diff --git a/.githooks/pre-commit b/.githooks/pre-commit
index c8593af..f7fbefd 100755
--- a/.githooks/pre-commit
+++ b/.githooks/pre-commit
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@ echo "PRE-COMMIT"
 
 EMAIL=$(git config user.email)
 
+# make sure the user has registered a valid university email address
 if [[ $EMAIL != *"@coventry.ac.uk" ]]; then
   echo "  invalid config settings"
   echo "  Your registered email is currently '$EMAIL'"
@@ -18,13 +19,25 @@ if [[ $EMAIL != *"@coventry.ac.uk" ]]; then
   exit 1
 fi
 
+# see if the user is trying to merge a branch into master
 branch="$(git rev-parse --abbrev-ref HEAD)"
+if [[ $2 == 'merge' ]]; then
+  echo "merging branch"
+  if [[ "$branch" == "master" ]]; then
+    echo "  trying to merge into the 'master' branch"
+    echo "  you should push the local branch to GitHub"
+    echo "  and merge to master using a pull request"
+    echo
+    exit 1
+  fi
+fi
 
-echo "  attempting to commit to the '$branch' branch"
-
+# see if the user is trying to commit to the master branch
+echo "  you are trying to commit to the '$branch' branch"
 if [ "$branch" = "master" ]; then
   echo "    you can't commit directly to the master branch"
   echo "    create a local feature branch first"
+  echo
   exit 1
 fi
 
diff --git a/.githooks/prepare-commit-msg b/.githooks/prepare-commit-msg
index bd02a0a..60c7dec 100755
--- a/.githooks/prepare-commit-msg
+++ b/.githooks/prepare-commit-msg
@@ -21,7 +21,6 @@ fi
 
 # Current branch
 CURRENT_BRANCH=$(git rev-parse --abbrev-ref HEAD)
-echo CURRENT_BRANCH
 
 # Check if in PROTECTED_BRANCH
 if [[ "$CURRENT_BRANCH" != "$PROTECTED_BRANCH" ]]; then
@@ -30,9 +29,9 @@ if [[ "$CURRENT_BRANCH" != "$PROTECTED_BRANCH" ]]; then
     exit 0
 fi
 
-echo "  you are trying to merge the ${CURRENT_BRANCH} branch into the ${PROTECTED_BRANCH} branch"
+echo "  you are trying to merge into the ${PROTECTED_BRANCH} branch"
 echo "  merging branches to master must be done by creating a pull request"
 echo "  this merge has been cancelled however you will need to"
 echo "  reset the operation before continuing by running git reset --merge"
-
+echo
 exit 1