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The following list largely ignores the technical guide ( mostly for developers) and
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(UKHSA) Spell out scientific units on first appearance.
act, act of Parliament
Lower case. Only use upper case when using the full title: Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004.
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Always write out the full name of the area the first time you use it. You can use a capital for a shortened version of a specific area or region if it’s commonly known by that name, like the Pole for the North Pole.
(UKHSA) See UKHSA regions.
government
Lower case unless it’s a full title. For example: ‘UK government’, but ‘His Majesty’s Government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland’.
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Upper case because Gypsies are legally recognised as an ethnic group.
H
hazardous waste registration
Lower case.
headteacher
One word. You can use head if the context is clear.
(UKHSA) Health protection team
Lower case except in title of a specific team. Spell out on first appearance with abbreviation (HPT) in brackets, then use HPT or HPTs thereafter.
health protection unit
Lower case unless it’s the title of an organisation: North East and Central London Health Protection Unit.
helpdesk
Not 'help desk'.
homepage
Lower case.
Hyphenation
Hyphenate:
- re- words starting with e, like re-evaluate
- co-ordinate
- co-operate
Do not hyphenate:
- reuse
- reinvent
- reorder
- reopen
Do not use a hyphen unless it’s confusing without it, for example, a little used-car is different from a little-used car. You can also refer to The Guardian style guide for advice on hyphenation.
Do not use hyphens in time and date ranges, use ‘to’.
I
ie
See eg, etc and ie
implementation period
Always lower case.
internet
Lower case.
Italics
Do not use italics. Use ‘single quotation marks’ if referring to a document, scheme or initiative.
(UKHSA) In PDFs we continue to italicise species names, such as bacteria, Clostridium difficile and so on.
J
Job titles
Specific job titles and ministers’ role titles are upper case: Minister for Housing, Home Secretary.
Generic job titles and ministers’ role titles are lower case: director, minister.
K
key stage
Lower case and numeral: key stage 4.
(UKHSA) See also year groups where year is capped down.
the King
Upper case K, lower case t.
L
law
Lower case even when it’s ‘the law’.
Legal content
Legal content can still be written in plain English. It’s important that users understand content and that we present complicated information simply.
If you have to publish legal jargon, it will be a publication so write a plain English summary.
Where evidence shows there’s a clear user need for including a legal term (like bona vacantia), always explain it in plain English.
Read more about writing legal content
life cycle
Not 'lifecycle' or 'life-cycle'.
Links
Front-load your link text with the relevant terms and make them active and specific. Always link to online services first. Offer offline alternatives afterwards, when possible.
Lists
Lists should be bulleted to make them easier to read. See bullets and steps, above.
Very long lists can be written as a paragraph with a lead-in sentence if it looks better: ‘The following countries are in the EU: Spain, France, Italy…’
In an alphanumeric list:
- put entries that start with numbers before entries that start with letters
- order the numbers numerically in the correct order for the whole number
local authority
Lower case. Do not use LA.
When referring to local government, use 'local council' instead of local authority where possible. See also council.
local council
Lower case.
When referring to local government, use 'local council' instead of local authority where possible. See also council.
lunchtime
One word.
M
Maths content
Use a minus sign for negative numbers: –6
Ratios have no space either side of the colon: 5:12
One space each side of symbols: +, –, ×, ÷ and = (so: 2 + 2 = 4)
Use the minus sign for subtraction. Use the correct symbol for the multiplication sign (×), not the letter x. To do this, on your keyboard press Alt and then, on the numeric keyboard 0125.
Write out and hyphenate fractions: two-thirds, three-quarters.
(UKHSA) As a common phrase write two-fold, three-fold as words.
Write out decimal fractions as numerals. Use the same number format for a sequence: 0.75 and 0.45
Measurements
Use numerals and spell out measurements at first mention.
Do not use a space between the numeral and abbreviated measurement: 3,500kg not 3,500 kg.
Abbreviating kilograms to kg is fine - you do not need to spell it out.
Use ‘grams’ (not ‘grammes’). For example: micrograms, milligrams.
If the measurement is more than one word, like kilometres per hour, then spell it out the first time it’s used with the abbreviation. From then on, abbreviate. If it’s only mentioned once, do not abbreviate.
Use Celsius for temperature: 37°C
metadata
Not “meta data”.
metaphors
See words to avoid
MHz
Not “Mhz”.
Middle East
Upper case.
middle-deemed primary school, middle-deemed secondary school
Hyphenated.
Midlands
Upper case.
migrate
When talking about software, not “migrate over”.
Mileage Allowance Payments
Upper case.
military
Lower case.
Millions
Always use million in money (and billion): £138 million.
Use millions in phrases: millions of people.
But do not use £0.xx million for amounts less than £1 million.
Do not abbreviate million to m.
minister
Use upper case for the full title, like Minister for Overseas Development, or when used with a name, as a title, like Health Minister Norman Lamb.
When used without the name, shortened titles are lower case: The health minister welcomed the research team.
MIT License
Note the spelling.
mixed-age class
Hyphenated.
mixed-sex schools
Hyphenated.
MLA
Do not use Member of the Legislative Assembly (Northern Ireland), just MLA.
modern foreign languages
Lower case.
money
Use the £ symbol: £75
Do not use decimals unless pence are included: £75.50 but not £75.00
Do not use ‘£0.xx million’ for amounts less than £1 million.
Write out pence in full: calls will cost 4 pence per minute from a landline.
Currencies are lower case.
money laundering
Lower case when referring to the activity not the regulation.
Months
See Dates.
MP
Do not use Member of Parliament, just MP.
MS
Do not use Member of the Senedd (Wales), just MS.
MSP
Do not use Member of the Scottish Parliament, just MSP.
multi-academy trust
Hyphenated.
multidisciplinary
One word.
multi-ethnic
Hyphenated.
multi-year funding
Hyphenated.
multilingual
One word.
(UKHSA) UKHSA regions
(UKHSA) The UKHSA regions are:
- North East
- North West
- Yorkshire and Humber
- East Midlands
- West Midlands
- East of England
- South West
- South East
- London
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Numbered list
- Use numbers followed by a full stop, 1.
- Make sure there is one space after the full stop.
- Leave an empty line before the numbers start, and one afterwards.
- Sub-items need an indent of 2 spaces.
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