At a our competitive prices of £149 for individual enrolments and £300 for groups of three - we offer the starting block for working as a professional proofreader!
Course FAQs
(Frequently asked questions)
How can I enrol for your courses?
To enrol/register or purchase access to our courses you are required to complete this process by buying online via this website's Our Course page. You will then be provided with a document download welcoming you to the course and will be given contact details for your course tutor (for Certificate purchases). It will be your tutor who will arrange access to the full six modules of the course (if purchased).
​
You offer a 110% guarantee – what does this mean?
Step One Editorial Training offers online training in proofreading with student satisfaction 110% guaranteed!
This means that, should our course not deliver the skills and knowledge advertised, students will have a right to claim back their paid price plus an extra 10% of that purchase price. This guarantee is only applicable to payments made upfront for the full course of six modules, and does not apply to 'group offer' purchases or to the standalone Module One.
This money cannot be claimed back until a student has both completed the course (evidenced by online participation) and reached the end of their presentation period. Settlement will be judged and paid based on a student's learning experience and the evidence of their participation.
​
What kind of certification does your course provide?
Our Foundation Certificate in Proofreading course provides a certificate for course completion (depending on satisfactory student participation). The electronic (PDF) certificate provided via your course tutor is our means of fulfilling this function. This document is a simple certificate that at the time of writing (February 2023) carries no official CPD or academic accreditation.
The certification will provide official recognition of your studies. However, the primary value a student can take from the course will be the knowledge that can be applied to their career progression.
​
Does your course deliver CPD accredited learning?
Our courses, at the time of writing (March 2023), do not individually carry CPD accreditation. However, Step One Editorial Training has attained accredited CPD Provider status. This recognises our commitment to providing professionally valuable training. In time we aim to extend accreditation to the individual training programmes we offer.
Please note that many employers will value your learning with us, based on their recognition of your study time and the knowledge learned.
​
Is there any academic value to your courses?
At the time of writing (February 2023) Step One Editorial Training operates as an online training provider that currently cannot identify in any official capacity as a school, college or university. Further, we cannot currently offer any qualifications accredited outside the company.
We can state, however, that our courses are designed to deliver knowledge acquisition that will be valuable in many working scenarios.
​
Do students require a Gmail account to study?
The Certificate course learning programme was initially deliverable only via the Google Classroom learning environment. Being a Google application, this required all students and staff participating to have access to Gmail accounts. As of January 2024, delivery of the course has been moved to the Teachable platform; and so this restriction no longer applies. Students may now sign up without Gmail accounts.
​
Do the students interact during the course?
Students will be asked to post comments and therefore interact with their peer learners (other students) during the course. However, should those studying not wish to share their thoughts, research or other information with the group studying alongside them, this is their choice. There is no absolute necessity to post comments in the Teachable environment. Should an exercise request this, any student may choose to instead post a comment in private to their course tutor or moderator.
​
Is the course learning environment moderated?
Your Teachable learning environment will be moderated regularly by your course tutor. They will be on hand to deal with any queries or concerns arising from your studies, including matters of online safety that can occur when students study via the internet. Such concerns will be addressed in the course material early on in your studies.
Should your course tutor be unavailable for any reason, note that another member of the course staff will step in (in a moderator capacity).
​
What topics does the Foundation Certificate cover?
In brief, our Foundation Certificate in Proofreading teaches what we deem the essential 'foundation' knowledge a novice proofreader needs to learn to function in this editorial capacity professionally. This knowledge includes: -
-
Understanding career options for freelance proofreading, including specialisation considerations and those for further training.
-
Knowledge of (British) English editorial requirements concerning presentation, punctuation, spelling corrections, using reference materials and dealing with translated material.
-
Competence gained for working in a proofreading capacity via editorial practices within the module exercises.
​
How much study time is required for your course?
It is advisable that students should try to complete their studies of our Foundation Certificate within six weeks of having the full six modules available to them. Based on completing one module per week, we would estimate students to need two to three hours of study time per week to reach this target.
Please note, however, that the course will be available to students for the full three months of each presentation. Therefore there is no stipulation for students to finish their studies within the suggested six week time frame.
​
Do students receive feedback on their work?
Student work will be spot-checked by their tutor or course staff during a Certificate course's presentation. However, learning is designed with the students’ self-directed knowledge acquisition and the development of their proofreading competencies in mind. Therefore students will find that they will not receive feedback on every piece of work completed and it is simply up to them to progress and judge whether they have understood the materials correctly.
Even though this self-directed way of studying is designed-in to the course, we are pleased to state that should any student ask for feedback and further help during or at the end of their studies, then your course tutor will accommodate this request.
​
Are students able to retake the course?
Step One Editorial Training does not offer a free option to retake the Certificate course (or any offers) after a presentation has finished. Another price will need paying to take part in a later presentation. Any student wishing to enquire about this should contact their course tutor.
​
What personal data are collected from students?
This topic is dealt with separately within our Privacy Policy. This is supplied to students upon enrolment in our Certificate course. Should a student not receive this, they can contact their tutor to request a copy.
Should you be considering a purchase, but wish to see our Privacy Policy beforehand, please contact the team via our online contact form to request this policy. This can then be supplied to you via email.
​
How long do students have access to the course?
Although students are anticipated to progress and finish their studies in a much shorter time frame, they will have access to the Teachable
environment and online course material online for a full three months.
Each student will have access to Module One with immediate effect, as from purchase. However, the full suite of six modules may only become available to students via their course tutor. This must happen, at the earliest, at the start of official course runtime, as effective from the 1st of a given month until a full three months ends (whether this be a 28th, 29th, 30th or 31st of the final month).
​
Are there deadlines applicable for study completion?
The only deadline applicable for completing studies will be to complete all study by the end of your course presentation’s three month period. (See just above.)
How can Step One Editorial Training be contacted?
To contact the company directly prior to purchase or for any other enquiries, please be directed to the Contact Us webpage. From there you will be able to complete an online form, find our postal address and register an interest in future courses and offers.
​