Year 5 and 6 statutory spelling list: all 100 words
The Year 5 and 6 list is part of the national curriculum in England. Children are expected to learn these words across Years 5 and 6. Here are all the words, then the same words in weekly sets your child can practise.
The 100 words
Set 1: play and worksheets- accommodate
- accompany
- according
- achieve
- aggressive
- amateur
- ancient
- apparent
- appreciate
- attached
- available
- average
- awkward
- bargain
- bruise
- category
- cemetery
- committee
- communicate
- community
- competition
- conscience
- conscious
- controversy
- convenience
- correspond
- criticise
- curiosity
- definite
- desperate
- determined
- develop
- dictionary
- disastrous
- embarrass
- environment
- equip
- equipment
- equipped
- especially
- exaggerate
- excellent
- existence
- explanation
- familiar
- foreign
- forty
- frequently
- government
- guarantee
- harass
- hindrance
- identity
- immediate
- immediately
- individual
- interfere
- interrupt
- language
- leisure
- lightning
- marvellous
- mischievous
- muscle
- necessary
- neighbour
- nuisance
- occupy
- occur
- opportunity
- parliament
- persuade
- physical
- prejudice
- privilege
- profession
- programme
- pronunciation
- queue
- recognise
- recommend
- relevant
- restaurant
- rhyme
- rhythm
- sacrifice
- secretary
- shoulder
- signature
- sincere
- sincerely
- soldier
- stomach
- sufficient
- suggest
- symbol
- system
- temperature
- thorough
- twelfth
- variety
- vegetable
- vehicle
- yacht
104 words to practise: some entries on the list come in more than one form, and each form is practised. equip (-ped, -ment) (equip, equipped, equipment); immediate(ly) (immediate, immediately); sincere(ly) (sincere, sincerely).
Practise them in weekly sets
10 sets of about 10 words. Each set has its own page, to play it and download its worksheets.
Set 1
10 words- accommodate
- accompany
- according
- achieve
- aggressive
- amateur
- ancient
- apparent
- appreciate
- attached
Set 2
10 words- available
- average
- awkward
- bargain
- bruise
- category
- cemetery
- committee
- communicate
- community
Set 3
10 words- competition
- conscience
- conscious
- controversy
- convenience
- correspond
- criticise
- curiosity
- definite
- desperate
Set 4
12 words- determined
- develop
- dictionary
- disastrous
- embarrass
- environment
- equip
- equipped
- equipment
- especially
- exaggerate
- excellent
Set 5
10 words- existence
- explanation
- familiar
- foreign
- forty
- frequently
- government
- guarantee
- harass
- hindrance
Set 6
11 words- identity
- immediate
- immediately
- individual
- interfere
- interrupt
- language
- leisure
- lightning
- marvellous
- mischievous
Set 7
10 words- muscle
- necessary
- neighbour
- nuisance
- occupy
- occur
- opportunity
- parliament
- persuade
- physical
Set 8
10 words- prejudice
- privilege
- profession
- programme
- pronunciation
- queue
- recognise
- recommend
- relevant
- restaurant
Set 9
11 words- rhyme
- rhythm
- sacrifice
- secretary
- shoulder
- signature
- sincere
- sincerely
- soldier
- stomach
- sufficient
Set 10
10 words- suggest
- symbol
- system
- temperature
- thorough
- twelfth
- variety
- vegetable
- vehicle
- yacht
Notes from the curriculum
The curriculum's own notes on some of these words, word for word.
- conscience, conscious: Conscience and conscious are related to science: conscience is simply science with the prefix con- added. These words come from the Latin word scio meaning I know.
- desperate: The word desperate, meaning ‘without hope’, is often pronounced in English as desp’rate, but the -sper- part comes from the Latin spero, meaning ‘I hope’, in which the e was clearly sounded.
- familiar: Familiar is related to family, so the /ə/ sound in the first syllable of familiar is spelt as a.
How to use the sets
Take one set a week, a few minutes a day. Bring back words from earlier weeks now and then: a word that's right on Friday can slip by the next month.
The official list has a few paired entries, such as equip, equipped and equipment. Each form is a word of its own here.
What does "statutory" mean, and does my child need to know them all?
It means schools in England must teach these words. It isn't the test itself: the key stage 2 spelling test in Year 6 draws on spelling patterns more widely. Knowing these words helps, and some of them do come up.
If your child is in Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland
Years 5 and 6 are P6 and P7 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
Keep the list, and see how it's going
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