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:
- main style guide - https://www.gov.uk/guidance/style-guide/a-to-z-of-gov-uk-style
- technical style guide https://www.gov.uk/guidance/style-guide/technical-content-a-to-z
- ethnicity style guide – https://www.ethnicity-facts-figures.service.gov.uk/style-guide
The following list largely ignores the technical guide mostly for developers) and
Entries in plain text are copied verbatim from their GDS source. Entries in italics and preceded by (UKHSA) have been added by UKHSA Publishing.
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.
If you think an acronym is well known, please provide evidence that 80% of the UK population will understand and commonly use it. Evidence can be from search analytics or testing of a representative sample.
Do not use full stops in abbreviations: BBC, not B.B.C.
(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.
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:
- write the town and postcode on separate lines
- not use commas at the end of each line
- write the country on the line after the postcode, not before
- only include a country if there is a reasonable chance that the user will be writing to the address from a different country
For example:
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’.
Content on the site often makes a direct appeal to citizens and businesses to get involved or take action: ‘You can contact HMRC by phone and email’ or ‘Pay your car tax’.
(UKHSA) Do not use 'please' in instructions.
ages
Do not use hyphens in ages, so '14 year old' not 14-year-old
Unless to avoid confusion, for example, ‘a class of 15 16-year-old students took the A level course’ can be written as ‘15 students aged 16 took the A level course’.
Use ‘aged 4 to 16 years’, not ‘4-16 years’.
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
advance – use ‘improve’ or something more specific
collaborate – use ‘work with’
combat (unless military) – use ‘solve’, ‘fix’ or something more specific
commit/pledge – use ‘plan to x’, or ‘we’re going to x’ where ‘x’ is a specific verb
counter – use ‘prevent’ or try to rephrase a solution to a problem
deliver – use ‘make’, ‘create’, ‘provide’ or a more specific term (pizzas, post and services are delivered - not abstract concepts like improvements)
deploy (unless it’s military or software) – use ‘use’ or if putting something somewhere use ‘build’, ‘create’ or ‘put into place’
dialogue – use ‘spoke to’ or ‘discussion’
disincentivise – use ‘discourage’ or ‘deter’
empower – use ‘allow’ or ‘give permission’
facilitate – say something specific about how you’re helping - for example, use ‘run’ if talking about a workshop
focus – use ‘work on’ or ‘concentrate on’
foster (unless it’s children) – use ‘encourage’ or ‘help’
impact (unless talking about a collision) – use ‘have an effect on’ or ‘influence’
incentivise – use ‘encourage’ or ‘motivate’
initiate – use ‘start’ or ‘begin’
key (unless it unlocks something) – usually not needed but can use ‘important’ or ‘significant’
land (unless you’re talking about aircraft) – depending on context, use ‘get’ or ‘achieve’
leverage (unless in the financial sense) – use ‘influence’ or ‘use’
liaise – use ‘work with’ or ‘work alongside’
overarching – usually superfluous but can use ‘encompassing’
progress – use ‘work on’ or ‘develop’ or ‘make progress’
promote (unless talking about an ad campaign or career advancement) – use ‘recommend’ or ‘support’
robust (unless talking about a sturdy object) – depending on context, use ‘well thought out’ or ‘comprehensive’
slim down (unless talking about one’s waistline) – use ‘make smaller’ or ‘reduce the size’
streamline – use ‘simplify’ or ‘remove unnecessary administration’
strengthening (unless it’s strengthening bridges or other structures) – depending on context, use ‘increasing funding’ or ‘concentrating on’ or ‘adding more staff’
tackle (unless talking about fishing tackle or a physical tackle, like in rugby) – use ‘stop’, ‘solve’ or ‘deal with’
transform – describe what you’re doing to change the thing
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:
- Select Start.
- Enter your information then select Done.
Use inverted commas when referring to interface elements in non-instructional contexts, for example: “The ‘Done’ button will always be at the bottom of the page.”
Use bold sparingly – using too much will make it difficult for users to know which parts of your content they need to pay the most attention to.
Do not use bold in other situations, for example to emphasise text.
To emphasise words or phrases, you can:
- 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.’
Use [square brackets] for explanatory notes in reported speech or for placeholder text:
“Thank you [Foreign Minister] Mr Smith.”
“Witnessed by [signature of witness].”
(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:
- you always use a lead-in line
- you use more than one bullet
- the bullets make sense running on from the lead-in line
- you use lower case at the start of the bullet
- you do not use more than one sentence per bullet - use commas or dashes to expand on an item
- you do not put ‘or’ or ‘and’ after the bullets
- you do not make the whole bullet a link if it’s a long phrase
- you do not put a semicolon at the end of a bullet
- there is no full stop after the last bullet
Bullets should normally form a complete sentence following from the lead text. But it’s sometimes necessary to add a short phrase to clarify whether all or some of the points apply. For example, ‘You can only register a pension scheme that is one of the following:’
The number and type of examples in a list may lead the user to believe the list is exhaustive. This can be dealt with by:
- checking if there are other conditions (or if the list is actually complete)
- listing the conditions which apply to the most users and removing the rest
- consider broader terms in the list which capture more scenarios (and could make the list exhaustive)
- creating a journey to specialist content to cover the remaining conditions
(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.
You do not need a lead-in line and you can use links and downloads (with appropriate Markdown) in steps.
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.
Always use sentence case, even in page titles and service names. The exceptions to this are proper nouns, including:
- departments (specific government departments - see below)
- the Civil Service, with lower case for ‘the’
- specific job titles
- titles like Mr, Mrs, Dr, the Duke of Cambridge (the duke at second mention); Pope Francis, but the pope
- Rt Hon (no full stops)
- buildings
- place names
- brand names
- faculties, departments, institutes and schools
- names of groups, directorates and organisations: Knowledge and Innovation Group
- Parliament, the House
- titles of specific acts or bills: Housing Reform Bill (but use ‘the act’ or ‘the bill’ after the first time you use the full act or bill title)
- names of specific, named government schemes known to people outside government: Right to Buy, King’s Awards for Enterprise
- specific select committees: Public Administration Select Committee
- header cells in tables: Annual profits
- titles of books (and within single quotes), for example, ‘The Study Skills Handbook’
- World War 1 and World War 2 (note caps and numbers)
Do not capitalise:
- 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
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.
etc can usually be avoided. Try using ‘for example’ or ‘such as’ or ‘like’ or ‘including’. Never use etc at the end of a list starting with these words.
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 name.
(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.
So, the south-west (compass direction), but the South West (administrative region).
Use lower case for the north, the south of England, the south-west, north-east Scotland, south Wales, the west, western Europe, the far east, south-east Asia.
Use upper case for East End, West End (London), East Midlands, West Midlands, Middle East, Central America, South America.
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’.
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 (England, Scotland and Wales)’ in the first instance. Where possible, you should also make a specific point of saying that Northern Ireland is not included.
For example ‘These rules apply to Great Britain (England, Scotland and Wales). This 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 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
****
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.
(UKHSA) If the numbers aren't displaying in Markdown put a backslash after them – 1\., 2\. and so on