Proofreading Academy Reviews (2021)

In this article, you’ll find Proofreading Academy reviews and its “Become a Proofreader” online course, an option that has become very popular in recent years. Let’s see if it’s worth it.

If you’ve spent some time thinking about making money working from home, or maybe you already do, but want to add a new skill to your portfolio; proofreading can be a very lucrative option.

What is Proofreading Academy?

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Proofreading Academy is a company founded in 2017 with the goal of offering courses in the proofreading and editing field, considering the great growth explosion that the sector has had in the last decade.

The company is based in England, but it’s an international company that has a staff spread throughout several English-speaking countries, including the United States, Australia and South Africa, among others.

Proofreading Academy offers several online courses focused on both individuals and organizations, to improve the editing and proofreading work on a wide variety of documents in the academic, business and creative fields.

Although the company currently has four courses available on its website, Become a Proofreader (seen here) is the backbone of the teaching package offered by the platform. Check out the course here.

On top of that, Proofreading Academy maintains a strategic partnership with Proofed Inc to offer its best students, the possibility of remote employment as freelance proofreaders.

What is Proofed?

Proofed is an online platform owned by Proofed Inc, which was born with the following idea in mind:

“Everyone should have access to world-class proofreading and editing.”

The company was founded in 2010 and since then, it has maintained constant growth as a platform that allows connecting companies, professionals, students, authors and anyone who needs these services, with a select group of professional freelance editors who are available 24/7, 365 days a year.

Currently, the platform is one of the leaders in the sector and is quite accessible and easy to use, in addition to offering a wide variety of proofreading services, such as:

* Checking grammar, spelling, and punctuation mistakes
* Improving word choice
* Ensuring consistency
* Highlighting clarity issues

And editing services, such as:

* Revising texts for clarity and concision
* Ensuring smooth flow in texts
* Ensuring the tone of your writing matches your intention
* Applying your preferred style guide

And other additional related services.

Proofreading Academy Reviews – What people are saying

As we already mentioned, Proofreading Academy is a platform that has become very popular in the niche it serves, and this is reflected in the large number of positive reviews that you can found on the Internet.

Specifically, on the Trustpilot website, it keeps a rating of 4.8/5 out of 264 reviews — at the moment of this review; a fairly solid rating taking into account the short time the service has been in the market.

Here are some PROOFREADING ACADEMY REVIEWS of some customers who have been satisfied with the service.

5 Stars by David

“I was very pleased with the information I gained from my Proofreading Academy course. The interactions I had with the tutors and staff were always professional and pleasant. I definitely got my money’s worth.”

5 Stars by Grace Hyland

“This is a comprehensive proofreading course and I’m very happy that I chose it. You will not only brush up on your grammar but learn how to proofread (and format) in MS Word, Mac or Adobe, find out how to proofread academic papers, and learn about referencing styles. There is more. Since I purchased the course a few more modules were added at no additional cost — about creative and business writing. This was a lovely surprise.”

5 Starts by Sara Ray

“Proofreading Academy is worth the money! The course itself is easy to follow and really helps you level up your grammar skills. The tests are challenging, but the Proofreading Academy employees take you through each test in-depth and help you understand where you need more work. They are so supportive and friendly, it really makes the process a good experience.”

In addition to this, on the platform’s website, you can also see a good number of success stories of people who have completed the course, what their motivations have been and how they’ve taken advantage of the course and their skills as proofreaders.

Naturally, even with all this, no product or service is 100% perfect; everything has its pros and cons. Let’s see what’s the case with Proofreading Academy.

PROS

* You can try the main course for free for some time to test the content.
* The course is completely online, so you can access it from the comfort of your home.
* The courses don’t have a predefined timeframe and you can complete them at your own pace.
* The platform offers work for those students who pass the course with an effectiveness rate equal to or greater than 80%.
* The general cost of the courses is slightly lower than other similar courses that are available on the Internet.
* The website has a large number of free additional help resources.
* The company awards a recognized certification upon completion of each course.
* The support team is available most of the times.

CONS

* Some of the courses are quite challenging and will require you to be well motivated and determined to complete them.
* It’s necessary to pay for a Microsoft Word license, in case you don’t already have this program on your computer.
* The company offering the course is located in the United Kingdom, so if you live in another country, you should consider the time difference when taking a course or contacting support.
* The initial induction process may take longer than usual for a language-related course.

Is Proofreading Academy Worth It?

Generally speaking, the short answer will always be YES. Why?

Because these types of courses are always a good investment in the medium and long term, especially if you work or want to work in any field related to language — specifically written English.

Today, academic and business environments have been forced to adapt to the changes imposed by the digital age and the circumstances and challenges presented by the modern world.

Although it’s true that there are many people making money on various online platforms, whether as employees or freelancers, it’s also true that more and more people are joining this market every day. Having a good portfolio of certified skills can make the difference between making and not making money online.

Speaking in more specific terms, Proofreading Academy is one of the most comprehensive options when it comes to teaching proofreading and document editing techniques. This is also evident from all the positive Proofreading Academy reviews mentioned above and on their website.

Although at first glance the main course may seem somewhat expensive ($295 for 45 hours), the reality is that its price is lower than other similar courses. In addition, the company offers payment plans that make it easier to assume the full cost of the course.

However, it’s important to note that these courses aren’t going to teach you to promote yourself as a professional in the field of proofreading, they only focus on the “technical” aspects.

The factor that largely compensates this, is the guarantee of work the platform offers through its partner company Proofed; this can be pretty helpful in gaining experience in this field, as well as making some money in the process.

With no doubt, the above feature and the complete online education pack with a large number and variety of options available to become an expert proofreader, are the best things this platform offers.

Sign up to get started here.

Becoming a Proofreader – Course Overview

Becoming a Proofreader is the flagship course of the Proofreading Academy and it turns out to be a fairly comprehensive program on the subject, with a total of 45 course hours divided into 14 modules + full assessment at the end of each module.

The course is divided into both written and video formats, and the overall program is frequently updated to offer the latest in its field.

Let’s see in greater detail everything the course offers, but not without first indicating that if you’ve a hard time with a specific module, you always have the option of turning to a tutor within the program.

Proofreading And Editing

The introductory module is to give you a general idea — somewhat in historical terms — of what the job of a proofreader and editor is like, both in the offline and online world.

The Basics Of Microsoft Word

Although MS Word is possibly the most popular office software in the world, there are still many people who don’t master it or don’t even know about it. You’ll learn here, everything you need to get started with this software.

Common Spelling Mistakes

Another basic module that helps you to get up to date with the most common spelling mistakes in the English language and the differences between several dialects it has.

Common Grammar Mistakes

This module will give you an overview of the most common grammar mistakes made in UK, US, and AUS English. You’ll improve your level with prepositions, clauses and modifiers, among others.

Common Punctuation Mistakes

The correct use of question marks and exclamation marks, period, commas, apostrophes, quotation marks and other signs, can make the difference between a text that reads well and one that does not.

Other Common Errors

If you aren’t quite sure of the difference between ‘i.e.’ and ‘e.g.’, with this module you’ll know it, in addition to the correct use of abbreviations, acronyms, synonyms, capitalization and more.

Proofreading In Practice: Style

There are many styles of writing, and each one has its correct usage time. In this module you’ll understand the difference between formal, informal, technical, and the correct tone for writing to flow as it should.

Proofreading In Practice: Academic Proofreading

This module will put you to the test by reviewing documents ranging from undergraduate level to PhD thesis as you learn the use of new elements of the language.

Referencing And Citations

This module will teach you the correct way to make references and citations in texts, including the most common citation styles such as Harvard, ALWD or APA, among many others.

Advanced Formatting In Microsoft Word

The advanced MS Word module that will teach you more processor style and formatting functions such as tables, lists, headings, etc.

Advanced Formatting In Microsoft Word For Mac

The same as the above module, but for Mac computers.

Creative Writing And The Publishing Industry

Another practice module where you’ll have to review different fiction and non-fiction documents, books, screenplays, and dialogues, to learn the correct way to format and refine them.

Proofreading Business Writing

Learn how to proofread typical business documents, such as reports, website copy, spreadsheets and presentations, in different document formats.

Finding Work And The Final Assignment

The final module in which you’ll see if you really grabbed everything you learned in the previous modules through different tests. If you manage to pass with an 80% score, you can get a job at Proofed as a freelancer.

Sign up to start taking the course here.

How to Successfully Complete The Course

If you want to take a course at Proofreading Academy, all you’ll need is a desktop or laptop computer, a recent version of Microsoft Word — 2016 onwards — and a good Internet connection.

Although there are other word processors you can download for free from the Internet, the courses are based on Microsoft software, so if you don’t have a license for the program, you’ll have to add that additional cost (about $ 70).

It’s also important that your Internet connection is fast and stable, with at least 2 or 4 MB speed, since most of the courses include a lot of video content.

How does Become a Proofreader compare to other proofreading courses?

If you take the time to Google some web pages that list the best courses about proofreading and editing, you’ll find that most of these courses fall into two basic categories:

1. Free or low-priced courses that are of poor quality or don’t cover all aspects of editing and proofreading.

2. Higher-quality courses, at an exaggerated price, but which offer a large amount of educational material, although in many cases on specific topics.

The Become a Proofreader course doesn’t apply to these categories for the following reasons:

1. It offers a lot of material covering all aspects of working as a proofreader and editor — except marketing — at a medium price.

2. It offers the possibility of getting a job in its partner company Proofed, something that the rest of the courses don’t offer.

For these reasons, Become a Proofreader manages to position itself as one of the best proofreading and editing courses available today, well above the average for these type of courses.

Final Thoughts

Gathering from these Proofreading Academy reviews, the Become a Proofreader course offers the right balance point for both beginners who want to start in this field, and professionals who wish to improve their skills, and also with the incentive of getting a job after finishing the course.

And finally, if I had to give this training course a score based on a few factors, these are my results:

* Ease of use: 4/5
* Content offer: 4/5
* Content quality: 5/5
* Value for money: 5/5
* Complements: 5/5

Final Score: 4.6

Proofreading Academy Reviews (2021) – Is It Worth It?