Spelling test for Class 1 to 10
This is a free online spelling test for Class 1 to 10. Pick a class, and the browser reads each word aloud, uses it in a sentence, then reads it again while your child types what they heard. It marks each word instantly and, at the end, lists exactly which ones to practise.
There are 220 words here, twenty-two for each class, and every one has been checked against a dictionary. The spellings are the ones Indian schools mark as correct - colour, favourite, jewellery, practise - because almost every free spelling site is American and will quietly teach your child forms that lose them marks.
Take the spelling test
Set up the spelling test
Each word is read out, used in a sentence, then read again. Your child types what they heard. Ten words is about five minutes.
Longer words, silent letters and the -le ending. Silent letters in castle, island and listen catch almost every child at this age.
Spellings follow Indian school convention - colour, favourite, practise. Nothing your child types is stored or sent anywhere.
Ten words a day, and the four that were wrong
Spelling improves through short, frequent testing and almost not at all through copying. Ten words daily will beat twenty-two words weekly, and both will beat writing each word ten times in a row, which stops being useful after the second copy because the child has stopped looking at the word and started copying the shape.
Use look, cover, write, check
For each word your child missed: let them look at it properly, cover it, write it from memory, then uncover and check. If it is wrong, do it again straight away. If it is right, come back to it tomorrow. Three correct writes on three separate days will normally fix a word for good, and that is a smaller amount of work than most spelling homework.
Pick the class that fits, not the class they are in
If your child is in Class 5 and scoring under half on the Class 5 list, drop to Class 4. Nothing is lost. A list that is too hard produces a page of red, and the lesson a child takes from a page of red is not about spelling. Move back up when they are getting fifteen or more comfortably.
What spelling looks like at each stage
Class 1 and 2 is phonetic. A child who can hear the sounds in a word can usually spell it, and the words that break the rules - said, come, they, was - simply have to be known by sight. If this stage is not working, the problem is almost always phonics rather than spelling.
Class 3 and 4 is where spelling stops being fair. Silent letters arrive - castle, island, listen, answer - and so do the endings that all sound the same. This is the stage most children need genuine practice rather than instinct, and where the British and American forms start to matter.
Class 5 to 7 brings the long words a child uses in writing but has never had to spell: necessary, beginning, definitely, embarrass. Almost all of these are double-letter traps. Teaching the pattern rather than the word pays off, because the same trap recurs a hundred times.
Class 8 to 10 is exam territory. A spelling mistake in a board English answer is a mark, and the vocabulary being tested is now the vocabulary a student needs to write with. The Class 10 list here is deliberately hard; adults misspell most of it.
When to stop worrying and when not to
Occasional spelling errors in a child who reads fluently and writes willingly are not a problem worth a fight. Persistent difficulty with the sounds in a word - a Class 4 child writing “hoping” for “hopping” or reversing letters consistently - is different, and worth mentioning to the class teacher. A spelling test can show you the pattern. It cannot tell you why the pattern is there.
Reading the result
- Eighteen or more out of twenty-two: move up a class.
- Twelve to seventeen: this is the right list. Practise the misses and repeat in two days.
- Under eleven: drop a class. Nothing is lost by doing that.
- Right words but wrong endings: teach the pattern, not the word.
- Every miss a silent letter: that is one lesson, not twenty.
Spelling words for every class
The full lists, in case you would rather read them aloud yourself. Each class prints on its own sheet.
Class 1 spelling words
about 6 years old · 22 words
- pen
- box
- bag
- run
- top
- mud
- net
- leg
- van
- log
- hen
- pot
- big
- cut
- sit
- fan
- jam
- kid
- mop
- nut
- web
- zip
Class 2 spelling words
about 7 years old · 22 words
- apple
- chair
- bread
- green
- house
- mouse
- cloud
- flower
- sister
- brother
- orange
- purple
- basket
- button
- candle
- dinner
- ladder
- letter
- number
- rabbit
- summer
- winter
Class 3 spelling words
about 8 years old · 22 words
- animal
- answer
- before
- breakfast
- careful
- castle
- circle
- cousin
- danger
- doctor
- engine
- forest
- ground
- island
- jungle
- listen
- middle
- nature
- office
- parrot
- rocket
- silver
Class 4 spelling words
about 9 years old · 22 words
- address
- alphabet
- balance
- bicycle
- capital
- century
- chocolate
- comfort
- complete
- dangerous
- decorate
- describe
- distance
- elephant
- exercise
- festival
- furniture
- hospital
- important
- interest
- library
- medicine
Class 5 spelling words
about 10 years old · 22 words
- accident
- accurate
- adventure
- appear
- arrangement
- attention
- available
- beautiful
- beginning
- capture
- certain
- character
- chemical
- cinema
- comparison
- confident
- continue
- courageous
- curious
- decision
- delicious
- description
Class 6 spelling words
about 11 years old · 22 words
- absence
- achievement
- admiration
- advantage
- ancestor
- announce
- apparatus
- appearance
- argument
- assistance
- atmosphere
- attitude
- authority
- avenue
- awkward
- balloon
- barrier
- beverage
- boundary
- breathe
- brilliance
- bulletin
Class 7 spelling words
about 12 years old · 22 words
- calculate
- campaign
- candidate
- casualty
- cautious
- cemetery
- challenge
- champion
- chaos
- cheerful
- chief
- circuit
- civilisation
- clarify
- climate
- coincidence
- column
- commerce
- communicate
- community
- companion
- comparative
Class 8 spelling words
about 13 years old · 22 words
- compulsory
- conquer
- conscious
- considerable
- constitution
- contemporary
- controversy
- correspond
- corridor
- courteous
- creature
- crisis
- cruelty
- cultivate
- curriculum
- cylinder
- deficient
- delegate
- deliberate
- democracy
- demonstrate
- descend
Class 9 spelling words
about 14 years old · 22 words
- dialogue
- diameter
- diligent
- diplomat
- disappear
- disappoint
- disaster
- discourage
- discussion
- disguise
- dissatisfied
- distinguish
- dominant
- drought
- duplicate
- eccentric
- ecstasy
- elaborate
- eloquent
- embarrassment
- emergence
- eminent
Class 10 spelling words
about 15 years old · 22 words
- accommodation
- acknowledgement
- bureaucracy
- camouflage
- catastrophe
- chauffeur
- connoisseur
- conscientious
- entrepreneur
- exhilarate
- hierarchy
- hypocrisy
- indict
- inoculate
- itinerary
- malicious
- metamorphosis
- pharaoh
- pneumonia
- psychology
- silhouette
- surveillance
About the spelling test
Is this spelling test free?
Yes, entirely. No account, no download, no trial, no card. It works the same whether or not you ever book a class with us.
Does my child need an account?
No. There is nothing to sign up for, no score is kept between visits, and nothing your child types leaves the browser. No analytics run on children’s answers here - see the privacy policy.
How does the audio work? Do I need to install anything?
Nothing at all. The words are read by a voice already built into your browser, so there is no download and no data cost beyond loading the page. If your device has no English voice available, the test switches to showing the word on screen so you can read it aloud yourself.
Which spellings do you use, British or American?
British, which is what Indian schools mark as correct. Colour, favourite, jewellery, emphasise, practise as a verb. A word list built on American spellings would get your child marked down, which is a real risk with most free spelling sites since almost all of them are American.
How many words should we do at a time?
Ten. That takes about five minutes and can be done daily, which is what actually moves spelling. Twenty-two words once a week feels more serious and works less well. Spelling responds to frequency in the same way tables do.
My child spells the word right but not the way it is written here.
Then it is very likely an American form, and we count only the British spelling as correct because that is what the school will do. If you think a word is genuinely wrong rather than a variant, tell us and we will check it. Every word on this site has been checked against a dictionary, but we would rather hear about a mistake than defend one.
What is a good score?
For a list at the right class level, fifteen out of twenty-two is comfortable and eighteen is strong. If your child is scoring under half, drop down a class rather than pushing on - a list that is too hard teaches nothing except that spelling is miserable.
How do I help with the words they get wrong?
Look, cover, write, check, one word at a time. Have your child look at the word, cover it, write it from memory, then check. Three correct writes in a row on separate days usually fixes it. Copying a word ten times in a row does almost nothing, because after the second copy the child has stopped looking.
Can we print the word lists?
The lists lower down this page print cleanly from your browser's print option, one class to a sheet. That is useful for the weekly test at school, or for a parent who would rather read the words aloud themselves.
Is this the same as the dictation tool?
No, and they are meant to be used together. The dictation lists are words a child already half-knows, used to build writing fluency. The spelling test probes the ones they do not know yet. No word appears in both, so a child can use one after the other without repeats.
How does the spelling test work?
- 1
Choose your child's class
Twenty words per class, chosen from what that year actually sets, in British spellings.
- 2
Listen to the word and its sentence
The word is spoken alone, then used in a sentence, then said again - so a homophone is never ambiguous.
- 3
Type what you heard
Typing rather than choosing, because recognising a correct spelling is far easier than producing one.
- 4
Check the marked list
Every word is marked instantly with the correct spelling beside it, so a wrong answer teaches something.
What it actually practises
- Producing a spelling from memory, not picking it from four options.
- Hearing a word in context, which is how homophones are actually distinguished.
- Typing accuracy, which matters more each year as schoolwork moves onto screens.
- Working through a list without a parent reading aloud, so an older child can practise alone.
When not to use it: If your child is still blending three-letter words, this is too early. Phonics sound match teaches the step before it.
Practise the same thing elsewhere
- Dictation wordsThe same words, written on paper.
- Word SearchRecognising spellings, as a puzzle.
- Free worksheetsSpelling lists with answers on the page.
- English tuitionWhere spelling sits in the year.
Spelling is rarely the real problem.
When a child spells badly and reads reluctantly, the cause is usually further back than the word list. One free assessment is normally enough to find it.
- You tell us the class, board and what is going wrong.
- We match a teacher who has taught exactly that, and send you a time.
- A free 20-minute assessment. Sit beside your child if you like.
- No card, no commitment
- Live classes, never a crowd
- The same teacher every week