British vs American English for university writing

For work at a UK university, use British English spelling and apply it consistently: colour, centre, analyse, programme, travelled. American spelling is not wrong, but switching between the two across a document reads as careless, and quotations keep whatever spelling their author used.

The differences between British vs American English follow a small number of patterns. Once you know those, and the handful of words that break them, checking a draft takes minutes rather than an evening.

British vs American English spelling patterns

Most differences come from a few regular endings. This table covers the ones that appear in academic writing.

British English spelling also keeps some forms American English has dropped, such as catalogue and dialogue. In a medical or scientific dissertation, the -ae and -oe words are where most slips happen, because so much of the literature is American.

Organise or organize: the -ize question

Organise or organize is the question students ask most, and the honest answer is that both are acceptable in British English. Oxford spelling uses -ize endings with otherwise British forms, so an Oxford spelling document says organize, colour and centre together. Oxford University Press uses it, as do a number of academic journals.

What you cannot do is mix them. Choose -ise or -ize before you start writing, tell Word which you chose, and keep it. One exception is fixed in every British system: analyse, paralyse and catalyse always keep the s, because they come from a different root.

Colour or color, and the -our words

Colour or color is the clearest signal of which system a writer is using, which is why markers notice it. British English keeps the u in colour, honour, labour, neighbour and behaviour.

The u disappears in some related words even in British spelling. Honorary, humorous and vigorous all drop it. That catches careful writers who add the u everywhere to be safe.

Words that change meaning, not just spelling

A few pairs matter more than spelling, because using the wrong one changes what the sentence says. In British English, practice is the noun and practise is the verb: you practise a skill, and you work in clinical practice. Licence and license follow the same pattern.

Program is correct British English for computer software, while a course of study is a programme. A draft is an early version of a document, and a draught is a current of air. Story is a narrative, and a storey is a floor of a building.

Punctuation and dates differ too

British writing commonly uses single quotation marks, with double marks for a quotation inside a quotation. Punctuation usually sits outside the closing mark unless it belongs to the quoted words. Dates run day, month, year, as in 14 September 2026, and titles such as Mr and Dr normally take no full stop.

Your referencing style may set its own rules for quotation marks and dates in the reference list. Follow the style guide there, and our Harvard referencing guidecovers the conventions most UK departments use.

What stays American

Some American spelling should never be changed. Direct quotations stay exactly as published. So do the titles of books, articles and reports in your reference list, and the names of organisations such as the World Health Organization or the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Correcting these is a common editing mistake. It makes a quotation inaccurate and a reference harder to find, which is the opposite of what careful spelling is meant to achieve.

Set Word and Google Docs to UK English

In Word, select the whole document, open the Review tab, choose Language, then Set Proofing Language, and pick English (United Kingdom). Untick the setting that detects language automatically, or pasted text from American sources may switch individual paragraphs back to US English without warning.

In Google Docs, go to File, then Language, and choose English (UK). Spellcheckers help, but they accept correct American words, so they will not catch a document that mixes both systems.

A five minute consistency check

Before submitting, use Find to search for the endings that give a mixed document away: ize, yze, or, er and the word program. Look at each result and decide whether it follows your chosen system or sits inside a quotation or title. Then search for the single words your subject uses most, whether that is paediatric, behaviour or modelling.

Spelling is one part of a consistent style. Our guides toacademic writing style andcommon grammatical errors cover the rest, andproofreading vs editing explains what a professional read checks.

If your document mixes British vs American English throughout, or a supervisor has asked you to standardise it, our editors can apply UK English consistently while leaving quotations and titles exactly as they should be.

Last updated: 14 September 2026 · Written by the AssignWise editorial team ·Spotted something wrong?