Joseph Lee’s article “Jargon clogs FE works, says study” (FE Focus, October 31) is music to the ears of all of us frustrated by the rising tide of acronyms. But it was interesting to learn of the dislike for the term “learners” unearthed by the survey.

We wish to point out that “student” is not a generic term. Adult and continuing education has always favoured “adult learner”, used by no less a jargon-buster than Stephen Jones in his piece in the same edition of FE Focus. Indeed, it is the one we have adopted for our forthcoming tool to help organisations monitor provision against the labyrinthine requirements of Every Child Matters - called Ensuring that Every Learner Matters, available on the Centre for Excellence website.

www.thelearningchain.net

Ian Grayling, Executive director, Centre for Excellence in Teacher Training, East Midlands.