Examples – content pattern

Examples can help illustrate points in our website advice content.

Short examples

Sometimes we can illustrate a point with a short example.

When to use this pattern

Use this pattern for examples that are one or two sentences long.

The pattern

For example, [insert example].

Example of a 'short example'

For example, an employer agrees with their staff to try working from home for a trial period of 6 months. It works better than expected, so they agree to offer it more widely.

Long examples

Sometimes we need to use a longer example to explain a more complex point.

When to use this pattern

Use this pattern for examples that are several paragraphs long and are a subsection of the page.

The pattern

Example of [insert what it is an example of]

[insert example]

Example of a 'long example'

Example of making a change to support an employee

Some days, Bo has severe tiredness and body aches. Their doctor has diagnosed long covid. Bo is ready to come back to work but is worried that working full time will be hard.

Bo's employer looks at the workload and is able to allocate some work to others in the team. This means they can offer Bo part-time hours to start their return to work. They put in a date to review the arrangement.

Things to remember

Use present tense in examples.

For names and pronouns, follow the style guide entry for examples.

For short examples:

  • use example formatting
  • do not use headings – you can put them among other paragraphs

For long examples:

  • do not use example formatting
  • always use a heading that explains what the example is of – do not just use 'example'
  • if you are using multiple examples on the same page, make sure their headings are unique
  • only use them at the end of a section of content or followed by another example