What is Royal Mail and How Long Does it Take?

Royal Mail provides mail delivery and collection services through its post offices and postal fleet. Users also get international mailing options apart from domestic services. The British postal service came into existence in 1516. It has a rich history of over 4 centuries.

Royal Mail’s First Class mailing service typically takes 1-2 business days. The Second Class mailing service might take up to 3 days. It is ideal for sending less urgent mail at a lower cost. Royal Mail Tracked 24 service completes deliveries within 24 hours.

The Royal Mail Tracked 48 options deliver your mail within 48 hours. Royal Mail also provides an exclusive service called Special Delivery Guaranteed that assures successful deliveries the next day. Many users also prefer using Royal Mail Same-Day delivery to ensure tracked delivery on the same day with email confirmation.

Key Takeaways

• Royal Mail is the official and oldest postal organisation in the UK.
• The postal service delivers billions of letters and parcels annually.
• The UK’s Postal Address File (PAF) covers over 31.437 million postal addresses and 1.79 million postcodes.
• The postal service provides multiple mailing options: 1st Class, 2nd Class, Tracked 24, Tracked 48, Special Delivery Guaranteed, Same-Day, and International Mailing.
• Users must be aware of the public holidays and special occasions to avoid delivery delays.

Apart from domestic services, Royal Mail is also well-equipped with international postal services. It does an excellent job delivering mail items to over 230 countries. If you live in Canada, you can easily receive mail from the UK via Royal Mail.

However, the time frame to deliver international mail is much longer than that of domestic mail. So, you have to be a little patient. But, again, there are specific options that help you get your mail faster.

But… wait!

What are these options? How long does Royal Mail take to Canada? What is the fastest Royal Mail delivery?

In this blog, we will cover everything you need to know about Royal Mail. Also, we will discuss the answers to the above questions to give you a better idea about the workings of this organisation.

This section is beneficial as it tells you how to format a mailing address according to UK standards.

Please find the Royal Mail address format below:

Recipient’s name
House/unit number and street address
Locality name
Town
Postcode (print or write in capital letters)

Recipient’s name: It is best to use the person’s full name with an appropriate title, like ‘Dr’ or ‘Cptn.’ This line should always come above the mailing address. Refrain from writing the recipient’s name anywhere else on the envelope.

Suppose you are mailing something to an organisation. In that case, you can add the organisation name on the second line, below the person’s name, followed by the following:

House/unit number with street address: These two aspects of your mailing address should always be on the same line. Take care to add directionals to your street addresses whenever needed.

Locality name: You can skip this line if you can. However, if you do use this line, write the correct village or area name.

Town: Write the town name in capital letters. This line should not have anything other than the town.

Postcode: Again, the postcode should be written or printed in uppercase letters. Make sure to leave a space in between.

Find an example of a UK address below:

Miss Jane Holland
5 Castle Street
LIVERPOOL
L16 5NT

Find some additional tips below to write a UK mailing address correctly:

• Write the name and address on the bottom-left corner (front side) of your envelope or parcel.
• Mention the return address on the bottom-right corner (back side) of your mail.
• Use legible handwriting or print the mailing address.
• Leave enough white space around the address.
• Place your postage towards the top right on the front side.
• Avoid using commas and full stops.

You don’t need to add the country name for domestic mail items. However, the format is a little different for mail going to Canada.

The format for writing a Canada address is as follows:

Mr Joyce King

36 Krog Street

TORONTO ON M5V 3E7

CANADA

Royal Mail is a popular and reliable choice for ecommerce businesses in the UK to send marketing mail, transactional documents, and orders to customers. Ecommerce businesses can receive orders via their website, social media, or other sources. Then, they can print out their Royal Mail labels online after paying the necessary postage. Depending on your selected shipping service, these labels also have a tracking number.

Ecommerce businesses can drop off the parcel at a nearby post office or request a Royal Mail pickup from their location. Royal Mail sorts the parcel at a local mail centre and mails it to the appropriate delivery office based on the destination postcode.

You can use PostGrid’s Direct Mail API to send your mailpieces to the correct customers on time. It allows you to create, print, and ship mailers online in one place, saving time, resources, and manual effort. Also, you get other features, like real-time tracking, address verification, postal shipping, campaign insights, etc. The best part is that you can avail yourself of commercial postage discounts without applying for a permit or paying the fees.

As compared to ZIP codes, postal codes in the UK are complicated. They work in almost the same way, but there are some minor differences.

For starters, ZIP codes are a coding system used by the USPS to identify the mail destination and speed up the delivery process. On the contrary, postal codes help track the mail location.

Also, ZIP codes are numeric, and UK postal codes are alphanumeric, making them more similar to Canadian postal codes.

Now, UK postal codes are called postcodes. They are six to eight characters long (including a space) and have two sections—outward code and inward code.

The outward code forms the first part and typically has three to four characters. In contrast, the inward code always has only three characters.

There are four parts hidden inside these two sections:

1. Postcode area
2. Postcode district
3. Postcode sector
4. Postcode unit

The postcode area denotes a geographical location divided into postal districts. Furthermore, postal sectors are subdivisions of postal districts, and postcode units are subdivisions of postal sectors.

Hence, postcodes are all about narrowing down the mail destination while also describing the entire location at large. 

To understand postcodes better, let’s take an example:

AB1 9TH

Outward Code

The outward code is two to four characters long and consists of the postal area and district. As said above, it indicates a prominent geographical location and is often the city code. For example, the postcode area ‘B’ is for Birmingham, ‘EH’ is for Edinburgh, and ‘AB’ is for Aberdeen.

Outward codes consist of:

Postcode area: In our example, the postcode area is AB, which indicates the city of Aberdeen. Postcode areas are either one or two characters long and often correspond with city names.

Postcode district: The length of postcode districts is also between one and two characters, and the second character is sometimes an alphabet. In the above example, the digit ‘1’ is the postal district.

Inward Code

The inward code is always three characters long and follows the digit-letter-letter format. Its components are:

Postcode sector: This one is tricky! The postcode sector is the entire outward code, the space, and the first digit of the inward code. So, in this example, it is AB1 9.

Postcode unit: The last two letters of the inward code are the postcode unit (TH). These characters are like ZIP+4 codes that indicate delivery routes. They could either correspond to an entire street or to small sub-sections of large buildings. Sometimes, businesses receiving a massive volume of mail get unique postcode units.

We understand that postcodes can be confusing. So, use the Royal Mail postcode finder here to confirm postcodes before writing them on your mail.

There are 11,500 post office branches spread across the UK. You are likely to have a post office nearby that you can visit during working hours.

Some of these are standalone stores, whereas others are part of certain retail outlets like WH Smith. You can recognise post offices in the UK by red oval signs.

Larger post offices have machines that allow you to calculate and print postage yourself. Such self-service machines can help speed up the work and attract fewer crowds.

But, if you are planning to visit smaller post offices or the ones inside a retail outlet, it is advisable to avoid peak hours.

Apart from mailing letters and parcels, you can also find a range of other postal services at UK post offices. Some additional services that specific post offices offer are:

• Banking and financial services like mortgages, insurance products, personal loans, and savings accounts. 
• Home internet services.
• International money transfer via Western Union.
• In-house currency exchange.

Please remember that the scope of these services differs from branch to branch. 

Along with post offices, there are also several P.O. boxes. By several, we mean there are 115,000 post office boxes in the UK. 

If you want to keep your mailing address private, consider using P.O. boxes. It is also an excellent option for home-based businesses and individuals who have shared accommodation.

PAF stands for the Postcode Address File and has over 31.437 million postal addresses and 1.79 million postcodes.

This file lets Royal Mail deliver your mailers to accurate mailing addresses, reducing errors, misplacements, and lost items.

It regularly updates this file to filter out outdated data and add new mailing addresses. The PAF database also allows the Post Office to keep tabs on people who recently shifted to a different location. 

Individuals and businesses can update their new mailing addresses with the Post Office to redirect their mail and avoid losing mail. 

These new addresses are reflected in the PAF database, allowing mail senders to ensure their items reach the correct people. 

PostGrid’s direct mail API helps you mail to addresses in the PAF file. Our address verification feature allows you to standardise and verify your mailing lists according to this authorised database, ensuring on-time deliveries and reduced mail returns.

Royal Mail provides many domestic mailing options that differ in price, convenience, tracking, and mailing speed. So, you get to select from a plethora of options depending on your needs.

Royal Mail 1st Class

It is one of the most commonly used Royal Mail services, and you may have questions like how long does 1st class Royal Mail take?

But first, let us clarify what Royal Mail’s first class takes. The prime feature of this option is that you can get your mail delivered the next day itself, including on Saturdays.

However, deliveries are done only on working days and are not guaranteed. So, you cannot mail one day before Christmas and expect your mail to land on the recipient’s doorstep on Christmas Day.

The other features include:

• Insurance coverage of up to £20*
• Letter prices start at £0.85 (up to 100g)
• Standard charges are irrespective of the destination
• You can only send mail weighing up to 20kg
• Optional Royal Mail Signed

What is Royal Mail Signed For?

It requires Royal Mail to take the recipient’s signature on delivery. Hence, you get proof of delivery, which is crucial for sending documents. 

Many people ask- how long does 1st class mail take to the USA? But please note that 1st class mail is only a domestic mailing option. There is an entirely different set of mailing options for international locations, which we will discuss ahead. 

Royal Mail 2nd Class

The second-class mail option is very similar to the first-class, except that its deliveries take up to 3 days. Hence, you can send less urgent mail at a slightly lower cost through this option.

Other features include:

• Prices start at £0.66 for 100g letters
• Standard rates for all UK addresses
• Insurance coverage of up to £20*
• Also delivers on Saturdays
• Signature on delivery is available through Royal Mail Signed (for an added fee). 

Royal Mail Tracked 24

The above two options have no tracking options. So, if you are thinking about how to track a letter in Royal Mail, here’s your solution. 

As the name suggests, Royal Mail Tracked 24 is all about completing deliveries within 24 hours. Hence, if you want to send something very urgently, you can use this option. 

Find below its features:

• SMS and email notifications to keep the customer informed
• £100 insurance coverage
• Tracking until delivery
• Flexibility to change delivery options
• Prices start from £4.02

Royal Mail Tracked 48

After knowing what Royal Mail tracked delivery is, let us discuss more options that offer mail tracking!

Tracked 48 helps you send your mail within 48 hours. Again, you get a tracking number to help you track your mail items right up to delivery. 

Though the postal service aims to deliver your mail within 48 hours, it can take up to three days. The other features are the same as Tracked 24, and rates start at £3.60.

Special Delivery Guaranteed

Do you want an option guaranteeing delivery? What is Royal Mail Special Delivery Guaranteed?

With the Special Delivery Guaranteed option, you can assure that your mail arrives the very next day. Hence, this option guarantees delivery and the delivery time. 

It also comes with a money-back guarantee. You get full tracking, signature on delivery, and insurance coverage of up to £500. 

There are two broad options for you:

• Next-day delivery before 9 am
• Next-day delivery before 1 pm

They have a massive rate difference, even though both options won’t look very different to you. 1 pm deliveries cost you only £6.75, whereas 9 am deliveries cost you a whopping £22.26.

Royal Mail Same-Day

It is one of the fastest delivery options available with Royal Mail. 

Some fancy features that come with this option are:

• Automatic insurance coverage of up to £2,500
• Available 24/7 for 365 days a year
• Email confirmation on delivery
• Fully trackable

What is Royal Mail express delivery?

Well, express deliveries are related to sending parcels. All the above options are for sending letters. If you want to send parcels up to 30kg, use Parcelforce Worldwide. The delivery time is between one and two working days, and prices start at £12.12.

How long does Royal Mail take to deliver to Canada? What are Royal Mail’s international delivery times? There’s no way to answer these questions without discussing Royal Mail’s international mailing options. So, find these options below:

International Economy

International Economy is one of the most affordable ways to send letters and lightweight parcels overseas. You can send items weighing up to 2 kg, with rates starting from as little as £1.45.

Other benefits include:

• Free returns on failed deliveries
• £20 cover for loss or damage

However, this is a non-priority service—ideal only when you’re not in a rush. Deliveries to Canada can take up to 6 weeks.

Estimated delivery times for other regions:

• Western Europe – up to 2 weeks
• Eastern Europe – up to 5 weeks
• Australia – up to 12 weeks
• Asia and Africa – up to 8 weeks
• South America – up to 8 weeks

International Standard

If you want your mail to reach Canada more quickly, Royal Mail’s International Standard service is a better choice.

Features include:

• Free returns for undelivered mail
• Europe deliveries within 3 to 5 working days
• Insurance coverage of up to £20
• Prices starting at £1.70

Mail sent to Canada usually arrives within 6 to 7 working days.

International Signed

If you’d like to have a signature on delivery, you can use Royal Mail’s International Signed option. Keep in mind that Royal Mail only provides tracking within the UK, not after the item leaves the country.

Features include:

• Recipient’s signature on delivery
• £50 insurance cover, with an optional upgrade to £250
• Free returns for undelivered items
• Rates starting at £6.85

Delivery to Canada typically takes 5 to 7 working days.
Please note: This service cannot be used for PO Boxes, since a signature can’t be collected there.

International Tracked

If you want to track your item all the way to its destination, choose Royal Mail’s International Tracked service.

Features include:

• Full online tracking and delivery confirmation
• Free returns
• £50 compensation cover, with an optional increase to £250
• 10% discount when buying postage online
• Prices starting at £6.75

Delivery to Canada generally takes 5 to 7 working days.

International Tracked & Signed

For the best of both worlds—tracking and a signature on delivery—Royal Mail offers International Tracked & Signed.

Features include:

• End-to-end tracking and signature on delivery
• Online delivery confirmation
• £50 insurance cover (upgradeable to £250)
• Free returns for undelivered items
• Prices starting at £6.85

Mail from the UK to Canada typically arrives within 5 to 7 working days.

After discussing so much about tracking options, you may wonder things like ‘how do I track my Royal Mail International?’

It is easy to track your mail items through the Track and Trace service. But make sure that your items are eligible for tracking.

Click here and enter your reference number to track your mail. You get a reference number at the time of posting. It is also often known as the tracking number.

How many digits is a Royal Mail tracking number?

Most of the time, a tracking number is alphanumeric and has nine digits. However, several other tracking number formats also exist. 

The different tracking number formats that you are likely to come across are:

UK Tracking

• Two alphabets and seven digits (for example, HJ8931576)
• Four alphabets and ten numbers (for example, BBBB0000000000).

The tracking number and its format depend on where your mail is going.

International Tracking (Exports)

• Two alphabets and nine digits followed by the alphabet GB (for example, NK035789165GB)
• 12 numbers (for example, 123456789079)

So, if you send something to the US or any international location, expect your tracking number to look like this. 

International Tracking (Imports)

• Two alphabets followed by nine digits and again two alphabets (for example, AA987654321AA)

You can find the tracking number on your receipt or the mail item’s label. If it’s on the label, note down this number before you continue mailing the item. 

It is your responsibility to keep your receipt safe. Once it is lost or torn, getting the number again to track your item is tough. 

Also, please note that no other information, like the address and recipient name, can help you track your items.

Sometimes, your Royal Mail tracking to Canada does not work due to some reasons, and they are:

• It has only been a day since you posted your item. The Royal Mail tracking system needs some time to get your tracking number up and running.
• You may have entered an incorrect tracking number on the website.
• If you are the receiver, the sender may have sent you an incorrect or invalid reference number.
• The option you selected for mailing does not have a tracking feature.

In any of the above cases, the Track and Trace website won’t return any results. So, be patient and enter the correct tracking number to get your mail status.

Royal Mail delivers on all working days from Monday to Saturday. However, for some mailing options, Saturday deliveries are only available for an added fee.

Does Royal Mail deliver on a bank holiday Monday?

Well, the answer is no. It doesn’t matter on what day a bank holiday falls. Royal Mail does not accept mail deposits or complete deliveries on any bank holiday.

Find below a list of public holidays when the Royal Mail is not functional:

England and Wales

January 1—New Year’s Day

April 18—Good Friday

April 21—Easter Monday

May 5—Early May Bank Holiday

May 26—Spring Bank Holiday

August 25—Summer Bank Holiday

December 25—Christmas Day

December 26—Boxing Day

Northern Ireland

January 1—New Year’s Day

March 17—St. Patrick’s Day Bank Holiday

April 18—Good Friday

April 21—Easter Monday

May 5—Early May Bank Holiday

May 26—Spring Bank Holiday

July 12—Anniversary of the Battle of the Boyne

August 25—Summer Bank Holiday

December 25—Christmas Day

December 26—Boxing Day

Scotland

January 1 and January 2–New Year’s Day Bank Holidays

April 18—Good Friday

April 21—Easter Monday

May 5—Early May Bank Holiday

May 26—Spring Bank Holiday

August 4—Summer bank holiday

December 1—St. Andrew’s Day

December 25—Christmas Day

December 26—Boxing Day

Please note that the above dates are from 2023 and are subject to change.

If you plan to send something on any of these days, you need to reschedule the same or mail it earlier. It will help you get your mail items delivered without any delays.

Now that you know the days when Royal Mail does not deliver mail, you must also understand that there might be delays on other days because of uncontrollable factors.

Here are some of the primary reasons the Post Offices fail to deliver on the estimated arrival date:

Unprecedented Demand Surge

The postal services might face an unexpected demand surge before the weekend or at other times. This situation can lead to many delays, pushing your arrival dates ahead.

It is vital to check your tracking updates and the Royal Mail website to learn about these factors and prepare to face the issue.

Please note that Royal Mail does its best to handle these scenarios by hiring part-time and temporary staff to ensure the mail reaches its destinations on time.

Holiday Season

You might face delivery delays during Thanksgiving, Easter, Christmas, and New Year’s Day.

Almost all individuals and businesses mail during the holiday season. Thus, Royal Mail gets more items to deliver than usual, creating a chaotic environment.

Though it prepares to handle the increasing volume of mailers, it is easy for things to get out of hand.

The trick is to use Special Delivery Guaranteed services or mail in advance to guarantee the Post Office prioritises delivering your mailers.

Or use PostGrid’s direct mail API to plan and execute the campaign quickly. Since you don’t do anything in-house, you can ensure your mailers are out of the door in advance.

Road Accidents

Highway construction, road accidents, jammed roads, and other similar issues are out of the control of the Post Office. Thus, it may temporarily suspend services in some areas, delaying mail deliveries.

Try staying updated about these events before mailing something to seek alternative options or shipping the mailers after the situation improves.

Extreme Weather Conditions

Extreme snowfall, rainfall, and other weather conditions can compel Royal Mail to delay deliveries. It cannot risk the lives of its delivery staff by asking them to drive in such situations.

Also, reaching some rural locations with challenging weather conditions can take longer than the Post Office anticipates.

Lack of Delivery Carriers

Royal Mail UK employs adequate personnel to complete deliveries. But sometimes, a lack of carriers can cause delays.

Again, it is an uncontrollable situation, like when many employees are on leave or quit simultaneously.

Please wait one to two business days before lodging an official complaint, as it gives the Post Office some time to resolve the issue.

Mailing After the Cut-Off Times

One of the reasons Royal Mail cannot deliver your items on time is posting them after the cut-off time.

The Post Office shifts your delivery date to another day if you fail to drop off your items in the mailbox or take them to the Post Office before the closing hour.

Please remember that every Post Office may have different timings. It is best to stay informed about the working hours and post items before the cut-off times.

For instance, imagine you drop off something at the Post Office on Friday evening. What happens if this postal outlet remains closed on Saturdays and Sundays?

Yes. Royal Mail considers that you dropped off the items on the next working day—Monday! Hence, you may think it has delayed your mail delivery, but it initiated the process late because of the cut-off time.

Incorrect Mailing Addresses

Mentioning incorrect mailing addresses on your envelopes or parcels can cause delays, irrespective of your selected delivery option.

Even minor errors, like typos or spelling issues, can disrupt the mailings.

The Post Office may need to hand-sort your items before shipping. Or your mailers may get stuck during the last-mile delivery from the final postal outlet to the recipient’s address because of confusion or misinterpretation.

The postal service will lose mail that has the incorrect address.

Not Following the Postal Mail Guidelines

Royal Mail has specific size and weight requirements that senders must follow.

It is best to learn and follow these guidelines before mailing to avoid potential issues, like the postal service returning the items to your address.

Fortunately, PostGrid helps you comply with the postal guidelines and ensure timely deliveries.

Our PDN (Print Delivery Network) does its best to prepare and distribute your mailers under postal regulations.

Thus, you need not worry about whether you can follow the rules because you don’t need to do anything in-house.

PostGrid’s all-in-one services enable you to prepare, print, and mail your items under one roof. You can send any mail type, like postcards, letters, newsletters, invoices, checks, and self-mailers.

We assist you in processing marketing, transactional, and compliance mail as conveniently as sending emails. You integrate our API into your system and set up your account! And you make some selections and launch your campaign online.

PostGrid lets you execute successful mailing campaigns via Royal Mail without going anywhere, finding separate vendors for every task, or putting in any effort.

Why does Royal Mail fail to deliver some items? Perhaps, we can list all the possible reasons:

• Part of the mailing address was missing, or you didn’t write it correctly. Use PostGrid’s address verification API to avoid such issues.
• The address no longer exists (for example, the building is under reconstruction).
• Insecure packaging wherein the address label comes off.
• The postage is unpaid. 
• There was no one to receive the mail (Royal Mail Signed), or the mail was too big for the letterbox.
• The recipient refused to accept the mail.
• A security system at the address stopped the postal worker from gaining access to the recipient.
• If access to the delivery address is unsafe or impossible, the recipient is called and asked to collect their mail.
• The items you sent are either restricted or prohibited. 

So, before thinking about how long Royal Mail takes from the UK to Canada, make sure you don’t want to mail any of the prohibited items. 

Before you mail anything, please read this section so you can avoid having your items rejected by the Royal Mail.

Now, there are two types of items, according to Royal Mail. The first type is prohibited, wherein you can’t mail anything at all. On the other hand, the second type is restricted and can be shipped with certain restrictions.

Find below a list of prohibited items:

• Aerosols (other than the ones used for medicinal purposes and personal grooming)
• Certain alcoholic beverages
• Asbestos
• Ammunition
• Batteries
• Clinical and medical waste
• Controlled narcotics and drugs
• Counterfeit currency, postage stamps, and banknotes
• Dry ice
• Explosives
• Flammable solids
• Flammable liquids
• Frozen water
• Gases
• Human remains
• Infectious substances UN2814 or UN2900
• Lottery tickets (other than the UK ones)
• Magnetized material
• Living creatures, reptiles, and animals
• Matches
• Radioactive materials
• Poisonous, toxic solids, liquids, or gases
• Solvent-based paints, enamels, and wood varnishes
• Weapons
• Waste, filth, dirt, or refuse
• Tickets and other advertisements for illegal lotteries

Some restricted items listed by Royal Mail are:

• Alcoholic liquids and beverages
• Balloons
• Certain types of batteries
• Biological substances
• Christmas crackers
• Guns for sporting use
• Human or animal samples
• Counterfeit stamps and currency
• Living creatures, invertebrates, and insects
• Lighters
• Perishable items
• Certain kinds of radioactive samples and materials
• Sharp objects

However, this is not an all-inclusive list. Plus, there are some more restrictions and prohibitions when you mail internationally. Please visit this link to get a deeper understanding.

Royal Mail, the national mail service in the UK, has been in operation for a long time now. It has a vast range of mailing options for you to select. So, you can mail to any part of the UK, the Canada, and the world at large without any issues.

If you need help creating, printing, and mailing your items, try PostGrid’s direct mail API. Our features include:

• Pre-built design templates
• Address standardisation and verification
• Building targeted mailing lists
• HIPAA, PIPEDA, SOC-2 compliant
• Real-time mail tracking
• Campaign insights and reports
• Easy-to-use dashboard

We can assist you throughout the process so that you can send your items effortlessly and conveniently. Contact us today to know how we can help you send your mail items via the British mail service!