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Editorial style guide: F

Editorial guidance for terms beginning with 'F'. Use the style guide to help make your content clear, accessible, and consistent with the rest of the website.

A B C D E F G H I J L M N O P Q R S T U V W Y Z

Read about why we need an editorial style guide.

Fewer or less

Fewer is used of numbers; less is used of quantity ('Fewer men require less food').

First class degree

This should be lower case with no hyphens, so ‘first class degree’ as written by UCAS.

First-year or first year

You are a first-year student when you are in your first year of university. The same applies for second and third-year students.

Focused

Not 'focussed'.

Foreign words

Use foreign language accents in words that have become anglicised, such as 'café'. Do not italicise foreign words.

Foundation degree

Use lower case for ‘foundation’.

Full-time

When writing about students or study, for example, use 'full-time', not 'full time' or 'fulltime'.