A communications device for transmitting data to or receiving data from a mobile communications network, the mobile communications network including one or more network elements which are arranged to form a wireless access interface for transmitting and receiving the data, the communications device comprising a transmitter unit configured to transmit signals representing the data on an up-link of the wireless access interface to the mobile communications network, a receiver unit configured to receive signals representing the data transmitted on a down-link from the mobile communications network via the wireless access interface, the wireless access interface providing a plurality of communications resource elements across a frequency range for the down-link and the up-link, the communications resource elements being formed by dividing sub-carriers at different frequencies into a plurality of time periods, one or more of the sub-carriers being provided to form, in the time domain, frequency division multiplexed symbols, each of the time periods comprising a predetermined number of the frequency division multiplexed symbols, wherein the up-link includes a shared channel providing the communications resources for allocation to the communications device by the mobile communications network for transmitting the data on the up-link to the mobile communications network, the shared channel providing communications resources which are shared with other communications terminals and comprising in the time domain, the predetermined number of frequency division multiplexed symbols in each time period for allocation to the communications device, and characterized by: a controller configured to control the transmitter unit to transmit the signals and the receiver unit to receive the signals to transmit or receive the data, wherein the controller is configured to control the transmitter unit and the receiver unit to transmit to the mobile communications network a request to transmit data in a smaller number of frequency division multiplexed symbols than are available on the shared channel, to receive from the mobile communications network an indication of a sub-set of the predetermined number of frequency division multiplexed symbols in which the communications device should transmit the data on the shared channel, and to transmit signals representing the data in the shared channel to occupy a smaller number of frequency division multiplexed symbols than the number of the predetermined number of frequency division multiplexed symbols of the time period of the shared channel starting at a position of one of the predetermined number of frequency division multiplexed symbols, the position of each of the frequency division multiplexed symbols representing further information. a controller configured to control the transmitter unit to transmit the signals and the receiver unit to receive the signals to transmit or receive the data, wherein the controller is configured to control the transmitter unit and the receiver unit to transmit to the mobile communications network a request to transmit data in a smaller number of frequency division multiplexed symbols than are available on the shared channel, to receive from the mobile communications network an indication of a sub-set of the predetermined number of frequency division multiplexed symbols in which the communications device should transmit the data on the shared channel, and to transmit signals representing the data in the shared channel to occupy a smaller number of frequency division multiplexed symbols than the number of the predetermined number of frequency division multiplexed symbols of the time period of the shared channel starting at a position of one of the predetermined number of frequency division multiplexed symbols, the position of each of the frequency division multiplexed symbols representing further information.