This page replicates the GDS style guide minus entries not relevant to UKHSA (for example about education or defence) and including new entries, agreed by the UKHSA Publishing team (for example, more specifics about technical terms, units of measurement and so on).
There are 3 GDS style guides:
...
GDS advise that if an issue is not found in this guide, check the Guardian style guide.
A
Abbreviations and acronyms
The first time you use an abbreviation or acronym explain it in full on each page unless it’s well known, like UK, DVLA, US, EU, VAT and MP. This includes government departments or schemes. Then refer to it by initials, and use acronym Markdown so the full explanation is available as hover text.
...
(UKHSA) Spell out scientific units on first appearance. Spell out:
- > – greater than
- < – less than
- ~ – approximately or about
- v or vs – versus
- CI – confidence interval
act, act of Parliament
Lower case. Only use upper case when using the full title: Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004.
Active voice
Use the active rather than passive voice. This will help us write concise, clear content.
Addresses in the UK
Start each part of the address on a new line. You should:
...
HM Revenue and Customs - Child Benefit Office
PO Box 1
Newcastle Upon Tyne
NE88 1AA
United Kingdom
Addressing the user
Address the user as ‘you’ where possible and avoid using gendered pronouns like ‘he’ and ‘she’.
...
(UKHSA) Do not use 'please' in instructions.
ages
Do not use hyphens in ages, so '14 year old' not 14-year-old
...
Avoid using ‘the over 50s’ or ‘under-18s’. Instead, make it clear who’s included: ‘aged 50 years and over’ and ‘aged 17 and under’.
American and UK English
Use UK English spelling and grammar. For example, ‘organise’ not ‘organize’, ‘modelling’ not ‘modeling’, and ‘fill in a form’, not ‘fill out a form’.
American proper nouns, like 4th Mechanized Brigade or Pearl Harbor, take American English spelling.
Ampersand
Use 'and' rather than &, unless it’s a department’s logo image or a company’s name as it appears on the Companies House register.
antisocial
No hyphen.
armed forces
Lower case.
arm’s length body
Apostrophe, no hyphen.
assembly ministers
Lower case.
artificial intelligence
Write first as artificial intelligence (AI) then AI throughout.
B
Banned words
Avoid using these words:
agenda – (unless it’s for a meeting), use ‘plan’ instead
...
utilise – use ‘use’
(See Words to avoid)
baseline
One word, lower case.
blog post
Use 2 words when referring to an article published on a blog. A ‘blog’ is the site on which a blog post is published.
board
Always lower case unless it’s part of a proper title: so upper case for the Judicial Executive Board, but lower case for the DFT’s management board.
bold
Only use bold to indicate interface elements in text that are explicitly telling the user what to do, for example:
...
- front-load sentences
- use headings
- use bullets
Brackets
Use (round brackets).
Do not use round brackets to refer to something that could either be singular or plural, like ‘Check which document(s) you need to send to DVLA.’ Always use the plural instead, as this will cover each possibility: ‘Check which documents you need to send to DVLA.’
...
(UKHSA) Use numbers in round brackets for numbered citations referring to references at the end of a document (7). If more than one, include in the same bracket (7, 9, 13). If there's a range of numbered references use 'to' rather than a hyphen (14 to 16).
Britain
See 'Great Britain'.
British citizen
One of 6 types of British nationalities. See 'British people'.
British national
See 'British people'.
British people
Reference British nationals by their activity where possible, for example British tourists, British farmers. If you’re talking about them in the general sense, use British people.
Do not use 'British nationals' unless you need to refer to them in a legal context, for example in eligibility criteria. Do not use British citizen unless you’re referring to people with that particular type of British nationality.
Bullet points and steps
You can use bullets to make text easier to read. Make sure that:
...
(UKHSA) If bullets are so long they require one or more full stops and sentences, it suggests they are not bullets at all but should be plain text paragraphs.
Steps
Use numbered steps instead of bullet points to guide a user through a process.
...
Steps end in a full stop because each should be a complete sentence.
See 'Numbered list.'
business plan
Lower case. Do not use upper case even in the title of a business plan publication.
business statement
Lower case.
C
cabinet
The cabinet is lower case.
Capitalisation
DO NOT USE BLOCK CAPITALS FOR LARGE AMOUNTS OF TEXT AS IT’S QUITE HARD TO READ.
...
- government - see government
- minister, never Minister, unless part of a specific job title, like Minister for the Cabinet Office
- department or ministry - never Department or Ministry, unless referring to a specific one: Ministry of Justice, for example
- white paper, green paper, command paper, House of Commons paper
- budget, autumn statement, spring statement, unless referring to and using the full name of a specific statement - for example, “2016 Budget”
- sections or schedules within specific named acts, regulations or orders
- director general (no hyphen), deputy director, director, unless in a specific job title
- group and directorate, unless referring to a specific group or directorate: the Commercial Directorate, for example
- departmental board, executive board, the board
- policy themes like sustainable communities, promoting economic growth, local enterprise zones
- general mention of select committees (but do cap specific ones - see above)
- the military
chair of governors
Lower case.
chairman, chairwoman, chairperson
Lower case in text. Upper case in titles: Spencer Tracy, Chairman, GDS.
checkbox
Not .check box'.
chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear (CBRN) materials
Lower case. Use upper case for the acronym.
childcare
Lower case.
childminder, childminding
One word.
Civil Service
Upper case.
civil servants
Lower case.
click
Do not use 'click' when talking about user interfaces because not all users click. Use 'select'.
You can use 'right-click' if the user needs to right-click to open up a list of options to progress through the user journey.
CO2
Use capital letters and a regular 2.????
code of practice
Lower case.
commercial software
(UKHSA) Confidence interval
Spell out on first appearance then use CI.
Replace hyphen indicating range with 'to'Not “third-party software”. Also use “commercial” for types of software, for example “commercial word processor”.
consultation responses
Lower case.
continuous improvement
Lower case.
contractions
Avoid negative contractions like can’t and don’t. Many users find them harder to read, or misread them as the opposite of what they say. Use cannot, instead of can’t.
Avoid should’ve, could’ve, would’ve, they’ve too. These can also be hard to read.
co-operation
Hyphenated.
council
Use lower case when writing about local councils in general. Use capitals for the official name of a local council. For example ‘Reading Borough Council’, ‘Warwick District Council’ and ‘Swanage Town Council’.
Council Tax
Upper case.
countries and territories
When referring to a country or territory, use the names listed in the country register or territory register.
COVID-19
Upper case. Do not use:
- ‘Covid-19’ with only the first letter capitalised
- ‘covid-19’ lower case
- ‘coronavirus’ as ‘COVID-19’ is the specific condition
critical worker
Lower case.
Used to define workers critical to an emergency response whose children get prioritised for school attendance. It is not the same as an ‘essential worker’.
Use ‘critical worker’ only in relation to educational provision.
Do not use ‘keyworker’.
cyber bullying
Two words. Lower case.
D
data
Treat as a singular noun: The data is stored on a secure server.
data centre
Not 'datacentre'.
data set
Not 'dataset'.
data store
Not 'datastore'.
Dates
- use upper case for months: January, February
- do not use a comma between the month and year: 4 June 2017
- when space is an issue - in tables or publication titles, for example - you can use truncated months: Jan, Feb
- we use ‘to’ in date ranges - not hyphens, en rules or em dashes. For example:
- tax year 2011 to 2012
- Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm (put different days on a new line, do not separate with a comma)
- 10 November to 21 December
- do not use 'quarter' for dates, use the months: ‘department expenses, Jan to Mar 2013’
- when referring to today (as in a news article) include the date: ‘The minister announced today (14 June 2012) that…’
department
Lower case except when in the title: the Department of Health and Social Care.
devolved administrations
Lower case.
director
Lower case in text. Upper case in titles: Spencer Tracy, Director, GDS.
disabled people
Not ‘the disabled’ or ‘people with disabilities’.
Read more about words to use and avoid when writing about disability.
E
the Earth
Upper case for the Earth, Planet Earth and Earth sciences, with lower case for ‘the’.
East End (London)
Upper case.
eg, etc and ie
eg can sometimes be read aloud as ‘egg’ by screen reading software. Instead use ‘for example’ or ‘such as’ or ‘like’ or ‘including’ - whichever works best in the specific context.
...
ie - used to clarify a sentence - is not always well understood. Try (re)writing sentences to avoid the need to use it. If that is not possible, use an alternative such as ‘meaning’ or ‘that is’.
One word.
Email addresses
Write email addresses in full, in lower case and as active links. Do not include any other words in the link text.
ethnic minorities
When writing about ethnicity, refer to ethnic minority groups individually, rather than as a single group. Where it’s absolutely necessary to group people from different ethnic minority backgrounds, use ‘ethnic minorities’ or ‘people from ethnic minority backgrounds.’
Do not use the terms BAME (black, Asian and minority ethnic) and BME (black and minority ethnic). These terms emphasise certain ethnic minority groups (Asian and black) and exclude others (mixed, other and white ethnic minority groups).
European Commission
euros, the euro
Lower case, if referring to the currency.
etc
See eg, etc and ie
Excel spreadsheet
Upper case because Excel is a brand namename (like PowerPoint and Word).
(UKHSA) See comprehensive guidance on how to publish accessible spreadsheets.
executive director
Lower case in text. Upper case in titles: Spencer Tracy, Executive Director, GDS.
extra-curricular
Hyphenated.
F
FAQs (frequently asked questions)
Do not use FAQs on GOV.UK. If you write content by starting with user needs, you will not need to use FAQs.
finance and procurement
fire and rescue service
Lower case.
foot and mouth disease
Lower case.
Freedom of Information
You can make a Freedom of Information (FOI) request, but not a request under the FOI Act.
G
Gender
Make sure text is gender neutral wherever possible, such as ‘them’, ‘their’ or ‘they’.
If you do need to refer to gender, use ‘women’ and ‘men’ rather than ‘males’ and ‘females’. For example, ‘33% of our senior leaders are women’.
Geography and regions
Use lower case for north, south, east and west, except when they’re part of a name or recognised region.
...
(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’.
Also ‘Welsh Government’, as it’s the full title.
GOV.UK
All upper case.
Great Britain
Refers only to England, Scotland and Wales and does not include Northern Ireland.
...
Use ‘Great Britain’ in subsequent mentions on the page.
Britain
Use UK and United Kingdom in preference to Britain and British (UK business, UK foreign policy, ambassador and high commissioner). But British embassy, not UK embassy.
Group
Upper case for names of groups, directorates and organisations: Knowledge and Innovation Group.
Lower case when a group has a very generic title like working group or research team.
Gypsies
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 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.
...
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.
...
- 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
...
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.
(UKHSA) Is this amendable if the unit is very long, 4 characters or more...?
Abbreviating kilograms to kg is fine - you do not need to spell it out.
...
Use Celsius for temperature: 37°C
metadata
Not “meta data”'meta data'.
metaphors
See words to avoid
MHz
Not “Mhz”.
Midlands
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.
military
Lower case.
Millions
Always use million in money (and billion): £138 million.
Use Use millions in phrases: millions of people.
...
Do not abbreviate million to m.minister
money
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
****
Numbered list
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.
Months
See 'Dates'.
multi-ethnic
Hyphenated.
multi-year funding
Hyphenated.
N
N/A
Separate with a slash. Only use in tables.
(UKHSA) Should it be lower case?
the north, the north of England
Lower case.
north-east, north-west
Lower case, hyphenated.
Numbers
Use ‘one’ unless you’re talking about a step, a point in a list or another situation where using the numeral makes more sense: ‘in point 1 of the design instructions’.
Write all other numbers in numerals (including 2 to 9) except where it’s part of a common expression like ‘one or two of them’ where numerals would look strange.
If a number starts a sentence, write it out in full (Thirty-four, for example) except where it starts a title or subheading.
For numerals over 999 - insert a comma for clarity: 9,000
Spell out common fractions like one-half.
Use a % sign for percentages: 50%
Use a 0 where there’s no digit before the decimal point.
Use ‘500 to 900’ and not ‘500-900’ (except in tables).
Use MB for anything over 1MB: 4MB not 4096KB.
Use KB for anything under 1MB: 569KB not 0.55MB.
Keep it as accurate as possible and up to 2 decimal places: 4.03MB.
Addresses: use ‘to’ in address ranges: 49 to 53 Cherry Street.
Ordinal numbers
Spell out first to ninth. After that use 10th, 11th and so on.
In tables, use numerals throughout.
Numbered list
- Use 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.
- the full stop.
- Leave an empty line before the numbers start, and one afterwards.
- Sub-items need an indent of 2 spaces.
(UKHSA) If the numbers aren't displaying in Markdown put a backslash after them – 1\., 2\. and so on
O
online
One word.
or
Do not use slashes instead of 'or'. For example, 'Do this 3/4 times'.
Organisations
Use the singular verb form when referring to organisations by name. Use ‘they’ when replacing an organisation name with a pronoun.
For example: ‘HMPO is the sole issuer of UK passports. They will send your new passport within 3 weeks’
The definite article can be used when referring to the organisation by its full name, but should not be used with the organisation’s acronym: ‘You should contact the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency if…’ but ‘You should contact DVSA if…’
You should only use ‘we’ if it’s clear which organisation you’re referring to.
Read more about when to use ‘we’ in content.
Use local council, instead of local authority, where possible. See also council.
(UKHSA) Refer to 'the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA)' on first mention, then UKHSA (without 'the') thereafter.
P
Parliament
Upper case.
Upper case. No need to explain the acronym.
Per cent
Use per cent not percent. Percentage is one word. Always use % with a number.
Planet Earth
Upper case.
(UKHSA) Please
Do not use 'please' in instructions.
police
Lower case, even when referring to ‘the police’.
policy statement
Lower case.
PowerPoint
Upper case because PowerPoint is a brand name.
public health
Lower case.
Q
Quotes and speech marks
In long passages of speech, open quotes for every new paragraph, but close quotes only at the end of the final paragraph.
Single quotes
Use single quotes:
- in headlines
- for unusual terms - only for the first mention
- when referring to words
- when referring to publications
- when referring to notifications such as emails or alerts
For example: Download the publication ‘Understanding Capital Gains Tax’ (PDF, 360KB).
Double quotes
Use double quotes in body text for direct quotations.
Block quotes
Use the block quote Markdown for quotes longer than a few sentences.
R
References
References should be easy to understand by anyone, not just specialists.
They should follow the style guide. When writing a reference:
- do not use italics
- use single quote marks around titles
- write out abbreviations in full: page not p, Nutrition Journal not Nutr J.
- use plain English, for example use ‘and others’ not ‘et al’
- do not use full stops after initials or at the end of the reference
If the reference is available online, make the title a link and include the date you accessed the online version:
Corallo AN and others. ‘A systematic review of medical practice variation in OECD countries’ Health Policy 2014: volume 114, pages 5-14 (viewed on 18 November 2014)
(UKHSA) Use 'to' rather than a hyphen in the page range. We number references and use numbered citations in round brackets in the main text to refer to them.
(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
S
Scientific names
Capitalise the first letter of the first part of the scientific name. Do not use italics.
(UKHSA) Italics permissible in PDFs.
seasons
spring, summer, autumn, winter are lower case.
section 2
As in part of an act or a strategy.
(UKHSA) In body copy refer to Chapter, Figure and Table with capitals when its a specific one, but chapters, figures and tables for plurals.
semicolons
Do not use semicolons as they are often mis-read. Long sentences using semicolons should be broken up into separate sentences instead.
Sentence length
Do not use long sentences. Check sentences with more than 25 words to see if you can split them to make them clearer.
Read more about short sentences.
sign in or log in
Use sign in rather than log in (verb) for calls-to-action where users enter their details to access a service.
Do not use login as a noun - say what the user actually needs to enter (like username, password, National Insurance number). You can use it as a noun if it’s part of a name such as GOV.UK One Login or NHS login.
south, the south of England
Lower case.
south-east, south-west
Lower case, hyphenated.
spaces
One space after a full stop, not 2.
Speech marks
See 'Quotes and speech marks'.
Statistics
Read Style.ONS to find out how to write about statistics. This has been produced by the Office for National Statistics for all members of the Government Statistical Service.
steps
See Bullet points and steps
strategy
Lower case. Do not capitalise a named strategy: national health and welfare strategy.
Summaries
Summaries should:
- be 160 characters or less
- end with a full stop
- not repeat the title or body text
- be clear and specific
T
team
Lower case: youth offending team, Behavioural Insights team.
technical terms
Use technical terms where you need to. They’re not jargon. You just need to explain what they mean the first time you use them.
Read more about writing for specialists.
Telephone numbers
Use Telephone: 011 111 111 or Mobile: - not Mob:.
Use spaces between city and local exchange. Here are the different formats to use:
01273 800 900
020 7450 4000
0800 890 567
07771 900 900
077718 300 300
+44 (0)20 7450 4000
+39 1 33 45 70 90
When a number is memorable, group the numbers into easily remembered units: 0800 80 70 60.
Temperature
Use Celsius: 37°C
Times
- use ‘to’ in time ranges, not hyphens, en rules or em dashes: 10am to 11am (not 10-11am)
- 5:30pm (not 1730hrs)
- midnight (not 00:00)
- midday (not 12 noon, noon or 12pm)
- 6 hours 30 minutes
Midnight is the first minute of the day, not the last. You should consider using '11:59pm' to avoid confusion about a single, specific time.
For example, 'You must register by 11:59pm on Tuesday 14 June' can only be read one way, but “You must register by midnight on Tuesday 14 June” can be read in two ways (the end of Monday 13, or end of Tuesday 14).
Titles
Page titles should:
- be 65 characters or less
- be unique, clear and descriptive
- be front-loaded and optimised for search
- use a colon to break up longer titles
- not contain dashes or slashes
- not have a full stop at the end
- not be questions
- not use acronyms unless they are well-known, like EU
Travellers
Upper case because Irish Travellers are legally recognised as an ethnic group. New age travellers is lower case.
U
UK government
Never HM government.
URL
Upper case. No need to explain the acronym.
user ID
Lower case ‘user’.
USA
Upper case. Not ‘US’.
username
Not 'user name'.
V
W
webchat
One word. Not ‘web chat’.
webpage
One word.
web server
Not 'webserver'.
the west, western Europe
Lower case.
West End (London)
Upper case.
WhatsApp not Whatsapp.
wifi
Lower case, no hyphen.
Word document
Upper case, because it’s a brand name (compare PowerPoint).
Words to avoid
See 'Banned words'.
Avoid using metaphors - they do not say what you actually mean and lead to slower comprehension of your content. For example:
- drive – use ‘create’, ‘cause’ or ‘encourage’ instead (you can only drive vehicles, not schemes or people)
- drive out (unless it’s cattle) – use ‘stop’, ‘avoid’ or ‘prevent’
- going/moving forward – use ‘from now on’ or ‘in the future’ (it’s unlikely we are giving travel directions)
- in order to, usually not needed – do not use it
- one-stop shop – use ‘website’ (we are government, not a retail outlet)
- ring fencing – use ‘separate’ or when talking about budgets use ‘money that will be spent on x’
With all of these words you can generally replace them by breaking the term into what you’re actually doing. Be open and specific.
Read more about plain English and words to avoid.
World War 1, World War 2
Upper case and numbers.
Y
year 1, year 2
Lower case.
Writing about ethnicity
TBC(UKHSA) If the numbers aren't displaying in Markdown put a backslash after them – 1\., 2\. and so on