Ages 7 to 8 · P4 in Scotland and Northern Ireland
Year 3 spellings: what your child is learning, and how to help
Year 3 starts the Year 3 and 4 programme. Children learn prefixes such as dis-, mis- and re-, the -ous and -ly endings, and homophones such as heard and herd, and start on the Year 3 and 4 statutory list of 100 words. Here's what they'll learn, with sets to practise.
What Year 3 children learn in spelling
From Year 3, spelling is less about sounds and more about how words are built. Children learn that a prefix changes a word's meaning without changing its spelling (dis + appear), and that endings like -ous follow patterns they can learn. The statutory list is taught across Years 3 and 4.
Each pattern below has its words, and a page to play them and download their worksheets.
Adding suffixes beginning with vowel letters to words of more than one syllable
11 wordsIf the last syllable is stressed and ends in one consonant after one vowel, double it (forgetting); if it's unstressed, don't (gardening).
- forgetting
- forgotten
- beginning
- beginner
- prefer
- preferred
- gardening
- gardener
- limiting
- limited
- limitation
The i sound spelt y elsewhere than at the end of words
5 wordsIn some words the short i sound is spelt y, as in gym and myth.
- myth
- gym
- Egypt
- pyramid
- mystery
The u sound spelt ou
5 wordsIn some words the short u sound is spelt ou, as in young and touch.
- young
- touch
- double
- trouble
- country
More prefixes
39 wordsMost prefixes go on the front without changing the word; in- becomes il-, im- or ir- before l, m, p and r.
Set 1
8 words- disappoint
- disagree
- disobey
- misbehave
- mislead
- misspell
- inactive
- incorrect
Set 2
10 words- illegal
- illegible
- immature
- immortal
- impossible
- impatient
- imperfect
- irregular
- irrelevant
- irresponsible
Set 3
9 words- redo
- refresh
- return
- reappear
- redecorate
- subdivide
- subheading
- submarine
- submerge
Set 4
12 words- interact
- intercity
- international
- interrelated
- supermarket
- superman
- superstar
- antiseptic
- anti-clockwise
- antisocial
- autobiography
- autograph
The suffix -ly
14 words-ly turns an adjective into an adverb; watch for y to i (happily), -le to -ly (gently) and -ic to -ically (basically).
The suffix -ous
19 wordsSometimes the root word is clear (poison, poisonous) and sometimes there isn't one, as in jealous, so those are learnt.
Set 1
11 words- poisonous
- dangerous
- mountainous
- famous
- various
- tremendous
- enormous
- jealous
- humorous
- glamorous
- vigorous
Set 2
8 words- courageous
- outrageous
- serious
- obvious
- curious
- hideous
- spontaneous
- courteous
The k sound spelt ch (Greek in origin)
5 wordsIn some words that come from Greek, the k sound is spelt ch, as in chorus and echo.
- scheme
- chorus
- chemist
- echo
- character
Homophones and near-homophones
46 wordsThese words sound the same, or nearly, but are spelt differently and mean different things, as in accept and except.
Set 1
12 words- accept
- except
- affect
- effect
- ball
- bawl
- berry
- bury
- brake
- break
- fair
- fare
The Year 3 and 4 programme also covers The suffix -ation, Words with endings sounding like zhuh or chuh, Endings which sound like zhun, -tion, -sion, -ssion and -cian and more. They're on the Year 4 spellings page.
The Year 3 and 4 statutory list
Across Years 3 and 4, children learn the statutory word list. Here are the first ten words.
- accident
- accidentally
- actual
- actually
- address
- answer
- appear
- arrive
- believe
- bicycle
See every word on the Year 3 and 4 statutory list, in weekly sets
How to help your Year 3 child with spellings
- Split a word into its parts: "dis-ap-pear" or "mis-spell". The prefix keeps its letters.
- Look for the pattern in the week's list, then find another word that fits it.
- Practise the words a few at a time, from memory, and bring back the ones that went wrong.
- If the test is on Friday, start on Monday: ten minutes a day is enough.
Are there tests in Year 3?
There's no national spelling test in Year 3. Many schools send a weekly list home and test it in class, often on a Friday, but this varies from school to school.
Year 3 in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland
Year 3 is P4 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.
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