Is it just me or has the standard of literacy plummeted in this country over the last few years?  Think about it, how many times do you receive correspondence where the grammar, spelling and punctuation are so poor that you shake your head in bemusement?  How often do you see the incorrect use of apostrophes (lot’s of times, Im’ sure youll agree!) or poor spelling such as “independant” or “proffesional” in letters from those who really should know better?

 I received a prime example this week in a letter from a marketing company outlining the proposed regulation of the will-writing market by the solicitors’ governing body, the Law Society. The letter highlighted the fact that the Law Society wants to preserve will-writing for solicitors only and it made reference to the bad publicity surrounding will-writing caused by “rouge will-writers”!

It was obvious what the writer meant unless I’ve got it completely wrong and make-up is an issue among will-writers or perhaps a significant number of them have red-faces! Clearly, nobody bothered to check the letter before its dispatch but, whoever was responsible, it was a dreadful advertisement for a company seeking to create new business. Good spelling used to be vital in all areas of business but, these days, this no longer appears to be the case.

Two days ago it was reported that the Education Secretary, Michael Gove,  is seeking to improve educational standards by restoring A levels to a format familiar to those of us who took ours several years ago. He has ordered the abolition of continuing education and modules (whatever they are!) and their replacement by examinations to be taken at the end of the course. At least that’s a step in the right direction, innit?