This is a carefully chosen list of acronyms which are unique the UK and others which are particularly important to describe British society. British abbreviations other than acronyms, such as “Corrie” and “The Beeb”, are also listed elsewhere on this site.
- A&E – accident and emergency (= casualty/ ER/ emergency room)
- AA – (The) Automobile Association (an organisation that helps broken down drivers)
- ABTA – Association of British Travel Agents
- ACAS – Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service (an organisation that helps settle disputes, pronounced “eikass”)
- AGM – annual general meeting (= shareholders’ meeting)
- AHRC – Arts and Humanities Research Council (a funding research council)
- APR – annual percentage rate (a way of calculating interest rates)
- ASA – The Advertising Standards Authority
- ASBO – (an) anti-social behaviour order (pronounced “azboe”)
- ASH – Action on Smoking and Health (anti-smoking lobbying group, pronounced “ash”)
- ASLEF – Associated Society of Locomotive Engineers and Firemen (a union, pronounced “azleff”)
- B&B – bed and breakfast (a kind of cheap hotel, usually pronounced “bee n bee”)
- B&H – Benson and Hedges (cigarettes)
- BA – British Airlines
- BAA – the former British Airports Authority
- BAE – British Aerospace
- BAFTA – British Academy of Film and Television Arts (most famous for their awards, often called “the British Oscars”)
- BAT – British American Tobacco
- BBC – (the) British Broadcasting Corporation
- BBFC – British Board of Film Classification (the organisation that decides if films are U, PG, 12, 15, etc)
- BBSRC – Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council
- BCC – British Chambers of Commerce
- BFI – British Film Institute
- BHS – British Home Stores (a department store chain)
- BMA – British Medical Association
- BME – black and minority ethnic
- BMJ – British Medical Journal
- BNFL – British Nuclear Fuels Limited
- BNP – British National Party (an extreme right-wing party)
- BoE – Bank of England
- BP – British Petroleum
- BR – British Rail
- BSE – bovine spongiform encephalopathy (the medical name for mad cow disease)
- BSI – British Standards Institution
- BST – British Summer Time
- BT – British Telecom
- C of E – (The) Church of England
- CAA – Civil Aviation Authority
- CAB – Citizen’s Advice Bureau
- CAE – Cambridge Advanced English (a high level English language exam)
- CAMRA – Campaign for Real Ale
- CAP – Common Agricultural Policy
- CBE – Commander of the British Empire (an award for public service)
- CBI – Confederation of British Industry
- CBSO – City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra
- CCTV – closed circuit television (particularly common in the UK)
- CID – Criminal Investigation Department
- CJD – Creutzfeldt-Jacob disease (the human version of mad cow disease)
- CMA – Competition and Markets Authority
- CND – Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (a campaign against nuclear weapons)
- CPE – Cambridge Proficiency in English (a very high level English language exam)
- CPI – Consumer Price Index
- CPS – Crown Prosecution Service
- CRB – Criminal Records Bureau (now part of DBS – Disclosure and Barring Service)
- CUP – Cambridge University Press
- CV – curriculum vitae (= résumé)
- CWU – Communication Workers Union
- DAB – digital audio broadcasting (= digital radio)
- DC – Detective Constable (a police rank)
- DCMS – (the) Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport
- DEFRA – (the) Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (pronounced “defrer”)
- DG – director general (most famously of the BBC)
- DI – detective inspector
- DIT – The Department for International Trade
- DIY – do it yourself (a popular hobby in the UK)
- DJ – dinner jacket (= tuxedo)
- DLA – Disability Living Allowance
- DLR – Docklands Light Railway
- DMs – Doctor Martens/ Doctor Marten boots (also known as Docs or Doc Martens)
- DPP – Director of Public Prosecutions
- DTI – the former Department of Trade and Industry
- DUP – (Ulster) Democratic Unionist Party
- DVLA – Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency
- DWP – Department of Work and Pensions
- EDL – English Defence League (extreme right-wing group)
- EFTA – European Free Trade Association (an organisation similar to the EU that the UK used to be a member of)
- EHRC – The Equality and Human Rights Commission
- ENO – English National Opera
- EPSRC – Engineering and Physical Research Council
- ESOL – English for speakers of other languages (in the UK mainly meaning English for immigrants)
- ESRC – Economic and Social Research Council
- FA – The Football Association
- FC – Football Club (usually part of the club name)
- FCA – Financial Conduct Authority
- FCE – (Cambridge) First Certificate (in English) (a pre-Advanced level English language exam, also known as First Cert)
- FCO – Foreign and Commonwealth Office (the British foreign ministry)
- FE (college) – further education (college)
- FOREST – Freedom Organisation for the Right to Enjoy Smoking Tobacco (a lobbying group)
- FT – Financial Times
- FTSE – Financial Times Stock Exchange (index)
- G&T – gin and tonic
- GB – Great Britain (the UK minus Northern Ireland, so England, Scotland and Wales)
- GBH – grievous bodily harm (= serious assault)
- GBP – (Great British) pounds
- GCHQ – Government Communication Headquarters (a spy agency)
- GCSE – the General Certificate in Secondary Education (the standard national exams at 16 years old)
- GLC – the former Greater London Council
- GMB – General, Municipal, Boilermakers and Allied Trade Union
- GMT – Greenwich mean time
- GP – general practitioner (= family doctor/ local doctor)/ (Formula 1) grand prix
- GPO – general post office (an old name for the post office, still seen on manhole covers etc)
- GSK – GlaxoSmithKline
- HBOS – Halifax Bank of Scotland (pronounced “eitch boss”)
- HGV – heavy goods vehicle (= a lorry)
- HM Treasury – Her Majesty’s Treasury/ His Majesty’s Treasury
- HMP – Her Majesty’s Prison/ His Majesty’s Prison (used in prison names)
- HMRC – Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs/ His Majesty’s Revenue and Customs
- HMS – Her Majesty’s Ship/ His Majesty’s Ship (used in ship names)
- HMV – His Master’s Voice (a music company)
- HP – hire purchase/ HP sauce (a kind of brown sauce, similar to steak sauce)
- HRH – Her Royal Highness/ His Royal Highness
- HS1 – High Speed 1 (a rail line linking to the Channel Tunnel)
- HS2 – High Speed 2 (a planned high speed rail line)
- HSBC – Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corporation
- HSE – Health and Safety Executive
- IB – International Baccalaureate (a school leaving qualification that is popular in international schools)
- ICI – Imperial Chemical Industries (a former British chemicals company)
- IELTS – International English Language Testing System (a test for EFL students, mainly for university entrance and immigration purposes)
- IGCSE – International General Certificate in Secondary Education (the standard national exams at 16 years old in the UK and some international schools)
- IH – International House (a chain of language schools)
- IPA – India pale ale (a kind of beer)
- IPCC – Independent Police Complaints Commission
- IPPR – Institute for Public Policy Research
- IRA – (Provisional) Irish Republican Army (also sometimes known as the provos)
- ISA – Individual Savings Account
- ITN – Independent Television News
- ITV – Independent Television (the main commercial TV channels)
- JP – justice of the peace (another name for magistrate)
- (Cambridge) KET – Cambridge Key English Test (a low-level English language exam)
- LBW – leg before wicket (a way of getting out in cricket)
- LIBOR – London Interbank Offered Rate
- LSE – London School of Economics and Political Science
- LSE – London Stock Exchange
- LSO – London Symphony Orchestra
- LTA – Lawn Tennis Association
- LW – longwave (radio)
- M&B – Mitchells and Butlers (a pub chain)
- M&S – Marks and Spencer (department stores)
- MBE – Member of the British Empire (an award for public service)
- MCC – Marylebone Cricket Club (the organisation in charge of Lords Cricket Ground, and formerly in charge of cricket)
- MD – managing director/ medical doctor
- MEP – Member of the European Parliament
- MI5 – Military Intelligence, Section 5 (the counter intelligence service of the UK)
- MI6 – Military Intelligence, Section 6 (the foreign intelligence service of the UK, also known as SIS)
- MLA – Member of the Legislative Assembly (in Northern Ireland)
- MMR – measles mumps and rubella (injection)
- MoD – Ministry of Defence
- MOJ – Ministry of Justice
- MORI – Market and Opinion Research International
- MotD – Match of the Day (sports programme, mainly a written abbreviation)
- MP – member of parliament
- mph – miles per hour (still used in the UK, despite decimalisation)
- MRC – Medical Research Council
- MSP – Member of the Scottish Parliament
- NASUWT – National Association of Schoolmasters Union of Women Teachers (a union)
- NCA – National Crime Agency
- NHS – the National Health Service
- NI – Northern Ireland (written abbreviation)
- NI (number) – national insurance (number)
- NICE – National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (the agency that, controversially, decides what treatments the NHS can afford)
- NIESR – The National Institute of Economic and Social Research
- nimby/ NIMBY – not in my back yard (an attitude towards construction etc in your local area)
- NME – New Musical Express (music magazine)
- NPG – National Portrait Gallery (written abbreviation)
- NS&I – National Savings and Investments
- NSPCC – National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children
- NUJ – National Union of Journalists
- NUM – National Union of Mineworkers
- NUS – National Union of Students
- NUT – National Union of Teachers
- OAP – old-age pensioner
- OBE – Order of the British Empire (an award for public service)
- OBR – Office for Budget Responsibility
- OFT – the former Office of Fair Trading
- OMD – Orchestral Movement in the Dark (a pop group)
- ONS – Office of National Statistics
- ORR – Office of Rail and Road
- OS (map) – Ordinance Survey (map)
- OU – Open University (a national distance learning institute)
- OUP – Oxford University Press
- PAYE – pay as you earn
- PC – police constable
- PE – physical education (= sports in school)
- (Cambridge) PET – (Cambridge) Preliminary English Test
- PFA – Professional Footballers’ Association
- PGCE – Post-graduate Certificate in Education (the standard UK teaching qualification, especially for teaching kids)
- PLC – public limited company (a publically listed limited liability company, often part of the company name)
- PM – Prime Minister
- PMQs – prime minister’s question time
- PPE – philosophy, politics and economics (a degree course that many leading people in UK politics have taken, most famously in Oxford)
- PPP – public private partnership (a common ways of funding public works)
- PSNI – Police Service of Northern Ireland (replacement for the RUC)
- PwC – PricewaterhouseCoopers
- QC – Queen’s Counsel (a kind of top lawyer)
- QE – quantitative easing (an economic policy used after the 2007 recession)
- QPR – Queens Park Rangers (football club)
- quango/ QUANGO – quasi-autonomous non-governmental organisation
- RA – (member of the) Royal Academy
- RAC – the Royal Automobile Club
- RADA – Royal Academic of Dramatic Art
- RAF – Royal Air Force
- RBOS – Royal Bank of Scotland (pronounced “ar boss”)
- RCA – Royal College of Art
- RCN – Royal College of Nursing
- RE/ RI/ RS – religious education/ religious instruction/ religious studies
- RFC – rugby football club (usually part of a rugby club name)
- RIBA – Royal Institute of British Architects (pronounced “reeber”)
- RMT – National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers
- RN – registered nurse
- RP – received pronunciation (an upper class British accent, sometimes called the Queen’s English/ BBC English/ Oxford English)
- RSA – Royal Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce
- RSPB – Royal Society for the Protection of Birds
- RSPCA – Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals
- RUC – Royal Ulster Constabulary (the former police force of Northern Ireland)
- SAS – Special Air Service (elite British troops)
- SDLP – Social Democratic and Labour Party (a political party in Northern Ireland)
- SFO – the Serious Fraud Office
- SIS – the Secret Intelligence Service (the foreign intelligence service of the UK, more often known as MI6)
- SNP – Scottish National Party
- SOAS – School of Oriental and African Studies
- STFC – Science and Technology Facilities Council
- TA – Territorial Army (a reserve army of “part-time soldiers”)
- TCCB – Test and County Cricket Board
- TES – Times Educational Supplement
- TfL – Transport for London (mainly written abbreviation)
- TGWU – the former Transport and General Workers Union
- TLS – Times Literary Supplement
- TotP – Top of the Pops (a long-running TV chart show)
- TPAS – The Pension Advisory Service
- TUC – Trades Union Congress
- UCL – University College London
- UDA – Ulster Defence Association (Northern Ireland paramilitary group)
- UDP – Ulster Democratic Party
- UFF – Ulster Freedom Fighters (also UDA)
- UK – (The) United Kingdom (of Great Britain and Northern Ireland)
- UKIP – The UK Independence Party (an anti-EU party)
- USDAW – Union of Shop, Distributive and Allied Workers
- UVF – Ulster Volunteer Force (Northern Ireland paramilitary group)
- V&A – the Victoria and Albert Museum
- VAT – value added tax (a kind of consumption tax)
- VC – Victoria Cross (medal)
- VE Day – Victory in Europe Day (8 May 1945)
- VJ Day – Victory over Japan Day (15 August 1945)
- WAGs – wives and girlfriends (usually meaning of sportsmen, most famously of the England football team)
- WC – water closet (= toilet, mainly a written abbreviation)
- WPC – woman police constable (a former police rank)
- WSC – When Saturday Comes (football magazine)
- WWF – World Wildlife Fund for Nature
- YBAs – Young British Artists (an artistic movement/ generation)
- YHA – Youth Hostel Association