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Newspaper or magazine editor apprenticeships

Creative and media

Newspaper or magazine editor apprenticeships - where to start

You can get into this job through

  • a university course
  • working towards this role
  • training with a professional body


    • University

    You'll usually start by doing a degree in English, journalism or media studies. You can do a postgraduate qualification in publishing or journalism if your first degree is not related to the industry. You're likely to need a degree or postgraduate qualification and a high level of specialist subject knowledge if you want to work for a specialist publication like a medical or scientific journal.


    You'll usually need 5 GCSEs at grades 9 to 4 (A* to C), or equivalent, including English and 2 to 3 A-Levels, or equivalent, for a degree. You'll need a degree in any subject for a postgraduate course. 

    Work
    You can start as a reporter or journalist with a regional newspaper or magazine and work your way up. There's a lot of competition for jobs so you may have an advantage if you've got a relevant degree.

    Volunteering

    You'll need to get some experience before applying for your first job in publishing. To build up your experience you can: 

    • volunteer for student and community newspapers 
    • keep an online blog 
    • have an online presence on sites such as Twitter 
    • submit articles and reviews to local papers or websites 
    This is also a good way to develop contacts, as many jobs are not advertised.

    Other Routes
    You could take a proofreading or editing course, like the ones offered by the National Council for the Training of Journalists, the Chartered Institute of Editing and Proofreading and The Publishing Training Centre. 

    Newspaper or magazine editor apprenticeships - what it takes

    Skills and knowledge

    You'll need: 

    • knowledge of English language
    • knowledge of media production and communication
    • the ability to read English 
    • excellent verbal communication skills
    • to be thorough and pay attention to detail 
    • excellent written communication skills 
    • the ability to work well with others 
    • to be flexible and open to change 
    • to be able to use a computer and the main software packages competently

    Newspaper or magazine editor apprenticeships - what you'll do

    Day-to-day tasks

    Depending on the publication you work for as an editor, you could:

    • commission articles 
    • choose which articles to publish 
    • decide how they’ll be laid out for publishing
    • assess work sent from freelance journalists, photographers and illustrators
    Working environment
    You could work in an office.

    Career path and progression - Newspaper or magazine editor apprenticeships

    With experience as a local newspaper editor you could move on to regional and then national publications. You could become editor-in-chief of a group of newspapers, or magazine publishers.

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    Considering an Apprenticeship?

    There are lots of benefits to apprenticeships, here are our top 5:

    • Paid Training
      Not only will your organisation (or the Government) pay for all of your training, but you’ll be paid to do it. That means you could actually get paid to get your degree and have no debt!
    • Range of career opportunities
      There are over 625 different apprenticeships to choose from, in a range of industries. Whether you’re interested in law, marketing, construction or engineering, you’ll find something up your street!
    • Earn & learn
      As an apprentice, the minimum you’ll earn is £6.20 an hour, but we’ve seen apprentices earn a starting salary of up to £30,000 a year! You could also get other employee benefits like gym memberships, paid holiday and sick pay.
    • Great career prospects
      Employers think apprentices are 15% more employable than those with other qualifications. In fact, many large employers train their graduates and apprentices together!
    • Learn on the job
      There’s only so much you can learn when you just do a qualification. As an apprentice, you’ll also get to learn on the job - whether that’s designing amazing graphics, chopping vegetables or building engines!

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