Pratchett earned five O-levels and started A-level courses in Art, English and History. His initial career choice was journalism and he left school at 17, in 1965, to start an apprenticeship with Arthur Church, the editor of the "Bucks Free Press". In this position he wrote, among other things, over 80 stories for the "Children's Circle" section under the name Uncle Jim. Two of the stories contain characters found in his novel "The Carpet People" (1971). While on from his apprenticeship, Pratchett finished his A-Level in English and took the National Council for the Training of Journalists proficiency course.