The default articles of association under the Companies Act 1985 that automatically applied to any company that did not adopt its own articles on incorporation before 1 October 2009. Most private companies incorporated before 1 October 2009 adopted articles in the form of Table A with perhaps minor alterations. Table A can be found in the Companies (Tables A to F) Regulations 1985 (SI 1985/805), as amended by the Companies (Tables A to F) (Amendment) Regulations 2007 (SI 2007/2541) and the Companies (Tables A to F) (Amendment) (No. 2) Regulations 2007 (SI 2007/2826) for companies incorporated on or after 1 October 2007 and before 1 October 2009.

From 1 October 2009, Table A is superseded by the model articles set out in the Schedules to the Companies (Model Articles) Regulations 2008 (SI 2008/3229) which provide respective default sets of articles for private limited companies, public limited companies and companies limited by guarantee incorporated on or after that date. The model articles apply automatically to companies incorporated on or after 1 October 2009 if they choose not to modify or exclude the model articles in their registered articles.

Table A continues to apply to companies limited by shares incorporated before 1 October 2009, unless and until those companies specifically adopt the model articles or other articles. For further information, see Companies House: Companies Act 2006 - Model Articles.