Word list and common terms
In the word list, you will find guidance on words, phrases and expressions that can be written in different ways. In some cases, the guidance will be a matter of convention, i.e. where there is only one ‘correct’ way to express the item, or where the form chosen is based on one or more external sources (see ‘References’, overleaf). In other cases, we will have chosen a particular form for the university’s style.
adviser
not advisor
A level
not A-level or A Level
all right/alright
she got the answers all right; she is feeling alright
audiovisual
not audio visual or audio-visual. AV is fine if using informally or internally
Bachelors
not Bachelor’s or bachelors
-based
hyphenated when combined with another word to form an adjective, e.g. ‘work-based study.’ However, ‘teaching is classroom based.’
Brexit
Brexit is the name given to the United Kingdom’s withdrawal from the European Union, or the modifier used in matters pertaining to this withdrawal, as in ‘the Brexit withdrawal agreement has been signed.’ The United Kingdom left the European Union on 31 January 2020.
The University of Exeter is both a British and a European institution and continues to welcome staff and students from all over the world. Please take special care to ensure references to Brexit in all official copy are impartial, unbiased and factually accurate.
campus
Streatham Campus, St Luke’s Campus, Penryn Campus
campuses (e.g. Streatham and St Luke’s campuses, Exeter campuses, Cornwall campuses)
campus tours
not Campus Tours
Career Zone
Civil Service
not civil service
click
In digital media, links and buttons are clicked, not clicked on.
compass points
lower case, unless part of a proper name (e.g. North Korea, the East End)
ordinal directions
as above, and closed up (e.g. northwest, southwest)
coordinate, cooperate
not co-ordinate or co-operate, but co-operative (or co-op) when talking about the business style
coursework
not course work
CV
not curriculum vitae
dissertation
not Dissertation
doctor/doctoral
A Doctor of Philosophy is someone who has completed doctoral study in the discipline of Philosophy. Doctoral study is a type of postgraduate study usually resulting in a PhD. A doctor is a qualified medical practitioner.
e-book
not ebook or eBook
e.g.
not eg or eg,
e-learning
not elearning or eLearning
not e-mail
en-suite
not en suite or ensuite
etc.
not etc,
feedback
you give and receive feedback but feed back (to the group)
fellow
A fellow is a senior position within an academic institution; a research fellow is someone who has received funding for academic research.
fieldwork
not field-work or field work
the Forum; Forum Library
Freshers’ Week
not Fresher’s Week, freshers’ week or Freshers week
further education
not Further Education
government
always lower case
graduate/graduand
A graduate is anyone who has recently or relevantly received a degree; a graduand has completed their degree study and is due to receive their certificate (i.e. to graduate) imminently.
groundbreaking
not ground breaking or ground-breaking
healthcare
not health care or health-care
higher education
not Higher Education
interdisciplinary
not inter-disciplinary or inter disciplinary
i.e.
not ie or ie,
Koran
not Qur’an or Quran
lecturer
A member of academic staff who gives lectures.
LGBTQ+
In line with guidance from Stonewall, the university uses this term to discuss its community of staff and students who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, queer or questioning, as well as other sexual and gender identities such as asexual, intersex and genderqueer.
We always use LGBTQ+ in full to refer to the community without isolating any of the constituent parts to which it refers.
locations
For the correct presentation of locations across our campuses, see our campus maps:
log in/login
you log in with your login
Market Place
Masters
not masters or Master’s
net zero
Not Net Zero, NetZero or net-zero.
If at the start of a sentence, use Net zero.
Open Day
not open day
pathway
not path-way, path way
policymaker; policymaking
do not hyphenate in either instance
postdoctoral
postgraduate
A postgraduate programme is any course of study that requires students to have first acquired an undergraduate degree. A postgraduate student is anyone studying for a postgraduate qualification.
professor
A professor is a senior academic of the highest rank. Professorships are usually only awarded after decades of scholarly work but are not a qualification in the same sense as an undergraduate or postgraduate degree. In other parts of the world, including North America, ‘professor’ is often used as a generic term to describe a university lecturer.
programme/program
degree programme, programme of study; computer program
resume
not résumé; but prefer CV
the South West
The South West is the internationally recognised term for the region in which the University of Exeter is located. A full list of UK nations and regions and their official names is available through CIHT.
Student Information Desk (SID)
Student Services Centre (SSC)
Students’ Guild
This is the organisation representing students on our Exeter campuses. Also referred to as ‘the Guild’.
Students’ Union (or the SU)
This is the organisation representing our students in Cornwall.
teamwork
not team work or team-work
undergraduate
An undergraduate programme is one for which no prior degree study is necessary. An undergraduate student is anyone studying for an undergraduate degree.
university
lower case (e.g. going to university, at university) unless referring to a specific university by its full name (e.g. the University of Exeter, Manchester Metropolitan University), or to the University of Exeter or one of its services, programmes, or departments, e.g. ‘the University has six academic colleges’. In the latter case, our tone of voice guidelines suggest we should prefer to use ‘we’ rather than ‘the University’ where possible, e.g. ‘we have three campuses’.
Always check the correct university name, (e.g. the University of Oxford, not Oxford University).
up to date
but in an up-to-date fashion.
webpage
not web page or web-page
wellbeing
not well being or well-being
West Country
the West Country not Westcountry or the west country
wifi
not WiFi, wi-fi or Wi-Fi
Year/year
Three-year programme; Year 1, Year 2; years 1–3.