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 £1 million (or billion), you can use '£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 바카라 사이트“ Added guidance to 바카라 사이트˜Numbers바카라 사이트™ 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 바카라 사이트 style guide.
Added style guide entries for 바카라 사이트 and WhatsApp.
Updated the 'bold' entry to clarify when and how bold should be used.
2023
Added and updated style guide entries for Jobseeker바카라 사이트™s 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 바카라 사이트.
Added guidance on alphanumeric entries to 'Lists'.
Added ###USA Upper case. Not 'US'.
Added new entry 바카라 사이트˜crown servants바카라 사이트™.
Added guidance about how to use the 바카라 사이트 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 바카라 사이트˜Addresses in the UK
Amended the entry for 바카라 사이트˜Gender바카라 사이트™, formally 바카라 사이트˜Gender-neutral text바카라 사이트™
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 바카라 사이트˜variant바카라 사이트™ 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 바카라 사이트˜Amber list바카라 사이트™, 바카라 사이트˜Bounce Back Loan바카라 사이트™, 바카라 사이트˜Childcare bubble바카라 사이트™, 바카라 사이트˜Green list바카라 사이트™, 바카라 사이트˜Job Retention Bonus바카라 사이트™, 바카라 사이트˜Shielding바카라 사이트™, 바카라 사이트˜Support bubble바카라 사이트™, 바카라 사이트˜Support group바카라 사이트™, 바카라 사이트˜Support network바카라 사이트™ and 바카라 사이트˜Travel corridor list바카라 사이트™.
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 바카라 사이트˜clinically extremely vulnerable바카라 사이트™ or 바카라 사이트˜CEV바카라 사이트™ as people are no longer being identified as 바카라 사이트˜clinically extremely vulnerable바카라 사이트™.
Added 'and service names' under when to use sentence case under 'Capitalisation'.
Added 'long COVID'. Changed 바카라 사이트˜R number바카라 사이트™ to 바카라 사이트˜reproduction number (R)' - use 바카라 사이트˜reproduction number (R)바카라 사이트™ the first time it바카라 사이트™s used, then refer to 바카라 사이트˜R value바카라 사이트™ after that. Do not use 바카라 사이트˜R number바카라 사이트™ as 바카라 사이트˜R바카라 사이트™ already means 바카라 사이트˜reproduction number바카라 사이트™.
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: 바카라 사이트˜daily contact testing바카라 사이트™, 바카라 사이트˜mobile test unit바카라 사이트™, 바카라 사이트˜Royal Mail barcode바카라 사이트™, 바카라 사이트˜Royal Mail priority postbox바카라 사이트™, 바카라 사이트˜test kit barcode바카라 사이트™, 바카라 사이트˜test order ID바카라 사이트™, 바카라 사이트˜test site바카라 사이트™, 바카라 사이트˜test subject ID바카라 사이트™ and 바카라 사이트˜surge testing바카라 사이트™.
Added definitions for 바카라 사이트˜contact tracing바카라 사이트™ and 바카라 사이트˜NHS Test and Trace service바카라 사이트™.
Added 바카라 사이트˜variant바카라 사이트™, 바카라 사이트˜variant of concern바카라 사이트™ and 바카라 사이트˜variant under investigation바카라 사이트™.
Amended 바카라 사이트˜Brexit바카라 사이트™ to clarify that it바카라 사이트™s better to use specific dates, unless referring to Brexit historically.
Added 바카라 사이트˜Withdrawal Agreement바카라 사이트™ to make clear to avoid linking to the legal document from guidance content.
Added 바카라 사이트˜red list바카라 사이트™, 바카라 사이트˜amber list바카라 사이트™ and 바카라 사이트˜green list바카라 사이트™. Updated 바카라 사이트˜self-isolating바카라 사이트™ and 바카라 사이트˜quarantine바카라 사이트™. Use 바카라 사이트˜self-isolating바카라 사이트™ 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 바카라 사이트˜quarantine바카라 사이트™ for people who바카라 사이트™ve 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 바카라 사이트˜Capitals for government departments바카라 사이트™ - 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 바카라 사이트˜transition period바카라 사이트™ 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 바카라 사이트˜special adviser바카라 사이트™ as an example under 바카라 사이트˜adviser바카라 사이트™.
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 바카라 사이트˜Capitals for government departments바카라 사이트™ - Department of Health and Social Care, and Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local 바카라 사이트
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 바카라 사이트.
Added entry for blog post.
Added 'Welsh 바카라 사이트' and clarified when it's '바카라 사이트', 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 바카라 사이트˜Submit your company tax return using Corporation Tax Online바카라 사이트™.
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: 바카라 사이트˜Company Tax Return바카라 사이트™, 바카라 사이트˜Partnership Tax Return바카라 사이트™, 바카라 사이트˜Employer Annual Return바카라 사이트™). After that refer to them in full, or if it바카라 사이트™s clear what you바카라 사이트™re referring to, simply as a 바카라 사이트˜return바카라 사이트™. General references to tax return are always in lower case.
When referring to the legal requirement we use 바카라 사이트˜deliver바카라 사이트™ or 바카라 사이트˜file바카라 사이트™ the return. Online, we say 바카라 사이트˜submit바카라 사이트™ the return. For Self Assessment (paper or online) use 바카라 사이트˜send바카라 사이트™ or 바카라 사이트˜file바카라 사이트™ the return. 바카라 사이트˜Send바카라 사이트™ is better.
To:
###tax returns
Upper case when referring to proper titles for the first time (for example: 바카라 사이트˜Company Tax Return바카라 사이트™, 바카라 사이트˜Partnership Tax Return바카라 사이트™, 바카라 사이트˜Employer Annual Return바카라 사이트™). Use 바카라 사이트˜Self Assessment tax return바카라 사이트™ at first mention, as it바카라 사이트™s not a proper title.
After that refer to them in full, or if it바카라 사이트™s clear what you바카라 사이트™re referring to, simply as a 바카라 사이트˜return바카라 사이트™. General references to tax return are always in lower case.
When referring to the legal requirement we use 바카라 사이트˜deliver바카라 사이트™ or 바카라 사이트˜file바카라 사이트™ the return. Online, we say 바카라 사이트˜submit바카라 사이트™ the return. For Self Assessment (paper or online) use 바카라 사이트˜send바카라 사이트™ or 바카라 사이트˜file바카라 사이트™ the return. 바카라 사이트˜Send바카라 사이트™ is better.
Changed:
###Self Assessment tax return
Use 바카라 사이트˜Self Assessment tax return바카라 사이트™ the first time it바카라 사이트™s mentioned on a page. After that use 바카라 사이트˜tax return바카라 사이트™.
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.