Typography

Paragraphs

February 2024: GOV.UK Frontend v5.2 includes the new type scale behind a feature flag. This update will make text easier to read on smaller screens. It will become the standard type scale in a future release, but for now you can still view the old type scale.

Read about updating your service to use the new type scale.

The default paragraph font size is 19px.

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HTML

<p class="govuk-body">govuk-body</p>

You can also add classes to create a lead paragraph or smaller body copy to convey hierarchy in your page.

Lead paragraph

A lead paragraph is an introductory paragraph that you can use at the top of a page to summarise the content. Lead paragraphs use 24px type on desktop and if it’s needed you should only use it once per page.

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HTML

<p class="govuk-body-l">govuk-body-l</p>

Body small

You can use the govuk-body-s class sparingly to make your paragraph font size 16px instead of 19px.

The majority of your body copy should use the standard 19px paragraph size.

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HTML

<p class="govuk-body-s">govuk-body-s</p>

Help improve this style

To help make sure that this page is useful, relevant and up to date, you can:

• take part in the ‘Paragraphs’ discussion on GitHub and share your research
• propose a change – read more about how to propose changes in GitHub

Need help?

If you’ve got a question about the GOV.UK Design System, contact the team.