Tucked inside the national curriculum for England is a list of words that every child in Years 3 to 6 is expected to be able to spell by the time they leave primary school. Known as the statutory spelling list, these 200 words are chosen specifically because they're tricky, frequently used, and cannot reliably be worked out by phonics alone.
If your child struggles with spelling at school, there is a very good chance the statutory word list is involved.
What is the Statutory Spelling List?
The list is split into two groups:
- Years 3 and 4: 100 words that children should be able to spell by the end of Year 4 (age 9). Words like accident, believe, calendar, disappear, February, heart, library, necessary, probably, surprise and many more.
- Years 5 and 6: A further 100 words to be secured by the end of Year 6 (age 11). These include accommodate, conscience, disastrous, embarrass, exaggerate, guarantee, mischievous, parliament, privilege, pronunciation and more.
These words appear in the grammar, punctuation and spelling (GPS) test at the end of Key Stage 2 — better known as the Year 6 SATs. More importantly, they appear constantly in written work across all subjects throughout secondary school and beyond.
Why Are These Words So Hard?
The words on the list share a common characteristic: they don't behave the way phonics says they should. Consider:
- February — the first 'r' is almost never pronounced in spoken English
- necessary — one collar, two socks (one c, two s) — but which is which?
- conscience — the silent letters and double consonants make this a genuine trap
- mischievous — most people mispronounce it as "mischievious", which then leads to misspelling
- accommodate — both double c and double m, easy to forget one
These words require memorisation and repeated exposure — not just phonics rules. Which means the only real answer is consistent, low-stakes practice over time.
How Much Practice Is Enough?
Research on spelling acquisition suggests that spaced repetition — seeing a word multiple times across different days, rather than cramming — is far more effective than weekly spelling tests. A child who practices 10 statutory words for five minutes every day will learn them more reliably than one who studies the same 10 words for 50 minutes on Sunday evening.
This is one reason the game design of The Pocket Money Game draws randomly from the statutory word lists, ensuring children encounter the same words across multiple sessions rather than grinding through them in order.
The Most Commonly Misspelt Statutory Words
Based on teacher feedback and SATs data, the following words cause the most consistent trouble:
- accommodate (two c's, two m's)
- embarrass (two r's and two s's)
- necessary (one c, two s's — think one Collar, two Socks)
- separate (there's 'a rat' in sepA Rat e)
- definitely (contains 'finite' — it is definitely finite)
- conscience (silent letters throughout)
- rhythm (no vowels — a classic for dyslexic learners)
- mischievous (not mischievious — four syllables, not five)
Practical Tips for Home Practice
The most effective strategies for learning statutory spellings at home are:
- Look, Cover, Write, Check — the classic method still works. Look at the word, cover it, write it from memory, then check.
- Say it as it's spelled — pronounce February as "Feb-RU-ary" and necessary as "NEC-es-SARY" in your head when writing them.
- Find a word inside the word — "there is a FRIEND in friENd", "believe a LIE", "hear with your EAR".
- Five minutes daily beats fifty minutes weekly — keep it short and keep it regular.
- Make it rewarding — the biggest obstacle to spelling practice is motivation. Games, earning, and competition all help.
The Pocket Money Game covers all 200 statutory words across its six spelling levels, reading each word aloud with an example sentence — ensuring children hear words in context as well as practising writing them.