When to write the number as a word
Write zero to nine as words and 10 onwards in figures, unless a sentence begins with a number over 10:
Examples:
The building has four floors
The building has 14 floors
Sixty-five million years ago, dinosaurs roamed
Other exceptions are numbers that have technical significance or need to stand out for quick comprehension, such as: tables, statistics, money, times, ratios and academic grades.
Where a number from one to nine is part of a phrase or title that you didn't create, stick with the convention.
Example:
Key Stage 2
Larger numbers
For larger numbers, use the following formats:
2,000
100,000
1 million
Note the commas between numbers and the space before million.
It is fine to use k/m/bn as shorter ways of spelling out 1,000/1,000,000/1,000,000,000 (or writing out ‘one thousand’/‘one million’/‘one billion’), as long as you are consistent throughout.
For multiple millions/billions you can use a mixture of words and numbers, just ensure you are consistent throughout.
Currency
Write out the names of foreign currencies except in tables: yen, francs, dollars. No capital letters. If dollars are other than US, state this.
Examples:
New Zealand dollars
NZ dollars
Do not write out decimal points in euro amounts.
For €1 million and above, round to the nearest 100,000, unless the number is necessary for tabulation
€1,569,433 rounds to €1.6 million
Avoid the construction €1 to €3 million — that means one euro to 3 million euro; use €1 million to €3 million instead.
Consistency is important here.
Dates
The preferred format is dd mm yyyy (date month year). For example, 17 January 2024.
Avoid using nth/th/st as part of the date: 17th January 2024.
When stating the day of the week, use a comma after the day: Wednesday, 17 January 2024.
Ranges
Use a hyphen in the middle. 15-17 January 2024.
Decades
Use an ‘s’ at the end (with no apostrophe): 1990s
Years
To express an academic year, or range of years, use the following format:
2021/22, or 2021–2024, using an en-dash if the period is more than two years.
Not 2020-1 or 2020/1
Centuries
Centuries are written as nineteenth century (noun) or twentieth-century literature (adjective).
Time
Use am and pm, not the 24-hour clock. Use full stops not colons as separators.
Example:
9.30am not 09:30
11.30pm not 23:30
Note there is no space between the number and am or pm.
Avoid using midnight or midday where possible. 12 noon is acceptable for 12pm.
References to time
Avoid vague time references (will be online soon) and relative time references (last year, next year). Avoid referring to non-specific days, such as “On Tuesday, the department held an event”.
Time references need to be specific if they are to be of use to the reader.
Phone numbers
Write the area code in brackets before the local number. When the local number has more than five digits, separate them into groups of two or three with spaces between.
Example:
(061) 202 700
Use +353 if writing an international access code for an Irish telephone number, dropping the brackets for the local number.
Example:
+353 61 202 700