I've been compiling resources as I study for my CCE - Certified Copyeditor certification and figured I'd share what I've found. All free unless noted.
Practice Tests:
- PracticeTestGeeks — most comprehensive collection I've found, good question explanations, covers CCE - Certified Copyeditor, CLU - Chartered Life Underwriter, and CPW - Certified Professional Writer. Free.
- Official practice materials from the certifying body — usually 1 free sample exam, worth doing even though it's short
Study Materials:
- The official CCE exam handbook / candidate guide (PDF, free from the certifying body's website)
- YouTube — search for "CCE exam prep" — there are surprisingly good free video reviews for most writing & editing certifications
- Reddit r/certifications — people post their exam experiences and tips regularly
Paid (worth it if budget allows):
- Official study guides run $30-80 for most writing & editing certifications — worth it if your exam has lots of specific factual content
- Some certifying bodies offer prep courses — check if your employer covers it (many do for required certifications)
What resources have others found useful for writing & editing exams? I'll add them to this list.
The official candidate guide is something a lot of people skip but it literally tells you the topic weighting and domain breakdown. It's the roadmap for your study plan. Never skip it.
Great list. I'd add: LinkedIn Learning has some writing & editing-related courses that overlap with cert content, and if you have a library card many libraries give free access to it. Also check if your local library has access to O'Reilly or similar — tons of technical content there.
For CCE - Certified Copyeditor specifically, I found the PracticeTestGeeks explanations were detailed enough that I didn't need to buy a separate study guide. The combination of doing the practice questions + reading every explanation (for both right and wrong answers) covered most of the content I needed.
Passed mine in March while working full-time, so I get how hard it is to carve out study time. Honestly the biggest thing that helped me wasn't finding more resources, it was being ruthless about which ones I actually used. I'd do 20-30 minutes on my lunch break, usually free cce proofreading error detection practice since that's where I was weakest, and it added up faster than I expected.
Don't underestimate the error detection stuff if you're short on time. It's the kind of skill that gets sharper the more you do it, and you can squeeze in a quick set almost anywhere. I did questions on my phone during my commute more times than I can count. Weekends I'd do longer sessions but honestly the daily small chunks did more for me than the marathon study days.
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