ET1 form: what it asks for, where it goes, and your last day to send it
- What
- The ET1 is the employment tribunal claim form. Fill it in online on GOV.UK, or download it and post it.
- When
- Send it after Acas early conciliation and before your last day: 3 or 6 months less a day, plus any Acas pause. GOV.UK charges no fee to claim.
- How
- GOV.UK lists 3 things you need: the names and addresses of everyone claiming, the employer's name and address (your contract, offer letter or payslips show it), and an Acas certificate number for each employer.
The date is free. The £29 draft pack drafts the claim from your own timeline.
Dismissed before 1 October 2026: 3 months less a day. Dismissed from 1 October 2026: 6 months less a day. If you were dismissed on 15 September 2026, your last day is 14 December 2026; if on 1 October 2026, it is 31 March 2027.
Online or by post
GOV.UK's "Claim online" service is the quick route. By post, the form goes to 1 of 2 central offices: Loughborough for England and Wales, Glasgow for Scotland (full addresses on the GOV.UK page in the sources).
The part people find hardest
The form asks you to set out what happened, in your own words. The £29 ET1 draft pack drafts that part from your own dates, as numbered paragraphs you check and paste in yourself.
ET1 draft pack: your claim details, drafted (£29)
Work out your date above; the pack is offered under it. You type what happened, date by date. Back comes a numbered draft for the claim form, the list of what the form asks for, and a calendar file with your last day and reminders 14, 7 and 1 days before.
Not a legal review, not filed for you. The checking and the filing stay with you: you make the claim yourself on GOV.UK.
You pay £29 only for the draft and the calendar file, never for the date: the date and every step are free above.
Sources, each opened on 8 October 2026
- SI 2026/954 (made 1 September 2026): regulation 3, the longer limits "come into force on 1st October 2026"; regulation 4(1), they do not apply where the relevant date "occurs before 1st October 2026".
- SI 2025/1153 (in force 1 December 2025): early conciliation goes from six weeks to 12.
- Acas, Employment tribunal time limits (updated 1 October 2026): the worked examples (wrong pay on 30 September 2026 ends on 29 December 2026; on 1 October 2026, 31 March 2027) and the pause while early conciliation runs.
- Acas, How early conciliation works (updated 1 October 2026): "Early conciliation can last up to 12 weeks"; the certificate number goes on form ET1; at least 1 month after the certificate if you told Acas in time.
- GOV.UK, Make a claim to an employment tribunal: "You do not have to pay a fee to make a claim"; claim online or post the form; the Acas certificate numbers.
- GOV.UK, Form ET1 (updated 1 October 2026): the claim form, online or as a download.
Every rule the calculator uses, with the full source list.
Not legal advice. We are not solicitors and we file nothing: you make the claim yourself.