Spelling lists for Years 3 to 6

Using the lists at home

• A few words at a time. Five new words a week, practised for ten minutes on a few days, sticks far better than twenty in one go.
• Look, say, cover, write, check. Look at the word and say it, cover it, write it from memory, then check. The practice sheets on each list are set out for exactly this.
• Learn the tricky part, not the whole word. Most of a word is usually fine. Each word on the lists has its tricky letters highlighted and a tip for remembering them.
• Use them in sentences. A word your child can use in their own writing is a word they really know.

Spelling in the Year 6 SATs

Spelling is tested in May of Year 6, as Paper 2 of the KS2 SATs grammar, punctuation and spelling test. The teacher reads out 20 words, each in a sentence, and children write the missing word. It is worth 20 of the test's 70 marks, so spelling alone can make a real difference to the result.

The words aren't only from these lists: the test also checks the spelling rules taught in Years 3 to 6, such as adding suffixes and silent letters. The lists are still the best place to start, because they hold many of the words children most often get wrong. The past grammar, punctuation and spelling papers are free here too, each with its spelling test and mark scheme.

Word lists from the national curriculum in England, English Appendix 1. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.