Julia Sandford-Cooke | Business and educational content writer and editor

I AM CURRENTLY AVAILABLE FOR WORK. CONTACT ME ABOUT YOUR PROJECT.

Experienced non-fiction writer and editor, specialising in educational, training and business content.

I do NOT work on academic papers, student dissertations or fiction.

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Get in touch if you think I can make your message clear.

Editing, writing, proofreading, project management, advice... let me work with your words.

• Specialist in educational resources, including structural editing, developing and project managing GCSE, iGCSE, A Level, T Level, International Baccalaureate, vocational and FE materials.
• Content specialist: construction, sustainability, health and safety.
• Copywriter of digital and hard-copy content for marketing agencies.
• CIEP Information Commissioning Editor (2022 to 2023); CIEP (then SfEP) social media team (2012 to 2019), frequent contributor to CIEP’s blog and active participant in CIEP conferences.
• Escape room enthusiast: experienced play tester of both interactive and printed puzzles.

Typical projects include:

• development editing resources for new technical qualifications
• writing textbooks, ebooks and online resources for new qualifications
• project managing and developing printed textbooks and online resources
• providing consultation services and editing guidance to construction clients
• writing and editing a design manual for a government department
• commissioning, writing, editing and using a content management system (CMS) to provide online content and resources for school leaders
• copy-editing a health and safety manual
• co-ordinating industry guidance on new legislation
• copy-editing assessment material
• copy editing board papers and reports
• proofreading annual reports
• compiling in-house style guide and copyright guidance
• copy-editing and proofreading travel guides, using InDesign

Examples of clients

Publishers: AA Media, Aspire (Australia), Cambridge University Press, Hodder Education, Illuminate, Oxford University Press, Pearson

Service partners and agencies: A Thousand Monkeys, Copper Consultancy, EMC Design, Haremi, Just Content, Moja, Newgen, QBS

Corporate clients: consortium of large construction companies, Construction Industry Training Board (CITB), Kiwa, Optimus Education

Awarding bodies: ConstructionSkills, NOCN, OCR

Third-sector and non-profit organisations: Education and Training Foundation, Green Climate Fund, Laudes Foundation

Individuals: business writers, memoirists, self-help authors

Subjects

Business: business to business (B2B), direct marketing, e-business, management, marketing, office skills, public sector procurement, quality standards, small businesses

Construction: bricklaying, Building Regulations, built environment, carpentry, construction industry legislation, health and safety, planning/surveying, plastering

Education: distance learning, e-learning, exam preparation/revision, further education (FE), literacy resources, preschool/early years, reading schemes, primary, testing, T Levels, technical and vocational qualifications

Sustainability: alternative technologies, climate change, conservation, environmental education, green issues, renewable energy, sustainable development, town planning, waste management/recycling

Other: Amsterdam, board games, childcare, D&D, Dungeons & Dragons, Dutch, escape rooms, health and social care, hotels, keto, ketogenic, LCHF, low carb), literature, local government (town councils, parish councils, planning), Netherlands, Norfolk and East Anglia, nutrition (dieting, intermittent fasting, podcasts, puzzles, role-playing games, tourism, travel

Media

• Non-fiction material: case studies, course materials, directories, distance-learning materials, educational materials, forms, handbooks, illustrated books, multi-author books, multiple-choice test questions, qualification specifications, teaching materials, technical reports, test and exam papers, textbooks, travel guides.
• Corporate communications: annual reports, articles, bid and tender documents, business reports, corporate publications, government reports, manuals, marketing materials, newsletters, PowerPoint presentations, press releases, questionnaires and surveys, white papers.
• Online/digital: blog posts, CD-ROMs/DVDs, courses, ebooks, enewsletters, podcasts, social media, web content, websites.

Experience

Self-employed since 2011.

• Publishing and creative services manager, Construction Industry Training Board (CITB), 2004–11.
• Senior editor, Harcourt Education (now Pearson), 2002–04.
• Editor, AA Publishing, 2000–02.
• Editing assistant, Endat Group (now ESI Ltd), 1998–2000.

Voluntary work
I was a town councillor for four years, and also a school governor, so I have plenty of experience of working within strict parameters and making decisions via committee.

I used my experience of, and enthusiasm for, escape rooms, to help set up a puzzle quest in my local library to support the literacy development of Key Stage 2 pupils.

Qualifications

• BA Hons English Literature (Hertford College, University of Oxford)
• Postgraduate Diploma in Management Studies (Chartered Management Institute)
• International English Language Testing System (IELTS) expert user (band score 9)

• Editor
• Proofreader

• Non-fiction
• Architecture
• Art & culture
• Communications
• Diet & nutrition
• Education & training
• English literature
• Environment & nature
• Environmental science
• Food & cooking
• Games & activities
• Humanities
• Humour & satire
• Media studies
• Narrative non-fiction
• Psychology & psychiatry
• Reference
• Self-help
• Social sciences
• Travel & tourism

• Copywriting
• Writing
• Business writing
• Technical writing
• Project management