Year 3 and 4 statutory spelling list: all 100 words
The Year 3 and 4 list is part of the national curriculum in England. Schools teach these words across the two years, alongside the spelling patterns for those years. Here are all the words, then the same words in weekly sets.
The 100 words
Set 1: play and worksheets- accident
- accidentally
- actual
- actually
- address
- although
- answer
- appear
- arrive
- believe
- bicycle
- breath
- breathe
- build
- business
- busy
- 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
- forwards
- 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
- occasionally
- often
- opposite
- ordinary
- particular
- peculiar
- perhaps
- popular
- position
- possess
- possession
- possible
- potatoes
- pressure
- probably
- promise
- purpose
- quarter
- question
- recent
- regular
- reign
- remember
- sentence
- separate
- special
- straight
- strange
- strength
- suppose
- surprise
- therefore
- though
- thought
- through
- various
- weight
- woman
- women
109 words to practise: some entries on the list come in more than one form, and each form is practised. accident(ally) (accident, accidentally); actual(ly) (actual, actually); busy/business (busy, business); eight/eighth (eight, eighth); forward(s) (forward, forwards); occasion(ally) (occasion, occasionally); possess(ion) (possess, possession); though/although (though, although); woman/women (woman, women).
Practise them in weekly sets
10 sets of about 11 words. Each set has its own page, to play it and download its worksheets.
Set 1
12 words- accident
- accidentally
- actual
- actually
- address
- answer
- appear
- arrive
- believe
- bicycle
- breath
- breathe
Set 2
11 words- build
- busy
- business
- calendar
- caught
- centre
- century
- certain
- circle
- complete
- consider
Set 3
11 words- continue
- decide
- describe
- different
- difficult
- disappear
- early
- earth
- eight
- eighth
- enough
Set 4
11 words- exercise
- experience
- experiment
- extreme
- famous
- favourite
- February
- forward
- forwards
- fruit
- grammar
Set 5
10 words- group
- guard
- guide
- heard
- heart
- height
- history
- imagine
- increase
- important
Set 6
10 words- interest
- island
- knowledge
- learn
- length
- library
- material
- medicine
- mention
- minute
Set 7
11 words- natural
- naughty
- notice
- occasion
- occasionally
- often
- opposite
- ordinary
- particular
- peculiar
- perhaps
Set 8
11 words- popular
- position
- possess
- possession
- possible
- potatoes
- pressure
- probably
- promise
- purpose
- quarter
Set 9
10 words- question
- recent
- regular
- reign
- remember
- sentence
- separate
- special
- straight
- strange
Set 10
12 words- strength
- suppose
- surprise
- therefore
- though
- although
- thought
- through
- various
- weight
- woman
- women
Notes from the curriculum
The curriculum's own notes on some of these words, word for word.
- business: once busy is learnt, with due attention to the unusual spelling of the /ɪ/ sound as ‘u’, business can then be spelt as busy + ness, with the y of busy changed to i according to the rule.
- disappear: the root word appear contains sounds which can be spelt in more than one way so it needs to be learnt, but the prefix dis- is then simply added to appear.
- bicycle: bicycle is cycle (from the Greek for wheel) with bi- (meaning ‘two’) before it.
- medicine: medicine is related to medical so the /s/ sound is spelt as c.
- opposite: opposite is related to oppose, so the schwa sound in opposite is spelt as o.
How to use the sets
Take one set a week. Practise a few minutes a day, and let the words from earlier weeks come back now and then, so they aren't forgotten once the week is over.
Some entries on the official list come in pairs, such as accident and accidentally, or woman and women. Each form is a word of its own here, so both get practised.
What does "statutory" mean?
It means schools in England must teach these words. It isn't a test list: children are tested on spelling patterns more widely in Year 6. Most children learn some of the words easily and find a handful hard, which is normal.
Year 3 or Year 4: who learns what?
The curriculum gives one list for both years, and schools split it their own way. If you're not sure which words your child is on, their weekly list from school is the best guide.
If your child is in Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland
Years 3 and 4 are P4 and P5 in Scotland and Northern Ireland. The lists here are from the curriculum in England; Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland don't have a statutory list. If your child's school sends words home, you can make a game from those instead.
More spelling lists
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