The guide sets out the conventions for issues such as initial capitals, formatting and spellings. There is also a separate list of abbreviations and acronyms at the end.
To search the guide for a specific word or phrase, use CTRL + F
To request an addition or query an item, please contact brand@tda.gov.uk
A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | K | L | M
| N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | X | Y | Z
Date of last revision: April 2008
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In headings: always write the subject of the abbreviation in full. In body copy: write the subject of the abbreviation in full at first mention then follow with the abbreviation, eg initial teacher training (ITT). Subsequently, you can use the abbreviation on its own unless writing in full helps the reader. Abbreviations can place greater demands on your audience, particularly online or in a reference document that will not be read in linear form. Precede ie and eg with a comma; do not use any full points (except where etc ends a sentence) ─ eg not e.g. or eg. / ie not i.e or ie. / etc not etc. For names of organisations, use the preferred expression of the body concerned, eg Ofsted, Becta, NGfL, nasen. Do not use full points in abbreviations, or between initials, eg PGCE, GCSE, US, 75mph, P J O'Rourke, etc. Do not use full points in abbreviated job or position titles, eg Mr/ Mrs/Prof. |
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addresses and phone numbers |
i)
Addresses
Otherwise: 151 Buckingham Palace Road, London, SW1W 9SZ; note the comma after London. For non-UK audiences, write numbers in international format, eg +44 (0) 20 7123 4567. |
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ampersands (&) |
Do not use ampersands in text unless they are part of a common abbreviation, eg D&T; they may be used where space is tight, eg in tables and graphs. |
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annexes, appendices, tables and figures |
In the run of text, references to annexes etc take lower case, eg see annex 1. A report may have annexes; an annex may have appendices, not the reverse. Note the following plurals: annex/annexes; appendix/appendices. Number tables and figures consecutively throughout the document. Tables and figures should have titles and be referenced in the text. |
| apostrophes |
For singular nouns ending with 's', use a simple apostrophe. Mrs Jones' classroom, not Mrs Jones’s classroom. Do not use apostrophes with dates or ages in numbers, eg 1990s not 1990’s or in her 80s not 80’s. Do not use an apostrophe in instances such as returners courses or the headteachers conference. Here, ‘returners’ and ‘headteachers’ describe the events – they are not possessive. In print, check the apostrophes used are typographically correct, ie curly. Straight marks are used on the website. |
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Follow the style and sequence of the following examples when compiling a bibliography: Smith, A C, 1998, The Importance of Correct Style, 2nd ed, Jones Publishers plc, London Smith, A C, How to Improve your Writing, Style Monthly, Jan 1998, p24 Referring to a publication in text or a footnote: ‘A useful source of information is A C Smith, How to Improve your Writing, in Style Monthly, January 1998, p24.’ See capitals. |
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black |
Lower case in racial context. |
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brackets |
Use (round brackets) in the general run of text; use [square brackets] to indicate words inserted into a quotation: They [new staff] are in need of training. |
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bullet points |
Bullets should only be used to aid comprehension by highlighting key points and breaking up long passages of text. Overuse can be distracting and make text harder to digest, particularly on the web. In printed text, where bullets lead out of a ‘platform’ statement and complete the sentence; each list item begins with a lower case letter. Add a comma before ‘and’ or ‘or’ at the end of the penultimate item. A full stop should follow the final item, eg It is essential the workshop covers:
This rule is not applicable to web pages. Where list items stand alone, begin each item with a capital letter. Policies
Individual items do not have final punctuation. |
| capitals |
Note we use fewer initial capitals than some organisations. These guidelines apply in every setting: titles, sub-headings, captions, body copy, etc. Note that upper case in an abbreviation does not necessarily denote upper case in the full description, eg TYS/targeted youth support; CPD/continuing professional development; SCITT/school-centred initial teacher training. Job titles and roles Differentiate between a person’s title and the job role. i) Use upper case initial letters when a job role is used in conjunction with the post-holder’s name and forms part of their personal title:
This applies in the run of text and in the sign-off to a letter or publication, or the caption for an image. ii) Use lower case initial letters to refer to these roles in general, or where the job role is separated from the post-holder’s name and does not form part of their personal title:
When referring to the role rather than the person, adopt lower case. The exception to this is where there is only one such role and it is a significant one, for example: Secretary of State or Chief Executive. Team, group and directorate names, names of organisations and administrative bodies i) Use upper case initial letters for team, group and directorate names. Use upper case initial letters for names of organisations, departments, committees, working groups and other administrative bodies (whether TDA or external) where the reference is to a particular group rather than such entities in general:
If abbreviating after introducing a name in full, restrict the use of initial capitals to instances that seem essential, eg the Agency, the Department, the Board, but the committee, the team, the school, the directorate, the council. In the case of external organisations, use the format they use, eg Ofsted, Becta, NGfL, nasen. See the list of abbreviations and acronyms. The names of the government office regions take initial capitals: Yorkshire and The Humber, South West, etc. See Government office regions for the full list. ii) Use lower case initial letters for these entities when you are not naming them specifically:
School designations/status i) Use upper case initial letters for designations when they apply to a specific school:
ii) Use lower case initial letters for designations in general use:
Names of programmes, services, strategies and events i) These should generally take upper case; this list is not exhaustive as new programmes etc may be introduced. Use upper or lower case initial letters as follows:
ii) Use lower case initial letters for programmes, services, strategies etc when the phrasing describes rather than names:
Names of publications and statutes i) For the masthead or title page of our own publications, our style is usually sentence case (Get into teaching, Looking for a bursar? Corporate plan). Only adopt other styles (totalinfo, tdaNews, return to teaching) where agreed. ii) Use upper case initial letters when referring to publications, periodicals, books, statutes, Government and TDA papers:
This styling may be different from that used by the publication itself, which could be initial caps (The Economist), sentence case (Raising standards and tackling workload), or lower case (return to teaching). Upper case initial letters ensure consistency, particularly where one piece of text refers to several publications. There are occasional well established exceptions such as totalinfo or tdaNews. Names of publications should not use italics. If necessary, use single inverted commas to separate a title from the surrounding text. Headings Never use continuous upper case for emphasis. Use sentence case for headings. Qualifications, standards, status and frameworks These should normally take lower case; this list is not exhaustive as new qualifications, standards etc may be introduced.
Other The following miscellaneous examples of commonly used terms take lower case initial letters:
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children |
Not kids. Pre-school and foundation stage are children. Years 1 to 6 are pupils; years 7 to 13 are students. Generally, children applies to the end of key stage 2 and young people beyond that. |
| colons |
Use a colon to indicate that what follows is an explanation or continuation of the text before the colon, eg The situation is clear: an effective workforce can improve outcomes… A colon can also be used to introduce a list, eg There are a number of resources available: guidance notes, DVDs, web tools… A colon is not usually followed by a capital letter but there are some exceptions. Preceding a quote, eg The Chief Executive had made his decision clear: “We will continue to support the workforce…” Preceding an acronym, eg A number of organisations attended: Becta, HEFCE… Preceding a proper noun, eg A number of providers attended: Manchester Metropolitan University, Oxford University…. The text before a colon should be able to stand alone and make sense on its own. |
| compass points | All lower case: north, south, the south-west, north-east England. Use an initial capital only when referring to specific parts of the world, eg the Far East or to the government office regions. |
| contractions |
Use contractions such as ‘won’t’ or ‘can’t’ where a less formal tone is audience appropriate. |
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curriculum subjects |
This list gives the correct form of some of the national curriculum subjects, with acceptable abbreviations shown in brackets:
art and design |
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Use a dash, rather than a hyphen to represent ranges of numbers, eg 11─16 years. A pair of dashes can be used to separate an interruption within a sentence, eg ‘most pupils ─ especially in extended schools ─ enjoy after school activities’. If the interruption comes at the end of the sentence, only one dash is used. |
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dates |
Dates written in full should always be presented thus: 2 July 2008. If there are space constraints, months (Jan, Feb) and years (07) can be abbreviated. Avoid the very short form if possible, but where necessary: 3/6/07 rather than 03/06/07. For a span of academic years, use an oblique, ie 2008/09. For financial years, use a dash, ie 2007–08. If the meaning is ambiguous, make it clear. For example, refer to the financial year 2003–04 in the first instance. |
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Department for Children, Schools and Families |
In full at first mention, then the Department or the DCSF. See the DCSF website for an up-to-date list of the ministerial team. |
| disabled people |
Not ‘the disabled' or ‘the handicapped’. |
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Note the hyphen in e-mail. See addresses and phone numbers and website addresses. |
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fewer/less |
Use ‘fewer’ for things you can count, eg books, students and ‘less’ for things you can’t, eg space, scope. |
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footnotes |
Do not use footnotes on web pages. |
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Never use continuous upper case for emphasis. Use sentence case for headings. In printed material, use bold, underscoring or italics sparingly for emphasis. Do not use underscoring or italics on web pages. |
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Use upper case G when referring to ‘the Government’. |
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government office |
Use upper case initial letters. The regions are: North East, North West, Yorkshire and The Humber (not Yorkshire and Humberside, and note capital ‘T’ for ‘The’), East Midlands, West Midlands, East of England (not Eastern), London, South East and South West. |
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One word; not headmaster, headmistress or head. |
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hyphens |
Use hyphens for compound adjectives, eg the up-to-date situation but keep the directory up to date, a long-term plan but in the long term. Do not use a hyphen between an adverb and the adjective or the verb it modifies, eg a hotly disputed penalty, a constantly evolving policy. Use ‘floating hyphens’, eg first-, second-, and third-class awards. Examples of commonly used hyphenated words include: cross-agency, e-mail, employment-based, well-being, one-off, five-year-old, A-level, 20-minute session, self-esteem. The following are not hyphenated: coordinator, life chances, online, website. See spelling for examples of one-word and two-word constructions. |
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All lower case. Website and worldwide are single words, e-mail is hyphenated. |
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For printed material, write in full on the first mention, with lower case k and s and numeral, ie key stage 3 then abbreviate to KS3. Do not use this abbreviation on web pages. |
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Usually lower case, for example in NVQ level 3, A-level, level 5. |
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local authority/local education authority |
Use local authority rather than local education authority as local authorities now provide children’s services, such as education, social services, youth justice, etc. LA is an acceptable abbreviation. |
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When abbreviating measurements, use numbers and do not leave a space before the abbreviation, eg 62mm, 87mph. Abbreviations are generally singular: mm, oz, lb not mms, ozs, lbs (except hrs for hours, yds for yards). |
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minority ethnic |
Rather than 'ethnic minority' |
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Spell numbers from one to nine; use numerals from 10 to 999,999; thereafter 1m, 3.2bn etc. Avoid using numerals at the start of a sentence unless doing so significantly improves the run of text. In age ranges that span 10, use numbers for consistency: 7- to 11-year-olds. Fractions that are written out should be hyphenated, eg two-thirds of the syllabus. Fractions with whole numbers are best expressed as decimalised numerals, ie 2.5, not 2½. In text, spell out per cent (six per cent; 20 per cent). In financial information and tables, use the % symbol and numerals eg 6%. |
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One word |
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See addresses and phone numbers. |
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Not 'shortage subjects'. |
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pro forma |
Two words
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Use double quotes, ie “” at start and end of quoted section, with single quotes, ie ‘’ for quoted words within that section. Use single quotation marks to qualify a word or phrase, eg the so-called 'get out clause'. In print, check the quote marks used are typographically correct, ie 66 and 99 quote marks “” ‘ ’ and not apostrophes. Use straight marks for web pages. |
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Set your PC to English spelling. Use ‘ise’ endings, eg generalise not generalize, organise not organize, except where ‘ize’ is used in the original, for example, World Health Organization. The TDA adopts the following:
acknowledgment not acknowledgement |
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Number tables and figures consecutively throughout the document. The number references, eg 'table 1' or 'figure 1' should be placed near the table or figure, not in a footnote or endnote. Tables and figures should have titles. In the run of text, references to annexes, etc take lower case, eg see annex 1.
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TDA |
The Training and Development Agency for Schools, known as the TDA or the Agency. Try not to overuse ‘the Agency’; a less formal tone, eg ‘we’ is often more appropriate for your audience.
The TDA is always singular: the TDA is planning…
See addresses and phone numbers for the TDA address.
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Teaching Information Line |
The numbers are 0845 6000 991 for England and 992 for Wales. |
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that or which? |
‘that’ defines, ‘which’ informs: this is the house that Jack built, but this house, which Jack built, is now falling down. |
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they, he/she |
Use they in preference to he/she: if the candidate passes the test, they should... If possible, try to avoid using gender specific pronouns, eg candidates who pass the test should … |
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time |
10am, 2.45pm. The 24-hour clock is also acceptable: 14.45 |
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trainees |
People taking ITT programmes are trainees not students. |
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translation |
There are rules governing the translation of government information into Welsh. The TDA has no statutory responsibility in Wales. However, it is contracted under a memorandum of understanding for certain recruitment activity. If you are producing recruitment-related communications, you should contact the TDA’s Welsh liaison officer. When targeting audiences who do not speak English or for whom English is not their first language, you should establish the most appropriate languages to use. When translating in print, you should also consider that some languages take up more space than English, run from right to left, etc. Direct translation is not always the best option. Sometimes communications should be re-written, to take the cultural differences of your intended audience into account. |
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Turn your talent to teaching. |
This is the recruitment campaign strapline. |
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Wales Office (not Welsh Office); National Assembly for Wales; Welsh Assembly Government. |
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web, website |
One word |
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website addresses/URLs |
Leave off any http:// prefix unless the website address is an IP address, eg http://192.168.15.155 or when it doesn’t use www, eg http://maps.google.co.uk. In printed material, avoid punctuation at the end of a website address, even if it ends a sentence. This ensures your audience does not misread the address. Try to re-work the sentence and put the web address in the middle or in brackets. If this is not possible, omit the full stop. Website addresses should not appear in full in the run of text on a web page; they should appear as links. Always hyphenate e-mail, not email. Avoid long URLs, especially where the document is to be printed. For links to the TDA website, consider asking for an entry point to:
You can log a request for an entry point via the website support system on the intranet. For non-TDA URLs, find the shortest address that takes the reader within sight of the required page. If necessary, put some navigation into the text, eg you can find a list on the xxxx pages at www.ncsl.gov.uk. |
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white |
Lower case in racial context. |
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In correspondence, Dear sir goes with Yours faithfully everything else, eg Dear colleague goes with Yours sincerely. |
Abbreviations and acronyms
| A | |
|---|---|
| ACCAC | Qualifications, Curriculum and Assessment Authority for Wales, now merged with the Welsh Assembly Government's new Department for Education Lifelong Learning and Skills (DELLS) |
| ALL | Association for Language Learning |
| APEL | Accredited prior experiential learning |
| AQA | Assessment and Qualifications Alliance |
| ASCL | Association of School and College Leaders |
| ASE | Association for Science Education |
| AST | advanced skills teacher |
| ATL | Association of Teachers and Lecturers |
| ATM | Association of Teachers of Mathematics |
| ATP | approved training provider |
| AVCE | advanced vocational certificate of education |
| B | |
| Batod | British Association of Teachers of the Deaf |
| BCS | British Computer Society |
| BDP | Bursar Development Programme |
| BDA | British Deaf Association |
| BDA | British Dyslexia Association |
| Becta | British Educational Communications and Technology Agency |
| Bera | British Educational Research Association |
| Besa | British Educational Suppliers Association |
| BITC | Business in the Community |
| C | |
| CASE | Campaign for State Education |
| CBI | Confederation of British Industry |
| CCEA | Council for the Curriculum, Examinations and Assessment (Northern Ireland) |
| CEDP | career entry and development profile |
| CfBT | Centre for British Teachers |
| CiLT | the National Centre for Languages |
| CJEPC | Churches’ Joint Education Policy Committee |
| CoVE | centres of vocational excellence |
| CPD | continuing professional development |
| CRDP | career re-entry and development profile |
| CSBM | certificate of school business management |
| CSN | contract student number (eg HEFCE) |
| CTC | city technology college |
| D | |
| DA | Dyslexia Action Design and Technology Association |
| DATA | Design and Technology Association |
| DCSF | Department for Children, Schools and Families |
| DELLS | Department for Education Lifelong Learning and Skills (Wales) |
| DENI | Department of Education (Northern Ireland) |
| DfTE | Department for Training and Education (Wales) |
| DIUS | Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills |
| DRB | designated recommending body |
| DSA | Down's Syndrome Association |
| DSBM | diploma of school business management |
| D&T | design and technology |
| E | |
| EAL | English as an additional language |
| EBD | emotional and behavioural difficulties |
| EBITT | employment-based initial teacher training |
| EBR | employment-based routes (into teaching) |
| EBTTP | employment-based teacher training provider |
| ECT | early career teacher |
| EEA | European Economic Area |
| EHRC | Equality and Human Rights Commission |
| EPD | Early professional development |
| ESRC | Economic and Social Research Council |
| ESRA | extended schools remodelling adviser |
| ESVI | Education Services for the Visually Impaired |
| G | |
| GA | Geographical Association |
| GCSE | general certificate of secondary education |
| GNVQ | general national vocational qualification |
| GOR | government office region |
| GRTP | Graduate and Registered Teacher Programme |
| GSA | Girls’ Schools Association |
| GTCE | General Teaching Council for England |
| GTCW | General Teaching Council for Wales |
| GTP | Graduate Teacher Programme |
| GTTR | Graduate Teacher Training Registry |
| H | |
| HA | Historical Association |
| Headlamp | leadership and management programme for new headteachers |
| HEFCE | Higher Education Funding Council for England |
| HEFCW | Higher Education Funding Council for Wales |
| HEI | higher education institution |
| HESA | Higher Education Statistics Agency |
| HLTA | higher level teaching assistant |
| HMCI | Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Schools |
| HR | human resources |
| I | |
| ICT | information and communication technology (ICT) |
| IiP | Investors in People |
| IITT | Institute of IT Training |
| Inset | in-service education and training |
| IPRN | ITT professional resource network |
| ITT | initial teacher training |
| ITTE | Association for Information Technology in Teacher Education |
| J | |
| JPG | joint planning group |
| K | |
| KS1, KS2, KS3, KS4 | key stage 1, etc. |
| L | |
| LA | local authority |
| LEA | local education authority (but LA/local authority is now more common) |
| LGA | Local Government Association |
| LMS | local management of schools |
| LSA | learning support assistant |
| LSC | Learning and Skills Council |
| LSN | Learning and Skills Network |
| M | |
| MA | Mathematical Association |
| MFL | modern foreign language(s) |
| ML | modern language(s) |
| MTL | masters in teaching and learning |
| N | |
| NAA | National Assessment Agency |
| NAACE | professional association for advancing education through ICT |
| NACELL | National Advisory Centre on Early Language Learning |
| NAHT | National Association of Head Teachers |
| NALDIC | National Association for Language Development in the Curriculum |
| NARIC | National Recognition Information Centre for the United Kingdom |
| NAS | National Autistic Society |
| nasen | National Association for Special Educational Needs |
| NASG | National Association of School Governors |
| NASUWT | National Association of Schoolmasters Union of Women Teachers |
| NATE | National Association for the Teaching of English |
| NC | national curriculum (but initial caps for 'The National Curriculum' as a major programme |
| NCPTA | National Confederation of Parent Teacher Associations |
| NCSL | National College for School Leadership |
| NDCS | National Deaf Children’s Society |
| NDPB | non-departmental public body |
| NFER | National Foundation for Educational Research |
| NGC | National Governors’ Council |
| NLS | National Literacy Strategy |
| NNS | National Numeracy Strategy |
| NOF | New Opportunities Fund |
| NOS | national occupational standards |
| NPQH | national professional qualification for headship |
| NQF | national qualifications framework |
| NQT | newly qualified teacher |
| NRA | national record of achievement |
| NSEAD | National Society for Education in Art and Design |
| NUT | National Union of Teachers |
| NVQ | national vocational qualification |
| O | |
| OFFA | Office for Fair Access |
| Ofsted | Office for Standards in Education |
| OTT | overseas trained teacher |
| OTTP | Overseas Trained Teacher Programme |
| OU | Open University |
| P | |
| PAT | Professional Association of Teachers |
| PDS | partnership development school |
| PE | physical education |
| PGCE | postgraduate certificate in education |
| PPD | postgraduate professional development |
| PRU | pupil referral unit |
| PSHE | personal, social, and health education |
| PSHEE | personal, social, health and economic education |
| PTA | parent–teacher association |
| Q | |
| QAA | Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education |
| QAF | quality assessment framework |
| QCA | Qualifications and Curriculum Authority |
| QIA | Quality Improvement Agency |
| QTS | qualified teacher status |
| R | |
| RA | recruitment adviser |
| RB | recommending body |
| RE | religious education |
| RECEW | Religious Education Council of England and Wales |
| RIG | Rewards and Incentives Group |
| RNIB | Royal National Institute of the Blind |
| RNID | (Royal National Institute for the Deaf: but known by the abbreviation only now) |
| RTP | Registered Teacher Programme |
| S | |
| SAS | Student Associates Scheme |
| SATRO | Science and Technology Regional Organisation |
| SATs | standard assessment tasks or tests (but note that we usually refer to them as ‘national curriculum tests’) |
| SCITT | school-centred initial teacher training (a SCITT programme, a SCITT, a SCITT consortium) |
| SCOP | Standing Conference of Principals of Colleges of Higher Education |
| SEN | special educational needs |
| SENCO | SEN coordinator |
| SETNET | Science, Engineering, Technology and Mathematics Network |
| SfCC | school(s) facing challenging circumstances |
| SHA | Secondary Heads Association |
| SLA | School Library Association |
| SLA | service level agreement |
| SLC | Student Loans Company |
| SSAT | Specialist Schools and Academies Trust |
| STEM | science, technology, engineering and maths |
| STRB | School Teachers’ Review Body |
| SWA | school workforce adviser, but no longer used. Role is referred to as local authority workforce team member. |
| SWDB | School Workforce Development Board |
| SWiS | support work in schools |
| T | |
| TA | teaching assistant |
| TDA | Training and Development Agency for Schools |
| TES | Times Educational Supplement |
| THES | Times Higher Educational Supplement |
| TIL | Teaching Information Line |
| TILE | Teaching in London event |
| TP | Teachers’ Pensions |
| TTRB | teacher training resource bank |
| TYS | targeted youth support |
| U | |
| UCAC | Undeb Cenedlaethol Athrawon Cymru (National Association of Teachers of Wales: pronounced ‘ick-ack’) |
| UCAS | Universities and Colleges Admissions Service |
| UCET | Universities Council for the Education of Teachers |
| UCU | University and College Union |
| V | |
| VA | voluntary aided |
| VC | voluntary controlled |
| VQ | vocational qualifications |
| W | |
| WAMG | Workforce Agreement Monitoring Group |
| WJEC | Welsh Joint Education Committee |
