Plain English Writing Resources

When writing for government web pages, we need to be careful to use plain language and take care over spelling and grammar.

Writing clearly will help people to read and understand information more quickly, and cuts down on queries.

Plain English Writing Checklist

Before publishing your new content, please check it against this criteria:

• Have you used the active voice? This means being clear about who is doing the action.
• For example: Instead of "A report will be produced", you would say "PHE will produce a report".
• Have you explained any technical or clinical terms? 
• Does your writing make sense for someone who is not a technical expert?
• Have you broken up your text with headings and paragraphs, and used bullet points for lists?
• Does your writing use conversational language? For example, write 'use' instead of 'utilise'.