage of the 24/7 student support that it offers. Additionally, you’ll be given access to an exclusive New Skills Academy study group and receive a certificate upon completion of the course.

How to Find & Correct Writing Errors (Udemy) 

🎯 Perfect for: Beginner proofreaders, writers, and students

💰 Cost: $59.99*. Sign up here.

*Prices fluctuate according to region. We’ve also seen frequent promotions with prices as low as $13/month if you sign up for a Udemy membership, so keep an eye out for that!

⏰ Average time commitment: 1 hour

This Udemy class includes 19 lectures that you can watch in your own time, covering editing techniques and technical guidance regarding styles, spelling, and document formatting. You’ll receive an hour’s worth of video content that’ll equip you with the skills needed to proofread and spot mistakes in your own work without a hitch.

The instructor notably has experience working for various newspapers and magazines. He’s also taught at the university level and created content for several popular online editing classes in addition to this Udemy course.

Reedsy recommends

While we recommend all of the courses above for different reasons, it’s important to choose the course that’s right for you.

If you’re serious about becoming a professional proofreader, Universal Class’s “Proofreading and Copyediting 101” offers relatively good bang for your buck at $95 for the course itself and $120 if you want the CEU certificate to strengthen your CV. Given the class’s end-of-lessons tests and 11 hours of content, it will require you to consistently put in time and effort, helping you hone your skills as a proofreader. You’ll also get the added bonus of copy editing training. 

However, the certificate that you’ll gain from Universal Class is not as widely recognized in the industry, nor does it compare to the much more extensive and immersive training that you’ll get from courses such as Knowaday’s “Becoming a Proofreader” and PTC’s “Essential Proofreading.” And while these come at a much steeper price, these courses are more likely to be a one-time investment, as they are better equipped to turn you into a full-fledged proofreader in one go — without having to pay for additional courses and training — which may be  more worth your while if proofreading is something you see yourself doing long-term.

On the other hand, if you’re someone who’s just looking to dip their toes into what proofreading entails, there’s no reason to pay the big bucks yet. Instead, consider taking a course like New Skills Academy’s “Proofreading Basics Certificate Course,” which is perfect for those with a tight schedule and budget who still want to become more knowledgeable about not just common mistakes, but also software with the purpose of proofreading.

In the end, any one of the nine courses that we’ve detailed in this post will leave you with a better understanding of proofreading, regardless of your level of commitment, career goals, and budget. We hope that this post will help you make an informed choice about which one is right for you, and that you find the course that will bring you one step closer to being a successful proofreader.