• We are pleased to announce that the winner of our Feedback Prize Draw for the Winter 2024-25 session and winning £150 of gift vouchers is Zhao Liang Tay. Congratulations to Zhao Liang. If you fancy winning £150 worth of gift vouchers (from a major UK store) for the Summer 2025 exam sitting for just a few minutes of your time throughout the session, please see our website at https://www.acted.co.uk/further-info.html?pat=feedback#feedback-prize for more information on how you can make sure your name is included in the draw at the end of the session.
  • Please be advised that the SP1, SP5 and SP7 X1 deadline is the 14th July and not the 17th June as first stated. Please accept out apologies for any confusion caused.

Explaining a technical term

Autodidactuary

Keen member
Hello,

Suppose that I want to use a technical term in the body of my report (one that would be considered 'jargon' to my intended audience). Would it be acceptable to use that term provided that it was immediately defined (in simple terms)?

For example, if the term 'loss ratio' is considered jargon but I immediately defined what it was (and provided my definition could be understood by my audience), is it likely that I wouldn't be penalised? I have seen that mark schemes for CP3 make reference to 'unexplained technical terms' as a reason for losing marks. Is it the sort of thing that might be acceptable to have appear in your answer a couple of times but runs the risk of being penalised if used any more than that?
 
Hi

Thanks for your post. Yes, if you feel it is important to bring a technical term in (perhaps because you want to refer to that technical term in several places in your answer) then the right way to do so is name it and immediately define it in a way that will be understood by the audience. This ensure that you hit the requirements of the marking schedule in not having any unexplained technical terms. Do though always weigh up when it is possible to neatly side step a technical term, if you can this is likely to be the best solution.
 
Back
Top