Common Exception Word Trainer

About the statutory spelling lists

The UK National Curriculum (2014) sets out specific words that children must learn to spell. They're called common exception words in Year 1 and Year 2 (because they don't follow phonetic patterns), and statutory spelling words from Year 3 onwards. Schools must teach these — they appear in the end-of-key-stage assessments.

How this tool works

Pick a year group. The full statutory list shows. Switch to Test me mode and the tool reads each word aloud (using your browser's text-to-speech), you type your spelling, get instant feedback. Words you get wrong are flagged for re-testing.

The tool tracks per-year progress in your browser only — nothing is sent to any server. Use the same browser to keep your history; clear browser data to reset.

For teachers

You can use this for whole-class spelling practice on the board, individual practice on tablets, or as homework. The print view gives a clean A4 list of any year group's words. The weak-words mode focuses each child on the words they struggle with most — ideal for differentiated practice.

Privacy

All progress data stays in your browser (localStorage). Nothing is uploaded. Multiple children sharing a device will share the same progress data — for individual tracking, use separate browser profiles.