Dates and times

Date

Use the format:

• 25 July
• 25 July 2024
• Thursday 25 July 2024

Do not use st, nd, rd or th.

Do not use a comma between month and year.

Do not put the year if it's obvious, but do put it if the date must be clear, such as with election dates.

If space is an issue, shorten the months. For example, '25 Jan 2025'. Do not use numbers like '25/01/2019', it's harder to read and uses roughly the same space.

Capitalise months. For example 'January'.

Times

Use the 12-hour clock. For example '5pm'.

Do not use the 24-hour clock. For example '1800hrs'.

Do not add zeros to a whole hour. For example use '5pm' not '5.00pm'.

Say midnight, not '0.00am' or '12am'.

Say midday, not '12noon', 'noon' or '12pm'.

Date and time ranges

Use 'to' in date and time ranges, not dashes or slashes. 'To' is quicker to read and easier for screen readers to interpret.

For example:

• 10 November to 21 December
• 3pm to 4pm
• Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm
• 2026 to 2027

If you need to put different times on different days, use bullet points. For example:

• Monday to Friday, 9am to 4pm
• Saturday, 10am to 3pm
• Sunday, 10am to 12pm

By default, use days, months and years to specify date ranges. This avoids ambiguity.

Alternatively, you can use 'tax year', 'financial year', 'school year' or 'year to' if it makes it clearer for the user. For example:

• tax year 2025 to 2026
• financial year 2025 to 2026
• school year 2025 to 2026
• year to 5 April 2026

If you use 'tax year', 'financial year' or 'school year', define what dates it covers the first time it's used on a page.