Knowadays Review: The Proofreading Course That Turns Grammatical People Into Paid Freelancers
"I'm good at spotting typos" is the most common half-truth on the internet — and the reason most people who try proofreading as a side hustle stall. Knowadays (formerly Proofread Anywhere's UK sibling, and PTC-endorsed) sells the unglamorous truth: proofreading is a skill with rules, and you can learn it. We worked through the structure, the job guarantee, and the realistic income path to see if the course converts "I'm nitpicky" into billable hours.
What Knowadays actually teaches
Knowadays runs a self-paced proofreading and editing curriculum: the mechanics (grammar, punctuation, consistency, formatting), then specialized tracks (general, business, academic, and fiction). It's endorsed by the Chartered Institute of Editing and Proofreading (CIEP) pathway in places, and the headline offer is a job guarantee — finish, pass the final assessment, and they help place you with partner clients or your money back. That guarantee is the differentiator from free YouTube "how to proofread" videos.
What worked well
The course is structured like a job, not a lecture. Practice files mimic real client documents, so the leap from "student" to "freelancer" is smaller than self-teaching.
The job guarantee is real if you do the work. It's conditional (pass the assessment, meet quality bars), but for people who finish, the placement support is a genuine on-ramp to paid gigs rather than a vague certificate.
It's honest about who succeeds. The material repeatedly flags that this is detail-intensive, solitary work — which filters out the people who'd quit in week two. That candor is a good sign.
What didn't work
It's a real time commitment. Self-paced still means dozens of hours. If you want "instant side income," this isn't it — the payoff is weeks out.
The guarantee has strings. Read the eligibility criteria before counting on placement; it's not "pay and we employ you." Meet the bars and it holds; skip them and it doesn't.
Niche fit matters. If you hate reading for hours, no course fixes that. Knowadays teaches the craft; it can't manufacture the patience.
The pricing reality
Knowadays sells its core proofreading course as a one-time purchase (often with a discount promo), plus occasional bundles for the specialized tracks. Against the cost, weigh the job guarantee and the fact that a single steady client can repay the course within a month or two of part-time work. Treat it as vocational training, not a consumer subscription — and only buy if you'll actually complete it.
Who should actually use it
- Buy it if you want a structured, credentialed on-ramp to paid proofreading and will finish the assessments.
- Wait if you're only curious — try free resources first to confirm you even like the work.
- Skip if you need immediate income; this pays back over time, not this week.