Website of the UK government

Advanced search

What is advanced search?

Advanced search is an easy way to enter more specific search criteria, which can produce better results.

Where to look

Search

You can choose to search all of Directgov, or restrict your search to one or more of the following sections: News, Do it online, Useful contacts.

Search the full text

Enter your search keyword pr phrase in this box to search all the content of your page.

Search titles only

Enter your search keyword or phrase in this box to search only in the titles of pages.

Search keywords

Enter your search keyword or phrase in this box to search only the keywords with which content editors have tagged pages.

Dates

Select a date range for when content was published.

What are you searching for?

What does the 'With at least one of the words' option do?

This option searches for all the words and returns the results where at least one of the words appears. This option is best used when you search for something that can be described in several ways. For example, if you enter 'Britain' or 'UK' or 'United Kingdom', the search engine will only find documents that include one or more of the terms 'Britain' or 'UK' or 'United Kingdom'.

What does the 'With the exact phrase' option do?

This option treats the words you type as a phrase. For example, entering 'child tax credit' will only return results that include the phrase 'child tax credit'.

What does the 'With all the words' option do?

This option will return results that include every word you have typed. For example, if you enter 'income, tax, rebate', the search engine will only find documents that include all three terms.

What does the 'Without the words' option do?

This option is used to exclude the words from your search. For example, you might want information about 'pay' but not about 'overtime'.

Can I use these three options together?

Yes. The first three options ('With all the words', 'With the exact phrase' and 'with at least one of the words') can be used either on their own or with the other options. The 'Without the words' option must be used with one of the other options. Using all the options will narrow your search significantly and may not return the results you need.