Dissertation Formatting Checklist for UK Universities

Dissertation formatting in the UK depends on your university, department and degree, rather than one national template. Your programme requirements take priority over general advice about margins, spacing and page numbers.

A consistent document helps examiners follow your argument, but consistency alone won’t satisfy a specific submission rule. Start with your programme’s formatting guidelines, then use Word’s built-in tools to keep the layout stable throughout your dissertation.

Key Takeaways

• Use A4 pages and your programme’s prescribed margins, font, spacing and word limit.
• Build headings, contents pages, captions and page numbers with Word’s automatic features.
• Roman-numeral preliminary pages are common, but some universities require continuous Arabic numbering.
• Review the exported PDF, because page breaks and figures can shift during conversion.

Establish Which Formatting Rules Apply

Follow the Requirements for Your Degree

Apply university submission regulations alongside your programme handbook and assessment brief. Where instructions conflict, ask your supervisor or department for a ruling rather than combining incompatible templates.

Requirements vary within universities. LSE’s Health Policy dissertation guidance specifies 3 cm margins, whereas UCL’s thesis preparation rules require at least 40 mm at the binding edge and 20 mm elsewhere.

Published dissertations can illustrate a layout, but older submissions aren’t authoritative templates.

Separate Word Limits From Formatting Conventions

An 80,000 to 100,000-word PhD thesis is a familiar doctoral range, not a universal UK allowance. Limits depend on the discipline and degree.

Taught dissertations can be much shorter. LSE’s Health Policy dissertation guidelines specify 6,000 words for MSc International Health Policy and 10,000 for MSc Health Policy, Planning and Financing, excluding the reference list.

Bibliographies and appendices are often excluded elsewhere, but footnotes, captions and abstracts receive different treatment. Record the applicable inclusions before calculating your final word count.

Set the Page Layout for a UK Dissertation

These settings illustrate common requirements, with important differences between institutions.

Feature	Common UK Approach	Important Variation
Page size	A4, 210 × 297 mm	Don’t substitute US Letter.
Margins	40 mm binding edge; 20 mm elsewhere	Some guidance uses 30 mm throughout.
Double-sided layout	Mirrored inside and outside margins	Some universities use 30 mm inside and 20 mm outside.
Body font	One consistent, readable font, commonly 12 pt	Permitted sizes and typefaces vary.
Line spacing	Double or 1.5 spacing	Exceptions may apply to notes and quotations.

The practical takeaway is to apply one complete set of institutional rules.

Times New Roman, Arial and Calibri are common choices. A 12 pt body font is a sensible starting point when permitted.

However, overseas templates can differ. Colorado State’s guide allows 10 to 12 pt type and specifies one-inch margins, equivalent to 25.4 mm. Those aren’t default UK thesis rules.

Set paragraph spacing through Word’s Paragraph settings. Avoid repeated blank lines, which move unpredictably during editing. Footnotes, block quotations and bibliography entries may use single spacing where the prescribed rules allow it.

Arrange the Preliminary Pages and Chapters

Put the Front Matter in the Required Order

A common sequence is the title page, declarations, acknowledgements, abstract, table of contents, and lists of figures, tables or abbreviations. Some programmes place acknowledgements after the abstract.

Include the required title-page details, such as your dissertation title, student identifier, degree, institution and submission date. Anonymous marking may require an identifier instead of your name.

An abstract of about 300 words is common, although programme limits differ. Write it after completing the dissertation and summarise the question, method, findings and conclusion.

Normally, include one abstract unless multilingual submission rules require another version. Colorado State assigns its abstract page ii, but that numbering isn’t a UK-wide requirement.

Keep the Main Sections Easy to Follow

A conventional empirical dissertation contains an introduction, literature review, methodology, results, discussion and conclusion, followed by references and appendices.

Humanities dissertations may instead organise their argument through thematic chapters. A thesis containing published papers needs linking material that explains how the papers answer the overall research question.

Start each chapter on a new page. Format the References or Bibliography heading like other chapter-level headings, even when it has no chapter number.

Begin each appendix on a separate page. Use stable labels, such as Appendix A, and refer to each appendix in the main text.

Automate Headings, Contents and Page Numbers in Word

Build the Contents Page From Heading Styles

Apply Heading 1 to chapter titles, Heading 2 to sections and Heading 3 to subsections. Modify each style through Home > Styles rather than formatting headings individually.

Set the font, size, paragraph spacing and alignment once. For chapter titles, enable Paragraph > Line and Page Breaks > Page break before.

Then select References > Table of Contents and insert an automatic table. Include the required chapter, section and subsection levels with page numbers.

After revisions, choose Update Table > Update entire table. Updating page numbers alone won’t capture renamed headings.

Separate Preliminary and Main-Body Numbering

Lowercase Roman numerals, such as i, ii and iii, commonly identify preliminary pages. The main body then restarts at 1 in Arabic numerals.

However, UCL requires continuous Arabic pagination. Use section breaks in Microsoft Word only when your submission rules require a numbering change.

1. Place the cursor immediately before the first main chapter and select Layout > Breaks > Next Page.
2. Open the new section’s header or footer and switch off Link to Previous where the page number appears.
3. In the preliminary section, choose Page Number > Format Page Numbers and select i, ii, iii.
4. In the main section, select 1, 2, 3 and set Start at to 1.

Microsoft’s section-by-section page numbering instructions explain the same approach.

Use Different First Page to hide a title-page number when required. A hidden number can still count towards pagination.

Format Tables, References and Unusual Pages

Keep Captions and Cross-References Consistent

A common convention places table labels above tables and figure labels below figures. Colorado State follows this arrangement, although some guides put both labels underneath.

Use your prescribed convention throughout. In Word, select References > Insert Caption, choose the correct label, then insert cross-references rather than typing numbers manually.

Keep captions with their associated material. Also include units, readable legends and source acknowledgements for reproduced or adapted material.

Apply One Referencing System Throughout

Harvard is a family of author-date systems, so it doesn’t prescribe one universal margin measurement. Our Harvard referencing guide explains university-specific differences.

APA and Harvard aren’t interchangeable. APA normally uses 25.4 mm margins, whilst APA 7 formatting guidance requires double-spaced text. Reference entries are also double-spaced, with hanging indents.

Use your required source-list heading: References, Bibliography or Works Cited. Zotero and EndNote can handle repetitive formatting, but imported author names, dates and publication details still need review.

Handle Landscape Pages and Declarations

For a wide table, insert a Next Page section break before and after it. Change only that section to Landscape and keep page numbering continuous.

Avoid shrinking a large table until its text becomes unreadable. A full-width landscape page or appendix may work better.

Include an AI-use declaration where required and where the use was permitted. Retain tool names, dates, prompts and relevant outputs. A declaration and a reference-list citation meet different requirements.

Run This Final Dissertation Formatting Checklist

Review the complete document after your final substantive edit, then inspect the PDF you intend to submit.

1. Match the page size, margins, font and spacing to the prescribed requirements, including landscape sections.
2. Review the title page, declarations, abstract and word-count statement for completeness and correct placement.
3. Update the contents page, caption lists, citation fields and cross-references throughout the document.
4. Inspect every section boundary for unexpected blank pages, numbering restarts or changes to headers and footers.
5. Match every citation to its reference entry and remove comments, tracked changes and unresolved editing marks.
6. Open the exported PDF and inspect page breaks, symbols, equations, tables, figures and searchable text.

Use the required filename and submission format. If anonymous marking applies, remove identifying information from both the document and its file properties.

Frequently Asked Questions About Dissertation Formatting in the UK

Is Double Spacing Compulsory?

No single rule applies across UK universities. Some require double spacing; others accept 1.5 spacing. UCL permits both for thesis typescripts, with single spacing for indented quotations and footnotes. Apply the specified setting through paragraph styles so pasted text doesn’t introduce inconsistencies.

What Size Should Chapter Headings Be?

There isn’t a national heading-size rule. If your department allows discretion, a clear hierarchy might use 16 pt chapter headings, 14 pt section headings and 12 pt subsection headings. Bold, centring and capitals are separate choices. Use one consistent treatment for each level.

Do Appendices Count Towards the Word Limit?

Often they don’t, but exclusions depend on your programme. Appendices should contain supporting material, such as questionnaires or supplementary tables. Keep essential analysis in the main chapters rather than moving it into an appendix to reduce the counted text.

Can a Dissertation Include Another Language?

Yes, where your programme permits it. Distinguish original-language quotations from translations and identify who translated them. Use fonts that display all required characters correctly. A translated abstract or bilingual title page belongs in the submission only when the applicable rules require or permit it.

Submit a Consistent, Readable Dissertation

Reliable dissertation formatting starts with the right institutional requirements. Automatic styles and fields then help you maintain those requirements as the document changes.

Finish by reviewing the exported PDF, not only the Word file. That final version needs to preserve your numbering, references and layout exactly as intended.