Years 3 and 4 spelling list
These are the 100 words on the statutory Years 3 and 4 spelling list in the national curriculum for England, exactly as published. Some look simple but hide a trap, like February, library and separate. Others are long words children need for their own writing, like experiment, important and particular.
The Years 3 and 4 word list
100 words, in alphabetical order- accident(ally)
- actual(ly)
- address
- answer
- appear
- arrive
- believe
- bicycle
- breath
- breathe
- build
- busy/business
- calendar
- caught
- centre
- century
- certain
- circle
- complete
- consider
- continue
- decide
- describe
- different
- difficult
- disappear
- early
- earth
- eight/eighth
- enough
- exercise
- experience
- experiment
- extreme
- famous
- favourite
- February
- forward(s)
- fruit
- grammar
- group
- guard
- guide
- heard
- heart
- height
- history
- imagine
- important
- increase
- interest
- island
- knowledge
- learn
- length
- library
- material
- medicine
- mention
- minute
- natural
- naughty
- notice
- occasion(ally)
- often
- opposite
- ordinary
- particular
- peculiar
- perhaps
- popular
- position
- possess(ion)
- possible
- potatoes
- pressure
- probably
- promise
- purpose
- quarter
- question
- recent
- regular
- reign
- remember
- sentence
- separate
- special
- straight
- strange
- strength
- suppose
- surprise
- therefore
- though/although
- thought
- through
- various
- weight
- woman/women
Source: National curriculum in England, English Appendix 1: Spelling (Department for Education). Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Brackets show related forms that are also on the list. To print this list, use your browser's print option.
The tricky ones
Words children most often get wrong from this list:
Every word Noggli asks in spelling practice comes from the statutory lists, and the wrong options are the real mistakes children make, never other real words.
Spelling practice without the worry
A clue, not a cross
A wrong answer gets a clue and another go. A second miss shows how it works, step by step.
No clock
Nothing counts down. Confidence first, speed follows on its own.
The right level
After a few questions Noggli knows where your child is, and every question after that adapts.
Related practice
Questions parents ask
How many words are on the Years 3 and 4 spelling list?
100. The list is statutory, which means schools in England must teach it, and children are expected to spell these words by the end of Year 4.
What do the brackets mean?
They show related words that are also on the list. Accident(ally) covers accident and accidentally, and forward(s) covers forward and forwards. Words with a slash, like busy/business, are both on the list.
Are the Years 3 and 4 words tested?
There is no national test in Year 4, but teachers check these words, and they build up to the Year 6 spelling test.
How should my child learn them?
A few at a time, little and often. Find the tricky part of each word, say it in syllables, then look, say, cover, write, check. Noggli brings back the ones your child finds hard on later days.
Practise this every day, at the right level
Noggli works out where your child is in every topic and adjusts each question to suit. Free, with no timers, no scores and no child accounts.