GovWire

If youre a publisher or content designer in government, you can suggest an addition, change or clarification to the style guide.

Before you suggest a change

Check if your suggested entry is in the GOV.UK style guide or the Guardian style guide. If your suggestion is in the Guardian style guide, youll need to explain why GOV.UK should have a separate entry specifically for GOV.UK.

If your suggestion is about GOV.UKs tone of voice, this is included in the Writing for GOV.UK guidance.

You should consider whether theres a cross-government need for a consistent way to refer to or use something.

Most entries in the GOV.UK style guide do not include a definition but explain how to use the term.

All entries in the GOV.UK style guide should be plain English rather than jargon.

How to suggest a change

You can suggest a change by raising a support ticket. Youll need a GOV.UK Signon account. If you do not have a GOV.UK Signon account, contact your organisations GOV.UK lead or managing editor to send a ticket on your behalf.

In your request include:

• what youre suggesting to add, change or remove
• the reason for the suggestion
• what the style guide currently says (if youre suggesting a change to an existing entry)
• evidence to support the change - for example, user insights or research

What happens next

All suggested changes are reviewed once a month by content designers and technical writers at the Government Digital Service (GDS).

Youll be told if your suggestion:

• has been approved and published in the style guide
• has been rejected - youll be given more information about why your suggestion was rejected
• needs more information before we can make a decision

A*, A*s

The top grade in A levels. Use the symbol * not the word star. No apostrophe in the plural.

A level

No hyphen. Lower case level.

Abbreviations and acronyms

The first time you use an abbreviation or acronym explain it in full on each page unless its 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.

the academies programme

Lower case.

academy

Only use upper case when referring to the name of an academy, like Mossbourne Community Academy. See also Titles.

academy converters

Lower case.

academy order

Lower case.

academy trust

Lower case.

Access to Work

Upper case when referring directly to the actual programme, otherwise use lower case.

accountancy service provider

Upper case when referring to the business area covered by Money Laundering Regulations. Do not use the acronym.

Accounts Office

Upper case.

Activation PIN

Upper case. Activation PIN has been changed to Activation Code on outgoing correspondence from the Government Gateway. Until all hard-coded instances of Activation PIN have been removed from the Online Services pages, use Activation Code (also known as Activation PIN).

act, act of Parliament

Lower case. Only use upper case when using the full title: Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004, for example.

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:

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, for example.

Adoption Register

Upper case when referring to the national Adoption Register.

Lower case in subsequent mentions that do not use the full term: the register.

adviser

For example, special adviser. Not advisor, but advisory is the correct adjective.

ages

Do not use hyphens in ages unless to avoid confusion, although its always best to write in a way that avoids ambiguity. 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 whos included: aged 50 years and over and aged 17 and under.

agile

Upper case when referring to the Agile Manifesto and principles and processes, otherwise use lower case.

allow list

Use allow list as the noun and allow as the verb. Do not use white list or whitelist.

al-Qaida

Not al-Qaeda or al-Qaida.

alternative provision

Lower case.

American and UK English

Use UK English spelling and grammar. For example, use 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 its a departments logo image or a companys name as it appears on the Companies House register.

animal health

Lower case.

antisocial

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