Numbers

Using numbers in your content

Everything you need to know about formatting and writing numbers in your content. Includes dates and time, percentages and how to write about ages.

Writing numbers

We should make sure that when we use numbers we are writing and formatting them in a clear and consistent way to avoid any confusion.

Numbers in sentences

Write all numbers from 1 to 999,999 numerically except for when you are starting a sentence. The only exception is for headings, titles and subheadings. 

Do this	Not this
This agreement will have 2 lots and each lot will have 3 suppliers One lot will have 5 suppliers  Eight frameworks are live, 32 have expired Thirty two lots on this agreement have expired Five new documents have been added to 10 agreements	This agreement will have two lots and each lot will have three suppliers 1 lot will have 5 suppliers 8 frameworks are live, thirty two have expired 32 lots on this agreement have expired 5 new documents have been added to 10 agreements

Generalisation in numbers

If the number is generalised or part of a common expression where using numerals would look odd, write the number out in full.

Do this	Not this
One or two of them Hundreds of years In their thousands	1 or 2 of them 100s of years In their 1000s

Numbers in titles, headings or subheadings

If a number starts a sentence in a title, heading or subheading then use the numerical.

Do this	Not this
5 ways to buy with Crown Commercial Service	Five ways to buy with Crown Commercial Service

Writing millions and billions

Always write million and billion out in full and use lower case and make sure there is a space between the number and the word.

Do this	Not this
2.7 million 150 billion 0.6 billion 20 million	2.7 m 150Billion 0.6 bn 20million

Roman numerals

Do not use Roman numerals unless you are referring to a monarch by their title.

Do this	Not this
King Charles III Queen Elizabeth II	King Charles 3 Queen Elizabeth 2

Ordinal numbers

Ordinal numbers are numbers that represent the rank or position of an object or a person. They are also known as positioning or ranking numbers.

Spell out rankings first to ninth and then use numerals.

Do this	Not this
First Third Eighth 10th 21st	1st 3rd 8th Tenth  Twenty-first

Fractions

Write out and hyphenate fractions as words. Do not use numerals and slash symbols.

Do this	Not this
Two-thirds Three-quarters	⅔ ¾

Decimal fractions

Write out decimal fractions as numerals. Use the same number format for a sequence of fractions and decimals.

Do this	Not this
0.75 0.45	Zero point seventy five percent

Formatting numbers

Commas in numbers

Use commas when writing numbers over 999 to separate thousands (except for years)

Do this	Not this
1,000 1,500 3,760 100,000	1000 1500 3760 100000

Writing about years

When writing years, group the numbers together without a comma and numerically.

 

Do this	Not this
1997 1662 2000	1,997 Sixteen sixty two Year two thousand

Hyphens in numbers

Do not use hyphens when writing numbers in full

Do this	Not this
Thirty two suppliers are on lot 1	Thirty-two suppliers are on lot 1

Separating numbers

When separating numbers do not use hyphens, instead use a connecting word such as ‘and’ or ‘to’.

Do this	Not this
Between 15 and 25 people downloaded this document last week Read pages 11 to 15	Between 15 – 25 people downloaded this document last week Read pages 11-15

Formatting sets of numbers

Avoid writing sets of numbers together in the same sentence

Do this	Not this
In 1997 just over 3,000 births were recorded In 2023 we had 33,000 people visit our search agreement page every month	In 1997 3,040 births were recorded In 2023 33,000 people visited our search agreement page every month

Decimals and percentages

When listing a sequence of numbers or percentages, always use the same number of decimal places. Use a 0 where there is no digit before the decimal point and % for percentages.

Do this	Not this
0.8 0.25 6.00 60%	.8 .25 6. 60 percent

Positive and negative numbers

When referring to positive and negative numbers in text, write out “positive” and “negative” in full. Do not use the minus or plus symbol in your main content. 

If you are referring to positive and negative numbers in spreadsheets or tables, you can use plus and minus symbols.

Do this	Not this
Positive 10 Negative 3	+10 -3

Page numbers

Always use numerals and the fewest digits as possible. Separate page numbers using “to”.

Do this	Not this
Pages 1 to 6 Pages 10 to 22 Pages 140 to 150	Pages 1 – 6 Pages ten to twenty two Pages 140 – 150

Writing about ages

Make sure you are writing about ages in a consistent and standardised way to make statistical content clearer.  

Use ‘aged’ for ages 

Try to use the following formats as much as possible:

• aged [age] years 
• aged [age] to [age] years 

For example:

• aged 17 years
• aged 19 to 30 years

It is better to use ‘aged’ when possible to help avoid any ambiguity or confusion over interpretation. 

Using ‘between 19 to 30 years’ instead of ‘aged’ could mean 19 to 30 years or 20 to 29 years. Using ‘aged’ helps to remove any misinterpretations.

When not to use “aged” 

There may be times when using ‘aged’ is not appropriate or will not fit your context. In these instances we can use some flexibility.

For example:

• before the age of 50 years
• after 60 years of age

Using hyphens in ages

Avoid using hyphens in ages. Usually you can reword a sentence to increase clarity to avoid needing to use hyphens. Always use “to” instead of hyphens when writing about age ranges.

Do this	Not this
Aged 24 years 15 students aged 18 took the A-level course 16 year old Our data looked at 16 to 30 year old women	Aged-24-years A class of 15 18-year-old students took the A-level course 16-year-old Our data looked at 16-30 year old women

Using above and below

Do not use the plus sign, or the words “above” and “below”. You should also avoid using generic group terms like ‘the over 60’s’ or ‘under 16s’. Instead you should make it very clear who is included.

Do this	Not this
Aged 17 and under Aged 80 and over A social club for children aged 16 and under	Adults above 80 years of age Children below the age of 5 For over 50s A social club for under 16s

Dates and time

Using a consistent and clear approach to date and time ensures our customers can easily understand our content.

Dates

Use the format [Day] [Date] [Month] [Year] as much as possible and where space will allow. This should be written out with no commas. 

Letting customers know the day of the week as well as date, month and year can help them to plan their diaries and remember the date more efficiently.

If space is an issue you can shorten the date to [Date] [Month] [Year] and use the shortened version of the month.

Do not include “st”, “nd”, “rd” or “th” after the date. When writing about an event do not only refer to the day, include all relevant information such as time.

Do this	Not this
Monday 20 May 2024 21 May 2024 13 Nov 2023 The event will take place on Wednesday 22 May 2024	Monday 20 May ‘24 21st May 2024 13 Nov ‘23 The event will take place on Wednesday 13/10/23

Writing about today

When referring to today, include the date.

Do this	Not this
The minister announced today (14 June 2012) that…	The minister announced today that…

Date spans

When talking about reference period use the format: [date] to [date]. Always use the word “to” to separate dates and never a hyphen.

For a period between 2 dates, use the format: between [date] and [date]

If your time period spans months in the same year, you only need to include the year once. If the period spans years, include the relevant year after each month.

Do this	Not this
2010 to 2024 Between 14 June and 16 June 2024 July to September 2019 Between Monday 19 November 2020 and Wednesday 14 January 2021	2010-2024 Between 14 June 2024 and 16 June 2024 July-September 2019

Quarters

Do not use quarters for dates, use the months instead. Different departments and organisations use quarters in different ways. Some begin from the start of the year (January to December) while others begin with the financial year (April to March).

It is better to explicitly state the months you are referring to for clarity and to avoid any confusion.

Do this	Not this
Department expenses, Jan to Mar 2013   Documents will be available to download between April 2023 and March 2024	Department expenses, Quarter 1 Department expenses, Q1 Documents will be available to download in Quarter 1

Seasons

Seasons are always lower case

Do this	Not this
spring summer autumn winter	Spring Summer Autumn Winter

Time

Do not use the 24 hour clock when writing time. Do not add spaces between the number and letters and use only the punctuation shown in the examples below.

Only add a colon (:) to the time if there are minutes past the hour. Do not use full stops for time.

For example: 

• use 8pm instead of 8:00pm
• use 8:30pm instead of 8.30pm

The exception to the above rule is for time spans. You should use the same number format for time spans for reading clarity.

For example, 8:30am to 10:00pm or 8am to 10pm.

Do this	Not this
9am 2pm 10:30am to 12:00pm 10am to 11am 1pm to 3pm	9:00 am 2 pm 10:30am to 12pm 10 to 11am 1:00 to 3:00pm

Explore more of our style guide

Our style guide is designed to help you communicate in a clear and consistent way. Find out more about how to write and design for Crown Commercial Service (CCS).

• Accessibility

  Accessibility is the practice of making information meaningful and usable for as many people as possible.

  Find out how to make your content accessible.

• Brand guidelines

  We created these brand guidelines to explain how we use our brand to consistently communicate with our customers visually and verbally. Includes our tone of voice, our brand colours how to use our brand mark (logo).

  Find out more about our brand guidelines.

• Designing for CCS webpages

  Learn about the design components we use on our website and how you can use them to create webpages. Includes page components such as buttons and hero banner design.

  Find out how to design webpages for CCS.

• Formatting

  Everything you need to know about how to format your content. Includes links, bullet pointed lists, heading styles and punctuation.

  Find out how to format your content.

• Language

  Everything you need to know about language and spelling. Includes how to use plain language, abbreviations, capitalisation and words to avoid.

  Find out about using language in your content.

• Checklist

  When you have finished writing your piece of content, use our checklist to check you have followed the style guide and are ready to publish.

  View our checklist.

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