Plain English Campaign

Plain English Campaign has joined the debate about the standard of English in British schools and colleges, as government test results revealed 40% of pupils are failing to meet required standards in the ‘Three Rs’. The Government’s Key Stage Three tests showed that nearly 200,000 children failed to write in a formal style or spell words with more than two syllables.

This week also saw the publication of a list of writing ‘howlers’ collected by the respected academic Dr Bernard Lamb, who claimed that foreign students were better at spelling than their British counterparts. Yet top grade A level results have risen from just over 15% to around 25% in the last ten years.

'It is so disappointing to know that children are growing up without being able to read and write properly’, said Campaign founder/director Chrissie Maher. ‘Pupils need to be taught grammar and spelling at an early stage so that they develop good writing skills for later life. I couldn't read or write properly when I was a child and I know how difficult life can be because of this.'