Development Level Advice

/ Slash

Between two words

A slash may be used where there is limited space, e.g. on a poster or web page, between two words to replace either the word or, or the word and.

You can use a slash between her/him, hers/his, she/he (or s/he) to show that a person could be either female or male. This is good practice (see 'Non-discriminatory language' in the Use of Words topic).

However, for some academic subjects or for some types of written work it may not be acceptable to use a slash to mean or or and. Check with your tutors.

Academic work needs to be precise, and if it is not be clear whether the slash means or or and, there is potential confusion. It may be best to avoid it.