Year 5 and 6 statutory spelling words

The Year 5 and 6 statutory spelling list is the upper Key Stage 2 portion of the English National Curriculum word list, published by the Department for Education in 2014. State-funded primary schools in England are required to teach these words. They form the bulk of what pupils need to know going into the Year 6 SATs and on into secondary school.

These are noticeably harder than the Year 3/4 list. Many are multisyllabic (communicate, environment, opportunity), include double letters (accommodate, committee, embarrass), or have unusual silent letters (conscience, rhyme, yacht). Even confident adult writers misspell several of these.

Why this list matters: SATs preparation

The Year 6 spelling SATs paper draws words from the entire Years 3–6 statutory list, but in practice the bulk of test items come from the Year 5/6 portion. Pupils who can confidently spell every word on this list are well-prepared for the spelling element of the KS2 SATs.

The SATs paper is dictated: pupils hear a sentence with a missing word, repeat the word, then write it on a numbered line. They get one chance, in context — which is why teaching these words in sentences matters more than teaching them alphabetically.

How to teach these words effectively

• Group by pattern, not alphabetically. Teach committee, embarrass, occasion, accommodate together — they all involve double letters that children commonly drop. Teach conscience, conscious, science-family together for the silent c.
• Use morphology. Many of these words come in families: achieve / achievement, communicate / communication / community, equip / equipped / equipment, recognise / recommend. Teaching the pattern unlocks several words at once.
• Practise spelling in sentences. Pupils should hear and write the word in a real sentence, mirroring SATs format. Every word on this page comes with an example sentence designed for exactly that purpose.
• Spaced retrieval. Revisit each word multiple times across weeks, not all at once. Cognitive science is unambiguous: short, distributed practice produces dramatically better long-term retention than cramming.
• Track which ones are stuck. Most pupils get most words quickly but have a small set of "sticky" words that resist learning. Identifying those and giving them dedicated review is far more efficient than re-practising the whole list.

Common mistakes pupils make

• Dropping a doubled letter — accomodate, embarass, comittee. Solution: explicitly teach which letters double and why.
• Phonetic spelling of unusual graphemes — nesesary, foriegn, naybor. Solution: practise the word visually as well as auditorily.
• Confusing related words — conscious vs conscience, practice vs practise. Solution: teach pairs together with a clear distinguishing rule.