How to Respond to a Job Offer Email: Accept, Decline or Ask for Time

What a UK Job Offer Consists Of

The offer itself can be verbal. Acas says an employer can make a job offer verbally, but that it is better in writing to avoid misunderstandings later on. The important consequence sits in Acas's guidance on withdrawn offers: by law, an employment contract could begin as soon as someone accepts a job offer, even if they only accepted it verbally. Enthusiasm on a phone call is fine. "Yes, I accept" before you have seen the terms is not.

The written statement of employment particulars is a separate, legal document. GOV.UK says an employer must give employees and workers a document stating the main conditions of employment when they start work: the principal statement on or before the first day, and the wider written statement within two months. The principal statement covers the employer's name, your job title or a description of the work, the start date, how much and how often you are paid, hours and days of work, holiday entitlement, where you will work, how long the job lasts if it is fixed term, any probation period, other benefits, and any obligatory training. The wider statement adds pensions, collective agreements, non-compulsory training, and disciplinary and grievance procedures.

In practice many employers fold the two together: the Acas job offer letter template with written statement is an offer letter that says "this letter forms part of your contract of employment" and carries the particulars inside it. If the letter you receive covers salary, hours, holiday, place of work, notice and probation, that is what you are looking at.

Read the offer against the advert and against what you were told at interview. Salary, hours, place of work, probation length, notice period and the job title are the six that move quietly. A difference is not necessarily bad faith; it is a question to ask before you accept, not after.

Conditional Offers and Pre-Employment Checks

Most UK offers are conditional. Acas describes a conditional offer as one that depends on something such as suitable references or a health check, and says conditions must be consistent and fair — its own example is that an employer should not ask only non-UK citizens for evidence of qualifications. If you accept a conditional offer and all the conditions are then met, Acas says that can mean the contract has started.

The conditions you will actually meet:

• Right to work. This one applies to everyone. GOV.UK says you need to prove your right to work in the UK to your employer before you start working for them, using a share code or an eligible immigration document, and that your employer cannot reject your application because you gave them an eligible document instead of a share code.
• References. Usually two, and usually taken at offer stage. Tell your referees before the request lands; the guide to asking for a reference covers how.
• Criminal record checks. GOV.UK sets out four levels of DBS check: basic, showing unspent convictions; standard, covering spent and unspent convictions; enhanced, which adds relevant police information; and enhanced with barred lists. The check is requested by the employer or organisation, not by you.
• Health or occupational health checks, where the role requires them.

Two practical points follow. First, ask which conditions apply and how long they usually take, because that is what sets a realistic start date. Second, do not resign until they have cleared. A conditional offer can be withdrawn if a condition is not met.

If an offer is withdrawn after every condition has been met, or an unconditional offer is withdrawn, Acas says that can be a breach of contract and the employer should give notice in line with the contract. Withdrawing an offer because of a protected characteristic — age, disability, pregnancy, race and the rest of the nine — is discrimination, and Acas can advise you about both routes.

Email 1: A Verbal Offer, and Asking for It in Writing

A worked example with a fictional applicant and employer. Nadia Farrell is offered the Finance Officer role at Pennine Housing Trust by phone on Tuesday 22 September 2026, at £34,500, starting in early November, subject to references and a basic DBS check. She sends this the same afternoon.

Dear Ruth,

Thank you for the call this afternoon, and for the offer of the Finance Officer role. I am delighted, and I would like to confirm my understanding of what we discussed:

- Finance Officer, reporting to you
- Salary £34,500 a year
- Start date in the first week of November, to be confirmed
- Based at the Halifax office, with two days a week at home
- Subject to two references and a basic DBS check

Could you send the written offer when it is ready? I will confirm my acceptance as soon as I have read it, and I will come back to you by Friday 25 September either way.

One question in the meantime: roughly how long do the references and the DBS check usually take with you? I would like to give my current employer an accurate leaving date rather than a guess.

Thank you again — I am very pleased.

Best wishes,
Nadia Farrell
07700 900112

What that email does. It records the terms while they are fresh, so any gap between the call and the letter surfaces now. It expresses enthusiasm without saying "I accept", which matters given that a verbal acceptance can begin a contract. And it asks the one question that decides when you can resign.

Email 2: Asking for More Time

Ask with a date attached. "Could I have a few days?" invites a chase; "could I come back to you by Wednesday?" gets a yes or a counter-proposal. A couple of days is routine. A week is a lot to ask, and asking for it without saying why reads as though you are waiting for something better — which you may well be, but say what you need the time for.

Dear Ruth,

Thank you for sending the offer letter. I have read it and I want to give you a proper answer rather than a quick one.

Would it be possible to confirm by Wednesday 30 September? I am working out the childcare around the Halifax days, and I would rather have that settled before I commit to a start date.

I remain very interested in the role. If it would help to talk anything through before then, I am free on Thursday afternoon.

Best wishes,
Nadia Farrell

If the employer refuses any time at all, that is information. A genuine deadline exists in some places — a funded post with a fixed start, a rota to fill — and an employer who will explain it is being reasonable. An employer who will not give you 48 hours to read a contract is showing you something about how it treats people.

Email 3: Accepting

Accept in writing, restate the terms you are accepting, and name the conditions you know are outstanding. This is a short email that prevents a long argument later.

Dear Ruth,

Thank you for the offer letter dated 24 September. I am pleased to accept the role of Finance Officer at Pennine Housing Trust, on the terms set out in it: a salary of £34,500 a year, a start date of Monday 2 November 2026, based at the Halifax office with two days a week at home, and a six-month probation period.

I understand the offer remains subject to two references and a basic DBS check. My referees are expecting your request:

- Michael Oyelaran, Finance Manager, Calder Care Group
- Susan Pike, Senior Accountant, Calder Care Group

I have signed and attached the offer letter. I will give notice to my current employer once the references and the check are complete, and I will confirm the leaving date with you the same day.

Thank you again for a straightforward process — I am looking forward to starting.

Best wishes,
Nadia Farrell
07700 900112

The sentence about notice is deliberate. It tells the employer you are committed and tells them why the start date is not yet absolute. Work out your own leaving date from your contract and the rules in the guide to UK notice periods before you promise anyone a Monday.

If the salary is the thing stopping you from sending this email, negotiate before you accept and not after — that is when they still want to close you, and the method, the benchmark and a worked counter-offer in pounds are in the salary negotiation guide. Accepting first and asking afterwards is the one sequence that does not work.

Email 4: Declining

Decline as soon as you are certain, by email, in about a hundred words. A second fictional example: Owen Blake turns down a Marketing Executive role at Alder & Finch because he has accepted something else.

Dear Mr Hargreaves,

Thank you for the offer of the Marketing Executive role, and for the time you and Priya gave me across the two interviews.

After careful thought I am going to decline. I have accepted another role that takes me further into B2B content work, which is the direction I want to go.

I was impressed by the team and by how clearly you set out the first year's objectives. I hope our paths cross again, and I wish you well in filling the role.

Best wishes,
Owen Blake

One truthful reason, stated without criticism, is enough. You do not owe a full account of your reasoning, and a long explanation invites a negotiation you have already decided against. If the reason is money and you would genuinely take the job at a higher figure, say so before you decline rather than after — a decline is the end of the conversation.

Declining a role you have chased for six weeks feels ungrateful. It is not. The employer will go to their next candidate, and the only version of this that damages you is the one where you leave them waiting a fortnight first.

When Something Is Wrong With the Offer

After you accept, three things in order: keep it quiet until the conditions clear, resign with the notice your contract requires, and send your new employer a short confirmation of the agreed start date once your leaving date is fixed. Then leave the old job properly. References get requested years later.