Ministry of Social Development – StudyLink

Website name

www.studylink.govt.nz

Judges’ comments

This is a very good website, structured to steer students straight to the information they need.

There is much to praise about the structure and layout of this site. It seems logical and clear. It’s lean and clean — no graphic distractions.

Media statement

The Ministry of Social Development has thanked this year’s WriteMark Plain English Awards for recognising the StudyLink website as a finalist for Best Plain English Website.

‘The StudyLink website is aimed at school leavers who need to apply for a student loan to study,’ says Manager of Centralised Services for StudyLink, Simone Pringle.

‘We are aiming to make it easy for school leavers to use the site. We tested the content with secondary school pupils to make sure they understood what they needed to do.

‘We’re thrilled at the recognition that we have hit the mark in terms of providing information that is easy to read and understand.

‘It can be very confusing to apply to fund studying,’ says Ms Pringle. ‘We tried to use language that students understood, rather than policy speak. And we’ve even had feedback from staff, who now use the website as their first stop for information. That’s a success in my book.’

Simone Pringle
Manager of Centralised Services