For Editors

You got an assessment invite. Now what?

If an employer asked you to complete an EditingTests.com assessment, here's what to expect. None of this is coaching around the test — it's what I'd tell a friend who was about to sit for one.

1. Don't over-prepare

We test skills you either have or you don't — mechanical accuracy, style-guide judgement, editorial taste. Drilling on practice questions the night before doesn't move the needle. What helps: a good night's sleep, a quiet room, a fresh cup of coffee.

2. Know the format

You'll get:

• A pillar test — one of: grammar (GT), editing (ET), proofreading (PT), writing (WT), industry vocabulary (IVT), or MS Word (MWT). Most employers use ET or PT.
• A time limit — typically 30–90 minutes depending on the pillar. A countdown is visible at all times.
• Auto-save — every 10 seconds. If your laptop dies mid-test you can resume from where you left off.
• No multiple attempts — unless the hiring client specifically invites you to retake.

3. Tools that are OK vs. not OK

OK to have at hand:

• A paper dictionary or a tab open to Merriam-Webster / OED
• Your house style guide if you're editing for your own organisation
• A notepad and pen for thinking through structural edits

Not OK:

• ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, Copilot, or any LLM (we detect this — you'll be flagged)
• Grammarly or any AI-enhanced writing tool
• A colleague answering questions with you
• Another browser tab with the exact question text pasted in

4. What we measure

Every pillar test measures a specific cluster of skills:

• GT (Grammar): subject-verb agreement, punctuation, modifier placement, parallelism, commonly confused words.
• PT (Proofreading): spotting errors introduced during layout — dropped words, doubled words, transposed letters, formatting inconsistencies.
• ET (Editing): judgement calls — which of several correct sentences is the right register, when to cut, when to query the author.
• WT (Writing): producing original prose to a brief, scored on voice, structure, and mechanics.
• IVT (Industry Vocabulary): terminology specific to a named industry — publishing, legal, medical, etc.
• MWT (MS Word): efficient use of Word features — styles, track changes, comments, find-and-replace, tables.

5. Scoring and what "passing" means

Default pass mark is 70%, but individual clients can adjust it. Your percentile rank (how you compare to every other candidate who took the same pillar) is sent alongside your raw score, so a 68% in the 85th percentile actually looks great to an employer.

6. What happens after

Your results go to the hiring client. You may or may not hear back — that's between you and them. If you want a copy of your own score, reply to your invitation email and we'll send you a candidate-facing version.