How to write your number

Formatting and displaying UK phone numbers

General | Special numbers | Overseas | Programmers

If you want to present the best image while making it easy for people to contact you, it's worth writing your number correctly. Get it wrong and somebody might not even be able to ring you!

In general

Separate the area code from the rest of the number with a space and, if you like, brackets. This shows clearly which part of the number is optional if calling from within the same area code.

The length of codes and local numbers varies, with several valid formats. In these examples, 'x' represents any single digit from 0 to 9:

• (02x) xxxx xxxx
• (01x1) xxx xxxx
• (011x) xxx xxxx
• (01xxx) xxxxxx
• (01xxx) xxxxx (rare)
• (01xxxx) xxxxx (very rare)
• (016977) xxxx (unique!)

 
Quick tips:

• Numbers beginning '02' are always written: (02x) xxxx xxxx or 02x xxxx xxxx.
  Examples: London, Northern Ireland, Cardiff.
• Numbers beginning '011' are always written: (011x) xxx xxxx or 011x xxx xxxx.
  Examples: Sheffield, Nottingham, Reading.
• Numbers with a second and fourth digit of '1', such as 0121, are always written: (01x1) xxx xxxx or 01x1 xxx xxxx.
  Examples: Edinburgh, Manchester, Glasgow.
• Most other numbers are (01xxx) xxxxxx or (01xxx) xxxxx, apart from a few rural areas in the North West and Borders.

 
More information:

Browse the area code listings for advice specific to each area code.

Find out exactly why it matters.

Special numbers

Mobile and non-geographic numbers don't have optional area codes so can largely be written in whichever pattern aids memorability.

The format 07xxx xxxxxx is recommended for mobile phones as it is widely-recognised and also because the first five digits usually identify the owner of the number. (For example, 07973 belongs to Orange.)

'08' numbers are best displayed in the style 08xx xxx xxxx to aid recognition of the various different services. For example, as the meaning of '0800' is widely recognised, 0800 123 4567 is more likely to be understood as a freephone number than 08001 234567.

From overseas

If you want people to call you internationally, remove the leading zero of your phone number and prefix it with '+44'. For example, London number (020) 7946 0018 becomes +44 20 7946 0018.

Never write '0044' instead of +44. Many countries do not use '00' for international dialling - such as the USA from which a caller would need to dial 01144 to reach the UK. Using the symbol '+' avoids this problem as it tells the caller to dial their country's international access code (whether 00, 011 or anything else) - and is also recognised by many mobile phones.

The complete pattern for programmers

Need to build number formatting into a piece of software or a database? The basic list of patterns and accompanying notes below show the various valid formats in the UK in 2010:

(01###) #####[#]
(011#) ### ####
(01#1) ### ####
(013873) #####
(015242) #####
(015394) #####
(015395) #####
(015396) #####
(016973) #####
(016974) #####
(016977) ####[#]
(017683) #####
(017684) #####
(017687) #####
(019467) #####
(02#) #### ####
03## ### ####
05### ######
0500 ######
07### ######
08## ### ###[#]
09## ### ####

Notes to above:

• The list would need to be parsed in the order shown
• # represents any digit between 0 and 9
• [#] indicates variations in length. For example, 01### area codes may be followed by either 5 or 6 digit local numbers.
• There are also, exceptionally, two eight digit numbers in use: 0800 1111 and 0845 4647.
• Brackets () are optional and only relevant to geographic numbers starting 01 and 02 as shown above.
• There are, as yet, no numbers beginning 04 or 06.