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 which is mostly for developers and is based on the main style guide. A separate section at the end addresses the ethnicity style guide.
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.
Scientific abbreviations we apply 2 rules. In public-facing documents such as guidance, always spell out:
- > – greater than
- < – less than
≤ equal to or less than
≥ equal to or greater than
- ~ – approximately or about
- vs – versus
- CI – confidence interval
In public-facing guidance, prefer Plain English: ‘over’ or ‘under’ (over 40, under 5), if it’s units, ‘more than 2 litres’ and ‘less than 3 visits’.
If used widely in scientific documents, err on the side of spelling them out but allow them 1) in tables to save space 2) if they occur frequently in one sentence or paragraph where spelling out every instance makes it harder to read.
In HTML, consider using them and providing hovertext.
~ Always write out as either ‘approximately’ (for a scientific audience) or ‘about’ (for a popular audience).
V, vs. Spell out vs or v as ‘versus’ with brackets and no full stop (vs) on its first appearance, then use the abbreviation vs with no full stop. (Use hovertext in HTML.)
Spell out confidence interval on first appearance and then the abbreviation (CI). Use CI thereafter.
CIs usually come to us with dashes indicating range. Replace these with ‘to’.
HTML Markdown for abbreviations
Use HTML markdown for all these abbreviations (and units of measurement) so that >, <, vs, g, cm, kg and so on will have explanatory hovertext.
(UKHSA) accompanying
Where possible accompany graphs in a report with a separate spreadsheet.
Under each graph write 'Data for this graph can be seen in Table X ofthe accompanying spreadsheet'.
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.
(UKHSA) This is a content appropriate decision for editors to make. Most of our content is scientific or highly scientific and written in the passive voice. It would be unwise and impractical to change this.
Only consider changing text written in the passive voice to active in (relatively short) guidance or easy reads where you are sure a) it's appropriate b) you can ensure it will be consistent throughout the doc.
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.
aerobic colony counts (ACCs)
(UKHSA) cap down.
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.
(UKHSA) Appendix
In text, when referring to Appendix 1, 2, 3 etc, use capitals because it's a proper noun (see Appendix 3).
If more than one, cap down - appendics 3 and 4.
(Same with Chapter, Figure, Table but not section, which remains capped down.)
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
(UKHSA) bank holiday
Capped down. If there's a season or month, then that is capped up, but the words bank and holiday are always capped down, as in: 'August bank holiday deliveries warning notice.'
See UK bank holidays.
Banned words
UKHSA) GDS calls these 'banned words'. In practice we use some of them, but take the general point that we should avoid bureaucratic cliches and jargon where possible.
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
(UKHSA) In practice we do us bold to highlight some words, especially in instructions, especially in safety critical documents.
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) The terms ‘bracket’ and ‘parenthesis’ are often used interchangeably to describe either ( ) or [ ]. The Oxford Dictionaries state that these ( ) are ‘parentheses’, and these [ ] are ‘brackets’. This terminology is also commonly used in mathematics.
(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).
Square brackets
(UKHSA) If authors need to put brackets inside brackets - also known as 'nested parentheses' - they can be square brackets. This often happens in scientific stats.
Bottles and teats sterilised with the hypochlorite solution method had lower bacterial colony counts (281 bottles [78%] and 253 teats [70%] had 5 or fewer colonies on testing) compared with the boiling method (106 bottles [46%] and 77 teats [34%] had 5 or fewer colonies on testing).
It is preferable to avoid using them, so ideally rewrite the sentence so as to avoid them. The example above could possibly be redone as a bullet list with a colon after 'counts', thus eliminating the need for square brackets.
The following sentence could be rewritten to avoid the secondary brackets by either writing 'these include' before the list or converting the methods to a bullet list.
Creagh and others examined the effectiveness of different methods of sterilisation (sodium hypochlorite solution, modified sodium hypochlorite solution [not using the recommended method], boiling, modified boiling [not using the recommended method], scalding, or other) on bacterial contamination of baby feeding bottles and teats used by 100 mothers in Ireland in 1976 (6).
Could be written as:
Creagh and others examined the effectiveness of different methods of sterilisation on bacterial contamination of baby feeding bottles and teats used by 100 mothers in Ireland in 1976 (6). These included:
- sodium hypochlorite solution
- modified sodium hypochlorite solution (not using the recommended method)
- boiling
- modified boiling (not using the recommended method)
- scalding
- other
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
(UKHSA) in some cases we capitalise Protected Titles, that is where a particular role is specified in legislation, for example Food Examiner in the 'Ready to eat' guidelines.
chair of governors
Lower case.
chairman, chairwoman, chairperson
Lower case in text. Upper case in titles: Spencer Tracy, Chairman, GDS.
(UKHSA) chair
On the basis of the above, 'chair' when referring to the chair of a meeting.
(UKHSA) Change history, or version control
Relatively small changes should go in the change note.
Avoid Version control-type layouts which exist solely to list names - these should go in an Acknowledgements section.
If necessary to record how guidance has changed over time, consider this layout.
(UKHSA) Chapter
In text, when referring to Chapter 1, 2, 3 etc, use capitals because it's a proper noun (see Chapter 3).
If more than one, cap down - chapters 3 and 4.
(Same with Appendix, Figure, Table).
(UKHSA) Chart titles
For chart, graph, table, infographic titles in HTML, use #### to make it bold.
The entire title is H4 / bold, with no full stop at the end.
If the title has more than one sentence, consider making the second, 3rd etc sentences plain text below the bolded title.
Use a full stop rather than a colon after the figure e.g. Figure 1.
(UKHSA) Chart elements order
Ideally, graphs or other visual elements follow this order:
- Title
- Image + Caption
- Descriptive text
- Notes
checkbox
Not check box'.
chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear (CBRN) materials
Lower case. Use upper case for the acronym.
Chemical formulae / CO2
GDS says use normal sized in CO2, so in public-facing documents use this.
In all other writing and all other chemical formulae, use the traditional form i.e. subscript numbers, NO2, H20, and so on.
In HTML use <sub><\sub> markdown.
childcare
Lower case.
childminder, childminding
One word.
Civil Service
Upper case.
civil servants
Lower case.
(UKHSA) clade I, clade II
Cap down the c in clade I, clade II, but use (capitalised) Roman numerals, I, II and so on.
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 https://www.gov.uk/guidance/style-guide/a-to-z-of-gov-uk-style#co2
(UKHSA) Use capital letters and subscript numbers as per standard scientific practice.
Achieve subscript in Markdown by <sub>2</sub>.
code of practice
Lower case.
(UKHSA) Competent officer
(To be clarified)
Confidence interval
(UKHSA) Spell out confidence interval on first appearance and then the abbreviation (CI). Use CI thereafter.
CIs usually come to us with dashes indicating range. Replace these with ‘to’.
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
(UKHSA) Sometimes we use COVID without 19, as in COVID-related.
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’.
(UKHSA) CTAD
CTAD Chlamydia Surveillance System (this is the registered name of the surveillance system)
When referring to the surveillance system use ‘CTAD Chlamydia Surveillance System’.
‘CTAD data’ can be used when referring to the data.
Markdown: *[CTAD]: CTAD Chlamydia Surveillance System
cyber bullying
Two words. Lower case.
D
data
Treat as a singular noun: The data is stored on a secure server.
(UKHSA) Tip: Search the document for ‘data are’, ‘data were’, ‘these data’. If you find them, chances are you'll have to check the whole document.
(UKHSA) Database
One word.
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
Years
Always convert partial years to full, so 2019/20, should at least be 2019 to 2020.
Ideally, replace / with 'to', but in some places this is impractical and gets too cluttered, as in: 2019/2020 to 2020/2021.
department
Lower case except when in the title: the Department of Health and Social Care.
devolved administrations
Lower case.
director
Like 'chair', lower case in text. Upper case only in titles: Spencer Tracy, Director, GDS.
disabled people
Read more about words to use and avoid when writing about disability.
(UKHSA)
General principles:
- Avoid generalisations
- Be as specific as you can
- Attribute agency
So never write 'the' followed by a category, never write 'the deaf', 'the blind', 'the disabled'.
Humanise phrases by, at the very least, adding 'people' at the start of the phrase, so 'people with disabilities' or 'person with visual impairment'.
Consider whether you even need the term. Some people claim disability benefits but don't consider themselves disabled. Consider using ‘people with health conditions or impairments’ if more appropriate.
Never use negative language which robs people of agency – people who 'suffer from' etc. Use a neutral phrase, such as 'people with', 'people who have'...
In the same spirit, never write 'wheelchair bound', say 'wheelchair users', 'people who use wheelchairs'.
Regarding cancer and other chronic illnesses, don't use emotive language like 'fight cancer' and so no.
List of words to use and words to avoid - note how many of the approved phrases start with 'people who...', 'person who...', talking about people as individuals not anonymous parts of some sweeping category.
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’.
(UKHSA) EC regulations
Remove the No. signifying number. So 'Regulation (EC) No. 178/200210)' becomes 'Regulation (EC) 178/200210)'.
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.
(UKHSA) When an email address comes at the end of a sentence, omit the full stop. This is because if people copy an email address, a full stop at the end stops it from working.
Actively cap down email addresses unless there's a good reason to retain caps.
In HTML, do not mark up an email as a link in the form [email address](mailto:address). Use the correct markdown, namely tags at the start and end, thus: <mail@ukhsa.gov..uk>
(UKHSA) En dashes
When en dashes are used to create a parenthesis, put a gap either side of the dash.
For example, a man who has reported a history of injection drug use – but who also reports having sex with men – will be assigned to the ‘sex between men’ group, rather than the ‘other’ group.
Ideally, use parentheses, that is, brackets.
Do not use a dash or en dash to introduce numbers as it can be mistaken for a minus. Use a colon or phrase it so no punctuation is needed.
ethnicity
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).
(UKHSA)
Capping down Cap down ethnic groups unless there's a geographical term, so white and black, black Caribbean - whereas African, Asian and so on are capitalised.
'Black' as an adjective or category is capped down.
Survey categories If the terms refer to those used in an UKHSA survey or study, still cap them down but, in order to avoid ambiguity between general text and use of a survey category, use single quote marks for the latter, 'white', 'black' and so on.
This includes 'other'.
euros, the euro
(UKHSA) Use the correct symbol €.
When referring to the currency, use lower case.
etc
See eg, etc and ie
Excel spreadsheet
Upper case because Excel is a brand name (like PowerPoint and Word).
(UKHSA) See comprehensive guidance on how to publish accessible spreadsheets.
executive director
Like chair and 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.
(UKHSA) Avoid FAQs wherever possible. Rewrite question headings as plain statements. Beware authors who say they've done this but have only removed the question mark, that is, be aware that word order also has to change when converting a heading from a question to a statement.
But in some places an FAQ may be necessary. Assess on the basis of user need.
(UKHSA) Figure
In text, when referring to Figure 1, 2, 3 etc, use capitals because it's a proper noun (see Figure 3).
If more than one, cap down - figures 3 and 4.
(Same with Chapter, Figure, Table but not section, which remains capped down.)
fire and rescue service
Lower case.
(UKHSA) Flowchart
Flow charts need a detailed and literal text equivalent of every step of the process, all the questions and all the answers. A simple summary, or pointing to the data somewhere else, isn’t enough.
The full written transcript of a flow chart can either be within a PDF:
Or as a separate HTML attachment:
(UKHSA) Foetus / fetus, Foetal / fetal
Foetus is the British spelling, fetus the American spelling, but the American spelling is more often used in scientific papers and technical content.
Because there's inconsistency across GOV.UK and the NHS website, stick to what the authors present.
N.B. NHS Fetal Anomaly Screening Programme (FASP)
(UKHSA) -fold - two-fold, ten-fold
This is an archaic usage so try to avoid it by writing more clearly - doubled, tripled, increased by ten times.
If it has to be used, write out as words, that is not digits – two-fold, five-fold, ten-fold
foot and mouth disease
Lower case.
(UKHSA) Footnotes
Avoid footnotes. Wherever possible include footnote material in the text, where it is referenced. Use parentheses either within the sentence or as a standalone sentence.
If the footnote is a link to a page or document, incorporate it into the text as a link, linking the relevant text.
HTML
If, after considering these options, a footnote is still required, use the correct markdown. Add [^1] where you want the footnote to go. And then anywhere in the text, though probably at the bottom for convenience, add [^1]: (note the colon) followed by the text of the footnote, so - [^1]: See rotovirus data 2023 and 2024. Note how the footnote ends with an arrow taking the user back to the location in the text.
We are more tolerant of footnotes in PDFs but the same decision tree applies: 1) try and insert it into the main text where required 2) if it's only to a link, consider embedding the link in the relevant bit of txt. If these fail, use Word's footnote functionality.
Tip: When creating a footnote in Word, people often encounter a big gap between the foonote separator (the line above footnotes) and the footnotes themselves. This page shows how to eliminate that gap.
(UKHSA) Forward slash
Never use a forward slash.
In year periods replace with 'to' (and spell out the years in full) so 2020/21 becomes 2020 to 2021. Ideally, specify what kind of year, financial year, academic year, calendar year, flue or norovirus season and so on.
In data describing umbers out of a larger total, replace forward slash with 'out of' so 27/360 becomes '27 out of 360'.
In tables, for space reasons, you can leave /, so '27/360' (as abbreviations of months are also allowed).
Fractions
Write out and hyphenate fractions: two-thirds, three-quarters.
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.
good hygienic practice (GHP)
(UKHSA) cap down.
(UKHSA) gonorrhoea
UK spelling.
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.
(UKHSA) Sometimes people include (GOV.UK) at the end of link text. This isn't necessary, always remove this (and the names of any other sites) from link text.
(UKHSA) Graphs
Style rules apply to graphs which, where possible, should use sentence case text, replace forward slash or hyphens with 'to', and so on.
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.
(UKHSA) Greater than or equal to
Use the correct symbol ≥.
Place next to the number with no gap ≥5.
Use editorial judgement. In public-facing guidance spell it out. In scientific documents where it occurs a lot, and in tables for reasons of space, probably leave it as a symbol.
Green Book
(UKHSA) Leave capped down in page and attachment titles., as per existing practice (under review).
Cap up within text to avoid ambiguity and because it’s a working title.
Group
Upper case for names of groups, directorates and organisations i.e. when it's a proper noun: Knowledge and Innovation Group.
Lower case when a group has a very generic title like working group or research team i.e. when it's a common noun.
Ethnic groups are capped down unless referring to a geographical region.
(UKHSA) GUMCAD
GUMCAD STI Surveillance System (this is the registered name of the surveillance system).
When referring to the surveillance system use ‘GUMCAD STI Surveillance System’.
‘GUMCAD data’ can be used when referring to the data.
Markdown: *[GUMCAD]: GUMCAD STI Surveillance System.
Gypsies
Upper case because Gypsies are legally recognised as an ethnic group.
H
(UKHSA) HAIRS
The Human Animal Infections and Risk Surveillance (HAIRS) group - https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/hairs-risk-assessment-process
(UKHSA) HANDD
HIV and AIDS New Diagnoses Database (HANDD) - see this Official Stats page.
(UKHSA) HARS
HIV and AIDS Reporting System (HARS) (this is the registered name of the surveillance system).
When referring to the surveillance system, spell it out on first appearance - ‘HIV and AIDS Reporting System (HARS)’ - then use the acronym,
‘HARS data’ can be used when referring to the data..
Markdown: *[HARS]: HIV and AIDS Reporting System.
(UKHSA) Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point (HACCP)
John Manos says must be kept capped up.
hazardous waste registration
Lower case.
headteacher
One word. You can use head if the context is clear.
(UKHSA) health protection team
Lower case when a general common noun, upper case when used in a specific title (a proper noun)
Spell out on first appearance with abbreviation (HPT) in brackets, then use HPT or HPTs thereafter.
(UKHSA) health protection unit
Lower case when used as a common noun, upper case when naming a specific one i.e. a proper noun: North East and Central London Health Protection Unit.
helpdesk
Not 'help desk'.
homepage
One word, 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’.
(UKHSA)
Hyphenate compound adjectives when used before the noun but don't hyphenate afterwards - 'consult up-to-date guidance' but 'this guidance is up to date'.
UKHSA-specific phrases
laboratory-confirmed results
Hyphenated nouns
catch-up
follow-up
sign-off
I
ie
See eg, etc and ie
implementation period
Always lower case.
(UKHSA) In vitro and in vivo
Both two words, no hyphen.
In HTML they can't be italicised but in PDF apply italics as it helps distinguish the term from general text,
internet
Lower case.
Italics
(UKHSA)
HTML doesn't allow italics so technical terms, foreign phrases and species names are all forced to be plain text.
If italics were used to highlight the name of a document, scheme or initiative, use single quote marks.
PDF In PDFs we continue to italicise species names, Clostridium difficile and so on.
Italics can be used for species names in headings in PDF (obviously not in HTML).
J
(UKHSA) Jab
Obviously a popular term, appropriate for news story, press release, easy read.
In scientific documents prefer 'injection'.
Avoid 'inoculated' which is old fashioned.
Job titles
Specific job titles and ministers’ role titles are upper case: Minister for Housing, Home Secretary.
Some of these remain capitalised in the plural such as Home Secretaries.
Generic job titles and ministers’ role titles are lower case: director, minister.
(UKHSA) Almost general job descriptions should be capped down, health adviser, consultant and so on.
Jobs are only capped up if:
- it’s a specific title East Midlands Health Adviser
- it’s a role defined in legislation or regulations, such as Competent Officer, Food Examiner - check with the author whether this is the case
K
key stage
Lower case and numeral: key stage 4.
(UKHSA) See also school year groups where year is capped down, year 3, year 4 and so on - as is reception.
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
(UKHSA) Less than or equal to
Use the correct symbol ≤.
Place next to the number with no gap ≤5.
Use editorial judgement. In public-facing guidance probably spell it out. In scientific documents where it occurs a lot, and in tables for reasons of space, probably leave it as a symbol.
(UKHSA) Letters
Letters come in several formats:
- Letters coming from UKHSA use the UKHSA letter template.
- Letters designed to be adapted by GPs, HPTs etc and printed off, do not require the UKHSA template.
- Correspondence content types
Letters included as appendices in guidance should be taken out and made into individual stand-alone attachments - easier for users. See meningitis guidance.
Links in letters should generally be left naked, but you can use the shortened form i.e. start with gov.uk
HTML letters in the Correspondence content type are often for factual awareness of the target audience i.e. not to be printed or used as letters - https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/respiratory-syncytial-virus-rsv-vaccination-programmes-letter/introduction-of-new-nhs-vaccination-programmes-against-respiratory-syncytial-virus-rsv
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.
(UKHSA) Link text should be the full title of the target page. 'Further guidance is available at [TITLE]'. Don’t say ‘on GOV.UK’.
If linking to a GOV.UK page and using the exact title of the page, cap up the first word. So 'Find more information on the National norovirus and rotavirus surveillance reports: 2023 to 2024 season' where National is capped up to reflect the sentence case of the target page.
Some links come to us including GOV.UK or www.gov.uk at the end of the link text. Delete this 1) to avoid clutter and 2) because it is assumed our links should be to GOV.UK pages.
In the same way, if a link text ends with the name of any other website (NHS), (ONS), (WHO) remove these also.
In the same spirit don't write 'on the xxx website' - limit the link to the page title, or 'More information about x is available online'.
Do not write such and such 'is available on GOV.UK', so 'Further information about norovirus surveillance and rotavirus surveillance is available on GOV.UK' should be 'Find more information about norovirus surveillance and rotavirus surveillance'.
If possible, err on the side of keeping links to GOV.UK pages i.e. err away from linking to external sites.
Links: password protected or to foreign language sites
Links to Facebook or any other site which requires a login, add '(login required)' in the link text.
If linking to a page in a foreign language, indicate this in parentheses (in French) in the link text.
For example, ‘You can find information and guidance regarding the current outbreak of COVID-19 in France on the French Government’s COVID-19 pages (in French)’.
Users will expect a linked page to be in the same language as the origin page. It’s good practice to prepare users for a language change in their journey. It’s also important for accessibility so that screen readers can correctly pronounce content on the origin and destination page.
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.
(UKHSA) Long documents
Long documents are best broken up into discrete chapters. Examples:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/tuberculosis-in-england-2023-report-data-up-to-end-of-2022
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/english-surveillance-programme-antimicrobial-utilisation-and-resistance-espaur-report
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/climate-change-health-effects-in-the-uk
Consider putting a standardised phrase such as 'Back to menu' or 'Back to main page', with a link to the landing page, at the end of HTML chapters.
If referring to data in spreadsheets, use a standardised phrase such as 'See Table 5 in accompanying (data) spreadsheet'.= which links back to the landing page.
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)
(UKHSA) Exception for n= and p= where the number is flush against the = sign, as per standard scientific writing.
Use the minus sign for subtraction. In Word, type 2212 then Alt and x.
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 0215.
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.
(UKHSA) When units are long - 4 characters and over - you can add a space to make it easier to read: 724 kcals, 20,000 cfu/ml – This also allows them (in HTML) to be given hovertext, which can't be done if the unit is flush against the number.
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
(UKHSA) Spell out on its first appearance, so 37 degrees Celsius (37°C).
Measurements gap or space
When units are long - 4 characters and over - you can add a space to make it easier to read: 724 kcals, 20,000 cfu/ml
But these are exceptions. Shorter units remain as per GDS such as 2g, 3cm, 5kg.
(UKHSA) Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency
(UKHSA) Small p.
(UKHSA) Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV)
Cap down. See WHO and NHS usage.
metadata
Not 'meta data'.
Midlands
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.
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.
(UKHSA) Monkeypox
'mpox, the disease caused by the virus MPXV' https://www.gov.uk/guidance/monkeypox.
On its first appearance write 'mpox (monkeypox)' and thereafter just 'mpox' when referring to the disease.
If referring to the virus, write monkeypox virus (MPXV) and then the acronym thereafter.
Use Markdown to create hovertext for MPXV, *[MPXV]: monkeypox virus.
Cap down the c in clade I and clade II but use (capitalised) Roman numerals, I, II and so on.
Months
(UKHSA) Capitalise and spell out in full, unless space restrictions in a table.
multi-ethnic
Hyphenated.
multi-year funding
Hyphenated.
N
(UKHSA) n=
Do not use a space, so n=6. (Same with p=, c=, m=).
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.
(UKHSA) not
Some guidance documents require emphasis not to do something. Never use capitals, use bold.
(UKHSA) Notes for tables and charts
Do not use superscript symbols such as *, dagger, section, yen, dollar and so on.
Use [note 1] [note 2] format with the note capped down.
Always in square brackets - https://gss.civilservice.gov.uk/policy-store/releasing-statistics-in-spreadsheets/#section-6
Below the figure or table, use Note 1: capitalised, without the square brackets, followed by a colon, and then the note text starting with a capital.
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.
Number ranges
(UKHSA) Dashes indicating range should be written out as ‘to’.
No need to repeat the unit if it’s common terms like days, hours, minutes (3 to 4 days, 5 to 10 hours).
If it’s scientific units, consider repeating the unit name: 1°C to 5°C. But use with discretion i.e. don’t clutter up sentences unnecessarily.
Ordinal numbers
Spell out first to ninth. After that use 10th, 11th and so on.
In tables, use numerals throughout.
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
(UKHSA) Numbered paragraphs
If there's no user need, remove numbers from numbered paragraphs.
O
online
One word.
or
Do not use slashes instead of 'or'. For example, 'Do this 3/4 times'.
Or in steps or categories
(UKHSA) Sometimes guidance text lists a set of steps or bullets applying to a situation and then simply has 'or:' and another set of steps or bullets. In this case do 2 things 1) to avoid ambiguity and make clearer, consider amplifying the introductory sentence to flag this, something like 'There are two options for treatment' 2) Put Or on a new line with a capital letter and followed by a colon.
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
(UKHSA) p=
Do not use a space, so p=0.0005, as per standard scientific notation.
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.
Pertussis
Commonly referred to as whooping cough. Collections page.
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
Quarter
GDS says do not use 'quarter' for dates, use the months: ‘department expenses, Jan to Mar 2013’.
(UKHSA) In some of our reports this is impractical and we have to use Q1, Q2 and so on. Spell out the word quarter on its first appearance followed by Q, so: in quarter 1 (Q1)...'
Also on its first appearance, try to define what months the quarter refers to: 'in quarter 1 (Q1), January to March...'
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.
(UKHSA) For entire paragraph of quotes use the quote Markdown >. To keep a quote going over a line break put > in the space and next to the next paragraph.
>First paragraph
>Space
>Second 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
(UKHSA) Reception
Lower case, like year 1, year 2.
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) References
Use 'to' rather than a hyphen in the page range.
If text-format citations are written out in full (Smith and Jones, 2012) and are cluttering up the text, convert them to a numbered reference list at the end of the doc and replace the offending citations with numbers in round brackets.
Always use ‘and others’ to replace ‘et al’, i.e not ‘and colleagues’.
doi numbers - delete.
Cities of publication at end of references - delete.
When a paper is included in a volume of essays. put a full stop after the paper title, then In: (capital I and a colon) then the title of the book with single speech marks:
Michie S, Atkins L and West R (2014). ‘The behaviour change wheel: a guide to designing interventions’. In: ‘Antibiotics’ (second edition) Smith and Jones (editors)
Numbers of editions should be spelt out so second edition instead of 2nd edition. To declutter and cap down and avoid ambiguity, put this in brackets, as in the example above.
Year of publication:
If a standard reference put the year of publication after the journal name towards the end. However, sometimes you get a set of references by the same author or organisation where the date is important for distinguishing between them:
WHO (2012)
WHO (2013)
WHO (2014)
Or which distinguishes between different papers published in the same year:
Smith and Jones (2012a)
Smith and Jones (2012b)
In these cases, leave the year at the start (immediately after the authors) and change the position of all the other years to immediately after the authors in order to be consistent.
Viewed on
If references end with (accessed on) or (viewed on) these go in round brackets with no colon between it and the date, so (viewed on 14 January 2020).
Linking to the reference section
If you wish individual citations to go to individual references, you may, but it’s permissible just to link them all to the References heading i.e. the same link for all of them.
If the references list is long, consider linking to each 10th reference i.e. create a reference for references 1, 10, 20, 30 and soon.
References: Article number
E numbers in a reference indicate article number and should be written thus: volume 23, issue 15, article e0179572
(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
(UKHSA) Regularly
If a document advises users to do something (like wash their hands) regularly, ask the authors to be more specific - how often?
(UKHSA) Regulations
(UKHSA) Delete ‘No.’ so that ‘EU Regulation No. 2073/2005’ becomes ‘EU Regulation 2073/2005’.
(UKHSA) Responsible officer
Cap down - responsible officer. If the term occurs frequently, use the acronym RO.
(UKHSA) Resistant
(UKHSA) Avoid hyphens, even in compound adjectives, unless absolutely necessary. So:
rifampicin resistant
multidrug resistant
antibiotic resistant
(UKHSA) ReSST link text
NOT Access the ambulance syndromic surveillance bulletins here.
Write: Ambulance syndromic surveillance bulletins
S
Scientific names
Capitalise the first letter of the first part of the scientific name. Do not use italics.
(UKHSA) Italics permissible in PDFs.
(UKHSA) Genus names are capitalised but not related illnesses, so Salmonella has a capital if it's the genus of the organism but is salmonella if the disease (TBC).
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.
(UKHSA) Sources
To indicate the sources of a graph, put them in the Captions field of the image.
For a table or infographics, put Sources underneath a table.
Write Source followed by a colon if there’s one, Sources: if more than one.
End with a full stop whether there are one or many sources.
south, the south of England
Lower case.
south-east, south-west
Lower case, hyphenated.
spaces
One space after a full stop, not 2.
(UKHSA) Species names
Most living things are given a Latin name consisting of 2 words, for example Homo sapiens. The first word is the genus name and is always capitalised, the second is the species name.
When referring to all the species within a given genus, use a capital and follow with spp. which is short for ‘species. Salmonella spp. refers to all the species in the genus Salmonella.
More casually, salmonella with a small s can be used as the collective noun of all salmonella species.
A disease causes by a bacterium is indicate by adding osis to the end, so salmonellosis or listeriosis. Sometimes authors use the genus name to refer to the disease in which case it’s capped down. So:
• Listeria refers to the genus
• listeria refers to the disease
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
(UKHSA) Tables
Layout as per Gateway Checklist.
Keys - put important information necessary to make sense of the table, above it.
Footnotes - do not use symbols. Do not use superscript symbols such as asterisk, dagger and so on. Use the format note [note 1], [note 2] and put these under 'Notes' in heading 4. See https://gss.civilservice.gov.uk/policy-store/releasing-statistics-in-spreadsheets/#section-6
In HTML, right align data columns by adding a colon to the right end of the series of dashes in the top row: |-------------:|
In text, when referring to Table 1, 2, 3 etc, use capitals because it's a proper noun (see Table 3).
If more than one, cap down - tables 3 and 4.
(Same with Chapter, Appendix, Figure but not section, which remains capped down).
Tables with multiple data
When more than one piece of data is in one cell in an HTML table, use <br> to put each datum on a new line.
Note: Remember to also apply a line break to the header columns and left hand columns if they also indicate more than one datum, for example ‘Number<br>(percentage)’.
Punctuation in tables
Be aware of punctuation in tables.
Be consistent.
Short phrases or single words probably don’t require a full stop.
Sentences require a full stop here as everywhere else.
If a list of phrases consider bullet points.
Be consistent within columns. Columns tend to contain the same type of content. If one entry requires a full stop, chances are all the others will, too.
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
(UKHSA) Thousands comma
Use the thousands comma, so 999 then 1,000.
In Word for PDFs they have to be added manually.
In spreadsheets, highlight the column or columns with data in, right click, select Format cells, in the Format Cells dialogue box select the Number tab, then Number from the list, adjust the decimal place to whatever is in the original, then select the 'Use thousands separator' tick box, then OK
Travellers
Upper case because Irish Travellers are legally recognised as an ethnic group. New age travellers is lower case.
U
(UKHSA) UK
Never write United Kingdom. Always write just UK.
(UKHSA) UKHSA
Write 'the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA)' on first appearance. After that just UKHSA without a 'the'', and it's a singular noun – UKHSA announces, UKHSA publishes, and so on.
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
(UKHSA) Version control or document change history
Relatively small changes should go in the change note.
Avoid Version control-type layouts which exist solely to list names - these should go in an Acknowledgements section.
If necessary to record how guidance has changed over time, consider this layout.
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
(UKHSA) Year ranges
When an author writes 2023/24 at the very least write the years in full, 2023/2024.
Wherever possible replace the forward slash with 'to', so 2023/2024 becomes '2023 to 2024'.
If the use of 'to' leads to clutter or confusion leave the forward slashes. See National norovirus and rotavirus surveillance reports: 2023 to 2024 season.
Where possible, define what type of year it is, for example, calendar year, academic year, financial year or, in the case of some diseases (such as norovirus) the season, such as ' the 2023/2024 season'.
School year 1, year 2
Lower case.
(UKHSA) On the same basis, reception is capped down.