UK National Curriculum spelling word lists
The complete statutory spelling lists from the English National Curriculum, free for teachers and parents. Every word includes an example sentence.
These are the official statutory word lists published by the Department for Education in the English National Curriculum. UK primary schools are required to teach these words, and pupils are expected to spell them correctly by the end of each phase. We've made them free to use, with example sentences for every word.
Want to actually practise these words? Pupils can do all 600+ National Curriculum words inside SpellCast — fully narrated, with adaptive practice that focuses on the words they're getting wrong. Free 6-week trial for schools.
Reception Phonics Words
Decodable phonics words for Reception children, organised by phase. These mirror the words children practise as they work through systematic phonics in their first year of school.
Year 1 Common Exception Words
High-frequency words Year 1 children are expected to read and spell by heart — words that can't reliably be decoded using phonics rules alone.
Year 2 Common Exception Words
The Year 2 statutory spelling list from the English National Curriculum — common exception words children are expected to spell by the end of KS1.
Years 3 & 4 Statutory Spelling List
The full Department for Education statutory word list for Years 3 and 4 (lower KS2). 100 words children are expected to spell correctly by the end of Year 4.
Years 5 & 6 Statutory Spelling List
The full DfE statutory word list for Years 5 and 6 (upper KS2). 100 words children are expected to spell correctly by the end of Year 6.
What are statutory word lists?
The English National Curriculum (2014) sets out specific word lists that pupils are expected to spell correctly by the end of each phase of primary school. These lists are statutory, meaning state-funded schools in England are legally required to teach them. They include:
- Year 1: Phonics-based decoding (letters and sounds, common exception words)
- Year 2: Common exception words and contractions
- Years 3–4: 100 statutory words covering tricky spelling patterns and high-frequency vocabulary
- Years 5–6: 100 further statutory words including longer, multisyllabic words
Most school spelling tests, end-of-year assessments, and the SATs are drawn directly from these lists. Knowing them is the foundation of spelling success in UK primary schools.
How to use these lists
- Teachers: Use them to plan weekly spelling tests, identify gaps, or set homework lists.
- Parents: Review them at home to support your child between school spelling tests.
- SEND / intervention staff: Use the example sentences to teach words in context — research shows this dramatically improves retention compared to learning words in isolation.
Each word page on this site includes the full list with example sentences, plus a free downloadable / printable view. If you'd like pupils to practise these interactively — with audio, instant feedback, and adaptive review — they can do exactly that inside SpellCast.
Dictation sentences, word sorts, and pretest/retest pairs — all free, all printable, all matched to the NC word lists.
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