Our main products and services
- Accreditation of your documents with the Clear English Standard logo – see Editing menu.
- High-quality writing-skills courses (virtual and face-to-face) for your staff – see Writing-skills courses menu.
- A FREE self-study course to improve your business writing skills – see Writing-skills courses menu.
- Accreditation of your website with the Clear English Standard logo – see Editing menu.
- Rapid, affordable editing of your documents and website, even if you choose not to use the Clear English Standard – see Editing menu.
We work for every kind of organization, offering a first-class service by published authors and editors at a reasonable cost. We’re a business, independent of the UK government. So, just to be clear, nothing we provide is part of any official scheme.
News and updates
- New for 2024: Writing Plain English, our FREE self-study guide to the basics of clear and concise business writing, with 96 pages and 224 screens. This unique course will give your written work an immediate boost. Details: click here.
- Legal English: Why do so many lawyers who write consumer contracts use initial capitals for defined words? Doesn’t it make the document look weird for no good reason? In Capitalising Defined Terms, we examine the practice and some alternatives. Free download here (5MB).
- The fifth edition of our director Martin Cutts’s book the Oxford Guide to Plain English is now on sale (GBP9.99). Order at www.oup.com using promotion code ADFLYK2 to save 30%.
- Martin was honoured by Clarity, the international campaign for plain legal language, at a conference in Buenos Aires, Argentina in 2023. He became one of the first three inductees of Clarity’s Plain Language Hall of Fame.
- In 2022, we asked the National Cyber Security Service (NCSC, part of GCHQ) to rewrite its over-complex booklet about the Cyber Essentials scheme. Download our critique of this hideous document here. Responding, the NCSC rewrote and redesigned the booklet, and it’s now much clearer. Success!
- Several websites have earned the right to display the Gold level of the Clear English Standard, showing they’ve met our accreditation criteria. This accolade is now held by such organizations as Warmworks, MoneyHelper, and the Bank of England. Scheme details: see Editing menu.
- Our latest paperback, Nailing the Lies of the Plain English Campaign, is available on free download here (116 pages, 10MB). The book examines the fictions and false claims of a well-known operator in the plain-language field, and includes some surprising stuff about the legendary broadcaster John Humphrys. Details: see Book
Our expert team members
Our small team of published authors and editors are highly experienced in the writing-skills field. The company is managed by Martin Cutts, author of Lucid Law, the Plain English Lexicon and the Oxford Guide to Plain English. Most of our courses are presented by Ruth Thornton, one of the best writing-skills trainers in the UK and the author of the Adult Learners’ Writing Guide (Chambers). Martin and Ruth are assisted by several tried and trusted freelances.
Find out more about our expert team members here.
Why use plain language?
Whether you’re writing to customers, colleagues or members of the public, it makes sense to use language they’ll easily be able to understand. We can call this ‘plain language’ or ‘clear language’. Plain language improves efficiency and saves money because more people will read and act upon the documents you send them. Plain language is now required by many leading organizations and industries, by several regulators and even by some laws.
Find out more about the importance of using plain language here.
Plain Language Commission is independent of the UK Government.
Martin Cutts belongs to PLAIN, the international association for plain-language supporters and practitioners around the world; and to Clarity, which campaigns for clarity in legal writing worldwide. We’ve been proud to sponsor their recent conferences.