Updates: Style guide
2025
Added an entry for 'Names and personal titles'.
Updated the guidance on millions and billions - to clarify that if it's part of a sequence that has amounts above 拢1 million (or billion), you can use '拢0.xx million' (or billion).
Updated to reflect that 'devolved government' is now the preferred term and not 'devolved administration'.
Updated the 'ethnic minorities' section to capitalise all the names of ethnic groups.
2024
Added guidance about when to use 'page' and when to use 'screen'.
A to Z 鈥� Added guidance to 鈥楴umbers鈥� section on how to write zero degrees.
Added guidance to 'Times' section to specify if it's "UK time" for users outside the UK.
Added new term for Business Identifier Code (BIC) as agreed in style council
Updated the N/A entry for accessibility.
Updated guidance about suggesting a change or addition to the 188体育 style guide.
Added style guide entries for 188体育 and WhatsApp.
Updated the 'bold' entry to clarify when and how bold should be used.
2023
Added and updated style guide entries for Jobseeker鈥檚 Allowance and Employment and Support Allowance.
We've added a technical content style guide which covers the style, structure and terms you should use when writing content for technical users on 188体育.
Added guidance on alphanumeric entries to 'Lists'.
Added ###USA Upper case. Not 'US'.
Added new entry 鈥榗rown servants鈥�.
Added guidance about how to use the 188体育 One Login name and more information about using sign in or log in.
Updated 'coronavirus (COVID-19)' entry to 'COVID-19'.
Updated the 'Bank details' entry to clarify that bullet points should be used.
2022
Added new entry 鈥楢ddresses in the UK
Amended the entry for 鈥楪ender鈥�, formally 鈥楪ender-neutral text鈥�
Added new entries for coronavirus (COVID-19) and critical worker. These have been moved from the coronavirus (COVID-19) style guide which has now been retired.
The coronavirus (COVID-19) style guide has been retired. The entries for coronavirus (COVID-19) and critical worker can now be found in the GDS style guide /guidance/style-guide/a-to-z-of-gov-uk-style.
Added a new entry 'ethnic minorities'.
Amended the 'Addressing the user' entry and added a new entry 'Gender-neutral text'.
Updated entry for the Queen to remove ambiguity.
Updated 鈥榲ariant鈥� entry with guidance about using the World Health Organization (WHO) variant label at the first mention in content, either with or without the lineage if the variant is well known.
Removed 鈥楢mber list鈥�, 鈥楤ounce Back Loan鈥�, 鈥楥hildcare bubble鈥�, 鈥楪reen list鈥�, 鈥楯ob Retention Bonus鈥�, 鈥楽hielding鈥�, 鈥楽upport bubble鈥�, 鈥楽upport group鈥�, 鈥楽upport network鈥� and 鈥楾ravel corridor list鈥�.
2021
Clarified that Midlands is upper case.
Added 'people at higher risk'.
Added alternatives to words to avoid for all entries.
Updated 'clinically extremely vulnerable' - do not use 鈥榗linically extremely vulnerable鈥� or 鈥楥EV鈥� as people are no longer being identified as 鈥榗linically extremely vulnerable鈥�.
Added 'and service names' under when to use sentence case under 'Capitalisation'.
Added 'long COVID'. Changed 鈥楻 number鈥� to 鈥榬eproduction number (R)' - use 鈥榬eproduction number (R)鈥� the first time it鈥檚 used, then refer to 鈥楻 value鈥� after that. Do not use 鈥楻 number鈥� as 鈥楻鈥� already means 鈥榬eproduction number鈥�.
Corrected 'lower case' to 'sentence case' under 'Capitalisation'.
Added 'COVID-19 status', 'fully vaccinated', 'NHS COVID Pass' and 'vaccination status'. Added definition for 'antibody test'.
Clarified rule when writing about county courts. Use lower case when writing about county courts in general. Use capitals when part of a proper noun.
Added new entries: 鈥榙aily contact testing鈥�, 鈥榤obile test unit鈥�, 鈥楻oyal Mail barcode鈥�, 鈥楻oyal Mail priority postbox鈥�, 鈥榯est kit barcode鈥�, 鈥榯est order ID鈥�, 鈥榯est site鈥�, 鈥榯est subject ID鈥� and 鈥榮urge testing鈥�.
Added definitions for 鈥榗ontact tracing鈥� and 鈥楴HS Test and Trace service鈥�.
Added 鈥榲ariant鈥�, 鈥榲ariant of concern鈥� and 鈥榲ariant under investigation鈥�.
Amended 鈥楤rexit鈥� to clarify that it鈥檚 better to use specific dates, unless referring to Brexit historically.
Added 鈥榃ithdrawal Agreement鈥� to make clear to avoid linking to the legal document from guidance content.
Added 鈥榬ed list鈥�, 鈥榓mber list鈥� and 鈥榞reen list鈥�. Updated 鈥榮elf-isolating鈥� and 鈥榪uarantine鈥�. Use 鈥榮elf-isolating鈥� for people who have coronavirus (COVID-19) symptoms, a positive COVID-19 test or have been in contact with someone who has tested positive. Use 鈥榪uarantine鈥� for people who鈥檝e arrived from a country or territory on the red list or amber list and must quarantine.
Updated 'coronavirus (COVID-19)' to direct to the new 'Coronavirus (COVID-19) A to Z' style guide.
New section added.
Clarified rule when writing about local councils. Use lower case when writing about local councils in general. Use capitals for the official name of a local council.
Added references to Scottish Parliament, Senedd Cymru and Northern Ireland Assembly. Corrected outdated reference to 'Welsh Assembly'.
2020
Use 'Great Britain (England, Wales and Scotland)' when 'UK' is not appropriate because you're not including Northern Ireland. Where possible, make a specific point of saying that Northern Ireland is not included in this group.
Removed 3 department names in 鈥楥apitals for government departments鈥� - Department for Exiting the European Union, Department for International Development and Foreign and Commonwealth Office. Added 'Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO)'.
Added entries for terms to use instead of 'whitelist', 'blacklist', 'master' or 'slave'.
Update the 'click' entry with guidance about using 'right-click'.
Added 'coronavirus' to the style guide.
Added 'disabled people' to the style guide, as well as a link to guidance on words to use and avoid when writing about disability.
Added 鈥榯ransition period鈥� to the style guide.
Clarified the rules on using American English.
2019
Edited the rule for using capitalisation when referring to the general election.
European Economic Area (EEA) - clarified you should say 'the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein' when rules covering the EEA also cover Switzerland
Changed borough council styling to upper case in a name (from lower case in all instances)
Update to capitalisation of local councils: from lower case in all instances to using capitals for the official name of a local council.
Clarified how to refer to organisations - Use the singular verb form when referring to organisations by name. Use 'they' when replacing an organisation name with a pronoun.
Added detail about avoiding the use of 'European Economic Area (EEA)' as it is not widely understood.
CHANGED:
- if you add links they appear within the text and not as the whole bullet
TO:
- you do not make the whole bullet a link if it's a long phrase
Added guidance on long lists of examples to the style guide
Replaced 'EU Exit' with 'Brexit'.
Added 'customs union', 'implementation period' and 'Parliamentary report' to the style guide.
Added zero-hours contract to the style guide.
2018
Added EU Exit to the style guide.
Added some notes on conventions commonly used by the tech writing community.
Updated the hyphenation guidance to include a link to the Guardian style guide. This replaces Oxford Dictionary for Writers and Editors.
Changed the style guide to allow the use of bold for instructions. For example, you can use bold to explain what field a user needs to fill in on a form, or what button they need to select.
Clarified use of bullet points where it's necessary to explain if all or some of the points apply.
Updated 'User ID' to 'user ID' (lower case 'user').
Added 鈥榮pecial adviser鈥� as an example under 鈥榓dviser鈥�.
We've updated our guidance about contractions. We now recommend avoiding negative contractions like can't and don't.
Link to the Economist style guide has been removed as it's no longer available for free.
Updated 2 department names in 鈥楥apitals for government departments鈥� - Department of Health and Social Care, and Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government
2017
Updates made under "Capitalisation" and "Titles"
Added guidance on writing bank details.
Clarified when to use of upper and lower case for online services.
Lower case guidance updated under "Capitalisation"
Added guidance about using the names in country and territory registers when referencing countries or territories on 188体育.
Added entry for blog post.
Added 'Welsh Government' and clarified when it's 'Government', not 'government'.
Updated organisations entry to include an example of using 'they' as a pronoun.
Added an entry for 'fine'.
Added 'walkaround' (a daily check of large vehicles)
Added an example to the style of publication titles under 'Capitalisation'.
Added advice to not use semi-colons, including at the end of bullet points.
Removed entry on Ordinary Statutory Paternity Pay.
Added our hierarchy of fallback style guides to 'about the A to Z'.
Updated ampersand entry. Use an ampersand in a company's name if that's how it appears on the Companies House register.
2016
Changed style from 'Wi-Fi' to 'wifi' to match common usage.
Added entry for 'data'.
Removed semicolons as a way of expanding on an item in bulleted lists.
Expanded information under capitalisation to include 'autumn statement and spring statement'.
Added an entry for 'N/A' (as in 'not applicable').
Added information for 'budget' under 'Capitalisation'.
Added 'webchat' to the A to Z.
Added more information about when to use 'midnight' and when to use '11:59pm' to refer to a specific time.
Removed or replaced all instances of eg, ie and etc (except for the entries on eg, ie and etc). Stripped out inverted commas where it doesn't harm comprehension.
Updated style guidance for 'eg, etc and ie'
Added 'log book' and 'sat nav'.
Measurements: allowing exceptions for very specialist audiences
Changed:
###online services
Lower case unless part of a proper noun. HMRC Online Services should be upper case when referred to in full. Equally if you want to refer to a named service, it should be upper case, eg 鈥楽ubmit your company tax return using Corporation Tax Online鈥�.
To:
###online services
Lower case unless part of a proper noun. HMRC Online Services should be upper case when referred to in full. Equally if you want to refer to a named service, it should be upper case, eg 'Submit your Company Tax Return using Corporation Tax Online'.
Changed:
###tax returns
Upper case the first time they are mentioned (for example: 鈥楥ompany Tax Return鈥�, 鈥楶artnership Tax Return鈥�, 鈥楨mployer Annual Return鈥�). After that refer to them in full, or if it鈥檚 clear what you鈥檙e referring to, simply as a 鈥榬eturn鈥�. General references to tax return are always in lower case.
When referring to the legal requirement we use 鈥榙eliver鈥� or 鈥榝ile鈥� the return. Online, we say 鈥榮ubmit鈥� the return. For Self Assessment (paper or online) use 鈥榮end鈥� or 鈥榝ile鈥� the return. 鈥楽end鈥� is better.
To:
###tax returns
Upper case when referring to proper titles for the first time (for example: 鈥楥ompany Tax Return鈥�, 鈥楶artnership Tax Return鈥�, 鈥楨mployer Annual Return鈥�). Use 鈥楽elf Assessment tax return鈥� at first mention, as it鈥檚 not a proper title.
After that refer to them in full, or if it鈥檚 clear what you鈥檙e referring to, simply as a 鈥榬eturn鈥�. General references to tax return are always in lower case.
When referring to the legal requirement we use 鈥榙eliver鈥� or 鈥榝ile鈥� the return. Online, we say 鈥榮ubmit鈥� the return. For Self Assessment (paper or online) use 鈥榮end鈥� or 鈥榝ile鈥� the return. 鈥楽end鈥� is better.
Changed:
###Self Assessment tax return
Use 鈥楽elf Assessment tax return鈥� the first time it鈥檚 mentioned on a page. After that use 鈥榯ax return鈥�.
To:
###Self Assessment tax return
See tax returns.
Modified entries for 'the Earth' and 'tax credits'.
2015
Added guidance about brackets and plurals.
Added guidance about using bold.
Added lower case and upper case style under Statistics
Added '6 hours 30 minutes' under Times.
Added statement not to use spaces before abbreviated measurements under Measurements.
Added not to label email addresses under Email addresses.
Changed wi-fi to WiFi
Added new entry for Statistics with a link to the ONS style guide (http://style.ons.gov.uk/).
Added The Crown, the Royal Family, the Civil Service, Parliament, byelaw, schoolchildren, and em and en dashes.
Department for Education changed 'priority school building programme' to lower case.
Change notes added.
2014
Added 'agile', 'Scrum' and 'kanban' to the A to Z list.
Added the link to Great Britain from the Britain section.