Editorial trainee

Closing date for applications: 26 October 2025

Salary: £25,500 per annum - plus financial travel support

Ready to launch your editorial career with some of the biggest names in publishing? These six-month traineeships offer hands-on experience across thought-provoking non-fiction, flourishing fantasy lists, pop culture hits, and more.

The scheme is for voices we want to hear more of in publishing. Could yours be one of them?

Make your mark by spending six months between January – July 2026 working with the best at the number one publisher in the UK. You’ll immerse yourself within one of our key business areas, learning the ropes, taking ownership of projects and contributing to our mission to make books for everyone. Whatever team you’re placed with, you’ll gain universally applicable skills that will equip you for wherever you go next. We’ll teach you about all publishing and Penguin, and support you to make the next steps in your career journey.

The scheme is for people from lower socio-economic backgrounds. If you meet this eligibility criteria but perhaps you’re changing careers, don’t have a degree, or haven’t often seen yourself reflected in publishing, we’d love you to apply! Whatever your gender, background, or community, we want to hear your story. All trainees are paid £25,500 per annum (equivalent to £12,750 for the six months of the traineeship). We also offer a travel bursary for those commuting from outside of London. For further information and the full role descriptions, please see our website.


Editorial trainee on the scheme

We have four editorial roles on the scheme in 2026 - no matter what you're into, there's something here for you.

• Are you driven by an insatiable curiosity about the world – from history and politics to science and culture? Are you constantly seeking out the latest ideas, debates and innovations? Are you fascinated by the world of books and keen to know more? You could spend six months as an editorial trainee with the Viking Non-Fiction team, gaining a rare and insightful overview of the publishing process at a leading non-fiction imprint and getting the chance to support the team in identifying and commissioning new authors.
• Want the opportunity to work with the editors who published 2024 Booker Prize winner Orbital by Samantha Harvey? Spending 6 months with the editorial team at Jonathan Cape, you'll work on titles ranging from commercial to literary fiction, pioneering graphic novels to award winning poetry, and rich non-fiction spanning memoir, nature writing and ground breaking ideas. You'll work closely with their senior commissioning editor to prepare their spring and summer titles for success and help develop new ideas for publishing projects.
• Do you love to read fantasy books? As an editorial trainee with the Michael Joseph team, you'll work predominantly on their flourishing fantasy lists, including the Red Tower and Mayhem imprints, with the opportunity to be involved in every stage of the publishing process. You'll join Michael Joseph's Fantasy Taskforce, reading submissions and providing feedback. Plus, you'll have the opportunity to attend and contribute to cover art and campaign meetings.
• Interested in music, sport, film and pop culture? Want to work with authors like Greg James, Tom Felton, Paloma Faith and Sir Geoff Hurst? Spend six months with the Ebury Spotlight team and see every stage of the non-fiction publishing process - from idea to acquisition to editing to publishing. You’ll have the opportunity to contribute to ideas for new titles and give feedback on proposals. You’ll contribute creatively by writing cover copy, brainstorming title ideas and setting up cover shoots.

Eligibility criteria

You’ll need to have a pre-existing right to work in the UK for the duration of the traineeship as unfortunately we are not able to offer visa sponsorship. You don’t need a degree, you just need to be over 18. To achieve our mission to make books for everyone because a book can change anyone, we are seeking out new voices. To apply, you’ll need to identify as from a lower socio-economic background. We use parental occupation at age 14 to measure this as the Social Mobility Commission suggests it to be the most accurate measure available to assess socio-economic background, as well as being accessible to those from all nationalities.

To apply for the scheme, at age 14 your highest-earning parent/guardian was not in management and was employed in one of the following categories: 

• technical and craft occupations such as motor mechanic, plumber, printer, electrician, gardener, train driver
• routine, semi-routine manual and service occupations such as postal worker, machine operative, security guard, caretaker, farm worker, catering assistant, sales assistant, HGV driver, cleaner, porter, packer, labourer, waiter or waitress, bar staff
• unemployed (claimed Jobseeker’s Allowance or earlier unemployment benefit for more than a year)

We recognise these are broad categories that may not fully reflect the many hundreds of jobs out there, or exactly fit your family situation. Please use your judgement when self-identifying.

Please state in your application that you found this role through Creative Access.