Course description

Do you worry about commas, apostrophes or spelling every time you send an email at work? Do you want to write a job application, a complaint or a report and feel sure it reads well? This course takes you from the basics of English grammar to clear, confident writing for work and everyday life, at your own pace and without any jargon you don't need.

It's a full course, not a few quick tips. There are 10 sections and 52 written lessons, each with clear explanations, right and wrong examples, and practice tasks. Every section has a practice pack with exercises, full answers and a printable cheat sheet. Throughout the course you follow a senior care assistant from Sunderland as she brushes up her English to go for promotion, fixing her own common mistakes one by one.

What you'll learn

• Grammar basics: the parts of speech, what makes a sentence, tenses, agreement and modal verbs, all in plain words.
• Better sentences: joining ideas, avoiding run-ons and fragments, and using active and passive well.
• Punctuation: full stops, commas, capitals, apostrophes, colons, semicolons, brackets, dashes, quotation marks, hyphens and bullet points.
• Spelling: the rules that help, plurals and suffixes, commonly confused words and the words most people get wrong.
• Choosing your words: plain English, the right tone, cutting wordiness, British and American English and respectful language.
• Structure: planning, paragraphs, signposting, strong openings and endings, and proofreading.
• Everyday writing: emails, formal letters, complaints, reports, incident notes, job applications, personal statements, minutes and handover notes.

Final projects

You'll edit a real piece of your own writing using everything you've learned, then plan, write and proofread a letter or short report from start to finish. You also get a full-course quick reference to keep beside you.

Who this course is for

• Adults who left school unsure about grammar and want to feel confident writing.
• Anyone whose job involves emails, records, reports or letters.
• People preparing to apply for a new job or a promotion.
• Learners working towards Functional Skills English or GCSE English who want extra practice.
• Confident English speakers whose first language is not English and who want to polish their written English.

How the course works

Read each lesson, then do the Try it task and check your work against the full answers in the practice pack. The course teaches British English. It is not itself a qualification, but lesson 10.4 explains how adults across the UK can study for one, often free. You keep lifetime access, so you can come back whenever you need a reminder.

What will i learn?

• Understand the parts of speech and build clear, complete sentences
• Use tenses, agreement and modal verbs correctly
• Use commas, apostrophes, capitals, colons and semicolons with confidence
• Spell tricky words and avoid commonly confused words
• Write in plain English and choose the right tone for your reader
• Plan, structure and proofread longer pieces of writing
• Write clear emails, letters, complaints, reports and incident notes
• Write a strong job application and personal statement

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