Bookmark this page – we upload new proofreading exercises regularly.
In a digital world, it’s more important than ever to make sure your communications are error-free – you don’t want to be responsible for a press release that goes viral because of an awkward misspelling.
That’s why we’ve put together this collection of proofreading exercises to test your skills. Work your way up through the difficulty levels until you feel confident that you’ve mastered the required proofreading skills.
Download each exercise PDF to get started, then print it out or copy-paste it into Microsoft Word; once you’ve finished editing, cross-check the mistakes you found with the relevant answer sheet.
Good luck!
Answer sheets follow Australian Government Style Manual (Style Manual) conventions and use Australian (Macquarie Dictionary) spelling. New proofreading exercises will be regularly added to this page. Note that the original sources contain the correct text – all mistakes have been added in for the purposes of the exercises.
Easy Proofreading Exercises
Easy Exercise 2
Format: News Article
Source: ‘Now is the time to buy in the Melbourne property market.’
Exercise PDF Answers PDF
Medium Proofreading Exercises
Medium Exercise 4
Format: Online Publication
Source: Telstra s 87B Undertaking
Exercise PDF Answers PDF
Hard Proofreading Exercises
Hard Exercise 1
Format: Academic Journal
Source: Passafaro, P. (2020). Attitudes and Tourists’ Sustainable Behavior: An Overview of the Literature and Discussion of Some Theoretical and Methodological Issues. Journal of Travel Research, 59(4), 579–601. DOI: 10.1177/0047287519851171
Exercise PDF Answers PDF
Hard Exercise 2
Format: Academic Journal
Source: Demirkol, S., & Cifci, I. (2020). Delving into the Role of Celebrity Chefs and Gourmets in Culinary Destination Marketing. European Journal of Tourism Research, 26, 2603. https://ejtr.vumk.eu/index.php/about/article/view/1934
Exercise PDF Answers PDF
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Other Resources for Improving Your Proofreading
How to Become a Proofreader in Australia August 25, 2020 I walk you through what you need to become a professional proofreader in Australia.
The Ultimate Guide to Proofreading August 13, 2020 This is the ultimate guide to proofreading. If you’ve got questions about what proofreading is and how it works, you’ll find the answers here.
4 comments on “Proofreading Exercises”
This is great. It’s really helpful to see practical exercises. Thanks for putting this together!
Fantastic exercises, thank you for providing these!
These exercises have been really great. Thank you. I’m using them with my A level student in preparation for University where proofreading will be essential! The content is just right for his interest level too and short enough to keep his interest.
Hi Geraldine, it’s great to hear you and your student are finding the exercises helpful. We’ll hopefully add some more in the near future.