News
Plain English campaign news articles
Coining it
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- Created on Monday, 18 January 2016 15:27
The Royal Mint has been coining it.
Unfortunately, buyers of their commemorative silver £100 coins have lost out as they’re no longer considered ‘legal tender’.
Government alcohol guidelines
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- Created on Thursday, 14 January 2016 11:35
While the vast majority of us know how much we can drink before driving, we’re less certain about calculating the risks to our health.
The Government’s new guidelines on healthy drinking may be useful to some. But there’s still an issue for many when it comes to figuring out exactly how much they’ve drunk or what the numbers actually mean.
FCA worry
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- Created on Monday, 11 January 2016 13:17
Last summer, we highlighted a call from the FCA (Financial Conduct Authority) for banks and financial organisations to use plain English.
While some took those suggestions on board, many didn’t. And with well-publicised and worrying recent changes at the FCA, there’s every chance old bad habits could be set to return.
The case for plain English
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- Created on Monday, 04 January 2016 16:07
The independent Inspectorate of Prosecution in Scotland has told prosecutors that their reliance on legal jargon confuses the public.
Using a report on complaints handling and feedback, the Inspectorate highlighted jargon-filled responses to complaints.
Inspectors demanded that the Crown Office’s Response and Information Unit (RIU) respond using plain English. They also suggested that the RIU avoid using terminology unless they’re prepared to explain it.
Large degree of small-print difficulty
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- Created on Monday, 16 November 2015 13:23
Research by consumer group Fairer Finance has found that a third of insurance policy small print is only understandable to degree holders.
The research suggests that none of the 280 documents tested could be understood by anyone with a reading age of 11. An estimated 16% of UK adults have a reading age of 11 or less.
Fairer Finance’s report goes on to say that failing to understand financial jargon costs UK consumers £21bn in a year – £428 for every adult.
Plain English Day 2015
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- Created on Thursday, 12 November 2015 13:16
December 1 is a big day for Plain English Campaign.
On that date, we once again celebrate Plain English Day. And, this year, it’s also when we’ll announce our 2015 award winners.
So not only will it be a day of following events centred around all things plain English, it’s also when we’ll reveal our Foot in Mouth, Golden Bull and Kick In The Pants award winners, among many others.
Unreadable academic writing
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- Created on Monday, 28 September 2015 15:24
We’ve recently received a number of emails and tweets about really poor academic writing. There are few meaningful excuses for the kind of writing in question, but several likely reasons behind it.
So why is academic writing often so unreadable? As our university students return for another year, here are a few suggestions.
Firstly, it’s down to laziness. Trying to make incomprehensible waffle read simply would take too much time. In other words – in academic circles, writing is unclear because it can be. Who is going to point out that it reads badly if it sounds clever? So bad habits continue, and academic writing continues to be full of ‘placeholder’ terminology. In other words, academic writers lean on the same old jargon rather than write something difficult and genuinely insightful.
Plain English diploma
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- Created on Thursday, 24 September 2015 13:07
Our plain English diploma gives you an excellent grounding in our techniques. It’s a qualification that sets a precedent. If you have one, it gives you the authority you may need to persuade others in your organisation to write clearly. Additionally, you will be in a great position to pass on legitimate expertise. And you will have earned a widely-respected accreditation from the world’s number one plain language organisation.
