Corporate Style Guide
Corporate Style Guide
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Contents Introduction
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• Objectives of the style guide • How to use the style guide • Review process
Formatting & Punctuation
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• Font • Colour • Spacing & Justification
General style and tone of voice
4
Shortening of words
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• Contractions • Abbreviations
• Hyphens
Emails 11 Websites 11
• Acronym / Initialism
Job titles 11
Numerics 7
Out of office
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• Numbers • Times
Common Mistakes
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• Word usage • Americanisation
• Dates
Moulton College • College Name • College Address • College Campus • School Names • College Courses
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Corporate Style Guide
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• Spelling
Introduction The Moulton College Style guide is for internal use only and aims to provide staff with a simplistic guide to writing on behalf of the College.
Objectives of the style guide • Ensure corporate communications are consistent across the workforce for new and existing staff • Replace individual, department or school preferences with corporate conformity
Review process
The style guide will be reviewed once a year to reflect modern linguistics and to ensure the guide is fit for purpose. As part of this review process, we will consider feedback from any member of staff who disagrees with any of the guidance provided.
• Establish a set of standards to build brand reputation across our stakeholders.
Please note • The guide is not exhaustive and can be used as a point of reference to outline best practice to ensure consistency across all College communications. • The guide does not tell you how to write but encourages uniformity across the College’s written communications.
More information
If you have a query which this style guide can’t answer, please contact the Marketing Team on email at marketing@moulton.ac.uk
• Please remember that all articles and statements on behalf of the College must be approved by the Marketing Manager before issue.
Corporate Style Guide
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General style and tone of voice We pride ourselves on being a friendly and welcoming college and it is important that we convey this in the style and tone of our communications. One way to do this is to always write in the first person and not the third e.g. “We will ensure that you are given all the support that you need to be successful on your course” rather than “The College will ensure that students are given all the support they need to be successful on their course”. We should always refer to our students as students rather than learners. This is because this is the terminology that they understand and identify themselves as.
IMPORTANT
ur corporate font is Arial. Please O use this on all letters and other typed communications. ll written communications should A be a minimum of font size 12 points, larger if on a powerpoint slide. void using abbreviations and A education terminology unless you explain it fully first. eep all your communications brief K and to the point. Keep sentences short and break up large bodies of text with paragraph breaks and headings wherever possible. ood practice is to always ask “what G do I want someone to do or think after reading this” and then check that it meets that need.
All articles about the College must be approved by the Marketing Team before publication. The design of advertisements, posters and business cards should also be completed by the marketing team. Please send your requirements to marketing@moulton.ac.uk
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Corporate Style Guide
Key things to remember
• Write in the first person • Students not learners
Corporate Style Guide
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Shortening of words Contractions Contractions such as he’ll or can’t are absolutely fine. However, if the document requires a more formal tone then it is best to avoid these. You can also use a contraction to omit letters from the middle of a word. The use of well-known contractions are fine such as: Dr, Mr or St instead of Doctor, Mister or Street.
Abbreviations Abbreviations are generally formed by omitting letters from the end of a word. Well known qualifications can be used in abbreviated format instead of their written alternative. For example, FdSc, BSc, HNC etc.
Still unsure on shortening words? Please contact the Marketing Team on marketing@moulton.ac.uk
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Corporate Style Guide
Acronyms and Initialisms n acronym is a word made up of A the initial letters or syllables of other words such as OFSTED. n initialism uses the same principle A as an acronym, but the letters cannot be pronounced as a word such as HE or DfE. cronyms and initialisms are fine A to use, so long as they are widely understood such as the initialism GCSE or acronym BTEC. I f the acronym or initialism isn’t widely understood, you should spell out the words in the first instance with the acronym/initialism following in brackets. Thereafter, use the acronym/initialism. or example: The decision has been F made by the Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA). The ESFA is the agency accountable for funding education and skills for children, young people and adults. Generally, you don’t need to put full stops after the letters in an acronym (e.g. GCSE not G.C.S.E.) unless this is the brand name or preference. It is also not necessary to put an apostrophe before the ‘s’ in case of plurals, i.e. GCSEs not GCSE’s.
Numerics Numbers Numbers one to ten should be written as words; 11 and above should be written as numbers. The same applies to first to tenth and then 11th and above. The only exception to this rule is when referring to the date which will always be written as a number, e.g. 2 March, 5 April etc. The exclusion to this rule is for percentages, where something like 2% or 5% is fine. I f beginning a sentence with a number write the number as a word, e.g. Four hundred and fifty acres of woodland have been sold by Partridge Estate. hen referring to the level of a W course, please use the number. E.g. Level 3. ges should include hyphens, i.e. A nine-year-old or 19-year-old. hen mentioning an academic W year, use 2021/22 not 2021-2022, 2021/2022 or 21/22. hen talking about large figures, W use the full number for anything six figures or less, i.e. 1,000 or £650,000, but then use decimal points and the correct letter to assist with writing anything that’s seven figures or larger, such as £1.23m or £5.1bn. Always use a separating comma to make reading of large numbers easier, e.g. 3,500.
For external communications, telephone numbers should always be written in full with a space following the area code. E.g. 01604 491131. Internal extensions should be shown in the following format, x4604.
Times he time should be written as 2.30pm T or 3pm, etc. with a dot rather than a colon and no space before the am or pm. Please do not use 3.00pm, 4:00pm etc. When writing a ‘to’ and ‘from’ time use 10am – 4pm or 4.30pm – 8pm, etc not 4-7pm. Please do not use a 24-hour clock.
Dates Always include a day of the week. It saves the recipient having to search for this information later. lways put the date before the A month. E.g. Monday 8 March 2021 o not use the ordinal indicator when D referring to a date i.e. 1st, 8th etc I f you are referring to a date in the same academic year then the year is not always necessary. If you are referring to multiple dates which cross years, then please include the year. If you think there could be any confusion by not including the year, then you should include.
I f referring to a decade, use 1990s but don’t add an apostrophe to make it 1990’s. Corporate Style Guide
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Moulton College College Name
Address
lways refer to the College in A literature as Moulton College.
The correct format for writing the College address is as follows:
here possible, try not to reference W the College as a possessive. For example, use ‘The Indoor Arena at Moulton College’ instead of ‘Moulton College’s Indoor Arena’.
•M ain address: Moulton College, West Street, Moulton, Northamptonshire, NN3 7RR
College Campus College buildings should be referred to as below: • The Equine Therapy Centre • The Animal Therapy Centre • The Animal Welfare Centre • The Farm • The Higher Education Centre • Etc.
•G ate 1: Moulton College, Gate 1, Pitsford Road, Moulton, Northamptonshire, NN3 7SY •G ate 3: Moulton College, Gate 3, Pitsford Road, Moulton, Northamptonshire, NN3 7SX •G ate 4: Moulton College, Gate 4, Pitsford Road, Moulton, Northamptonshire, NN3 7QL •H igham Ferrers: Moulton College, Chelveston Road, Higham Ferrers, Northamptonshire, NN10 8HN Please do not abbreviate “Road” When writing postcodes, always use capitals and put a gap prior to the last three digits.
Don’t forget... You must always refer to the College in literature as Moulton College
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Corporate Style Guide
Schools Please use capitalisation when referring to all courses. Always use the ampersand (&) for conjunctive school titles. School titles should be displayed as below: • Animal Management • Business Studies (Rural) • Construction • Equine • Food & Nutrition • Land-based • Supported Learning • Sport & Uniformed Public Services.
College Courses lease use capitalisation when P referring to all courses. E.g. Brickwork, Business, Stonemasonry, Professional Bakery. lways use the ampersand A for conjunctive course titles. E.g. Carpentry & Joinery. here referring to the level of W a course in the course title, use capitalisation. E.g. Level 2 or Level 3. I n most cases, the level of the course should follow the course title. For example, Stonemasonry Level 3 or Sport Level 2. lways use a hyphen when referring A to part-time or full-time courses.
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Formatting & Punctuation Font
Hyphens
Our standard font for general communications is Arial.
Do not use a hyphen if the two words when cojoined form a recognisable concept. For example, email not e-mail, online not on-line and wellbeing not well-being.
ypically size 12 font should be T adopted for emails and letters. he College also has several T corporate fonts which are reserved for marketing publications only, produced by a member of the Marketing Team or a graphic designer.
I f when conjoining two words, it forms a duplicated letter, use a hyphen. For example: part-time, co-ordinator and lunch-hour.
Colour
In an adjectival phrase before a noun, please hyphen. For example: ‘up-todate list’, ‘first-class degree’ or ‘stateof-the-art facilities’.
Please use a standard black font colour when writing letters, emails or other official communications.
or locations, do not use a hyphen. F For example: north west or south east not north-west or south-east.
he College does have a corporate T colour chart which can be requested from the Marketing Team. Please do not use your own ‘preferred’ colour choice.
ith prefixes, only use a hyphen to W avoid confusion or mispronunciation. For example: Re-released or pre-order.
Line Spacing & Justification or letters, use the default line F spacing provided by Microsoft Word. If you are using a non-Microsoft product, please use 1.0 spacing. To avoid errors, please use a default Aligned Left justification.
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Corporate Style Guide
se a hyphen when adding prefixes U before a proper name, number or date. For example: non-starter, pre-2018 or mid-June.
Email Signatures For corporate consistency, all members of staff should adopt the standard email signature. This should include your full name, position, email address, phone number, mobile number (if applicable) and website link. • Email signatures are automatically formatted by the IT department. Please do not add to or amend your email signature unless directed to by a member of the IT department. • Only use College issued logos and icons. • Instructions, detailing specifics and a step-by-step set-up process, can be found on the Staff Hub.
Example Jane Doe Services Manager T: 01604 491131 E: jane.doe@moulton.ac.uk
Reminder Email signatures are automatically formatted by the IT department. Please do not add to or amend your email signature unless directed to by a member of the IT department.
Website URLs Omit http:// or https:// unless the URL does not begin with www and omit any trailing slash at the end of the URL, unless the URL does not work without it – please check before you omit. You do not need to add a full stop after a website address even if it is at the end of a sentence. This also applies to email addresses. nless requested by the company, U do not use any capital letters when writing out a web address. lease refer to the Moulton College P website as: www.moulton.ac.uk hen using specific landing page W URLs, shortened links should be used wherever possible and embedded within the link text.
Job Titles or publications written by the F College (e.g. email signatures, letters, course leaflets, etc.), job titles, at all levels, should be capitalised. For example: Corrie Harris, Principal & Chief Executive hen writing for external W publications, such as the local or national press, use lower case titles for roles at all levels. For example, ‘vice principal’ or ‘tutor’.
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Out of Office It is important that we provide a good level of service to anyone contacting us through email. This applies to both internal and external contacts. If you are going to be away from your desk or away from the office for any substantial period it is important that you set up an out of office message. This advises people that there may be a delay in your responding to their message.
Example 1 I am currently away from my desk with no access to my emails until Monday 5 April. If your query is urgent please forward it to firstname.surname@moulton.ac.uk and they will be happy to help you. Alternatively, I will respond to your message when I return to work.
Your message should include when you are expecting to be back at your desk and an alternative point of contact if the enquiry is urgent.
Example 2 I am currently away from my desk with limited access to my emails, so there may be a delay in responding to your message. If your query is urgent please contact my colleague, Firstname Surname (firstname.surname@moulton.ac.uk) and he/she will be happy to help you. Alternatively, I will respond to your message when I return later today.
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Corporate Style Guide
Common Mistakes Word Usage
• Effect vs affect (noun) - Effect as a noun means the impact something causes.
• Among vs between - Among is used for undifferentiated items.
- Affect as a noun means someone’s outward appearance of their psychological state.
- Between is used with individual, named items. • Less v fewer
• Compared to vs compared with
- Less is used with nouns which are not countable objects: e.g. There was less sunshine in the valley.
- Comparing something to another thing highlights a (perhaps metaphorical) similarity.
- Fewer is used with countable objects: e.g. There were fewer sweets left in the jar after James had left.
- Comparing something with another thing highlights the differences between them. • Americanisation
• Effect vs affect (verb)
- Do not use American spelling unless you are quoting an American speaker or from American text. Below are a few common examples:
- Effect as a verb means to bring about, or to have the result that: e.g. The graffiti had a negative effect on the aesthetic of the neighbourhood.
- As demonstrated in the examples below, English spellings tend to carry the extra consonant. However, the exception to the rule can be seen in the verb ‘enrol’. Do not use enroll which is the standard American spelling.
- Affect as a verb means to have an impact on or to change something; it also means to simulate something which is untrue: e.g. The lack of sunshine definitely affected her mood in the winter. British
American
Example
-our
-or
behaviour/behavior
-ise
-ize
organise/organize
-yse
-yze
analyse/analyze
-re
-er
centre/center
-lling
-ling
travelling/traveling
-nce
-nse
licence/license
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• Spelling
• Similar words
- alumna – female former member (of college, etc)
- dependant (noun)
- alumnae – plural form for female-only former members (of college, etc)
- principal (noun or adjective: chief, main, head)
- alumni – plural form for either male-only or mixed-gender former members (of college, etc) - alumnus – male former member (of college, etc) - classroom (one word) - email (lower case unless at the start of a sentence and no hyphen) - enquire/enquiry (not inquire/ inquiry) - enrol / enrolled / enrolment / enrolling - focused - fundraising - internet (lower case unless at the start of a sentence) - online (lower case unless at the start of a sentence and no hyphen) - postgraduate (no hyphen, whether as noun or adjective) - postholder (no hyphen and lower case) - till (not ‘til: not an abbreviation of until)
- dependent (adjective)
- principle (noun only: ethical standpoint) - program (computer applications only) - programme (schedule) - stationary (not moving) - stationery (paper, pens, etc) • Homophones • Their / they’re / there - ‘Their’ means it belongs to them, E.g. “I ate their sweets.” - ‘They’re’ is short for ‘they are’ E.g. “They are going to be cross.” - ‘There’ refers to a place, E.g. “I’m going to hide over there.” • To / too / two - ‘To’ is used to show motion, E.g. “I’m going to the shop.” - ‘Too’ means ‘also’ or ‘extremely’, E.g. “I would like to come too but I’m too tired.” - ‘Two’ means the number 2, E.g. “Let’s buy two apples.”
- website / webpage (no hyphen and lower case unless at the start of a sentence) - workplace (one word)
More information?
If you need any more information relating to our corporate style of communications please contact the Marketing Team.
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Corporate Style Guide
For all design requirements please contact a member of the Marketing Team; marketing@moulton.ac.uk
HIGHAM FERRERS CAMPUS
MOULTON CAMPUS
Chelveston Road, Higham Ferrers, Northamptonshire NN10 8HN
West Street, Moulton, Northamptonshire NN3 7RR
Telephone: 01933 354060
Telephone: 01604 491131
DH84 April 2021
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Corporate Style Guide
moulton.ac.uk
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