The 8 Most Common Spelling Test Mistakes in Primary School (and How to Fix Each One)
When the spelling test comes back marked, the mistakes are almost always in the same places. That's not a lack of effort. Spelling errors follow patterns, and the same patterns repeat week after week. Once you can see the pattern, you know exactly what to practise.
Here are the eight most common mistakes in primary-school spelling tests and dictations, each with a way to fix it at home.
1. Digraphs written as single letters
The number-one mistake in Years 1 and 2. Two letters make one sound, and the child writes only one of them.
- ship → sip, chip → cip
- rain → ran, boat → bot
- night → nit
How to fix it: sound the word out together and count the sounds on your fingers — sh-i-p is three sounds, not four letters. Then ask "which sound needs two letters?" Once the child sees sh as one unit, the error largely disappears.
2. Silent letters left out
The child writes what they hear, and some letters can't be heard.
- knife → nife, write → rite, know → no
- lamb → lam, climb → clim
- island → iland
How to fix it: there's no rule to reason from, so these are words to memorise. Write the word large with the silent letter in a different colour and stick it up for a few days. Visual memory does the rest. Grouping helps too: all the kn- words together, all the -mb words together.
3. Double consonants missed (or added)
- running → runing, hopping → hoping
- letter → leter, rabbit → rabit
- and the reverse: writing → writting
How to fix it: for words like running and hopping, teach the short-vowel rule: a short vowel followed by one consonant doubles it before -ing or -ed (hop → hopping), while a long vowel doesn't (hope → hoping). For nouns like rabbit, it's memorisation — same colour-highlight trick as silent letters.
4. Homophones
Right sound, wrong word. These climb steadily from Year 2 onwards.
- there / their / they're
- to / too / two
- hear / here, wear / where
- your / you're
How to fix it: meaning, not sound. Practise them in short phrases, never as single words: "over there", "their bags", "they're late". A substitution test helps for the contractions — if you can say they are, it's they're.
5. Suffix rules
The root word is right; the ending goes wrong.
- happy + ness → happyness (should be happiness)
- hope + ing → hopeing (should be hoping)
- carry + ed → carryed (should be carried)
How to fix it: two rules cover most cases. Drop the silent e before adding -ing or -ed (hope → hoping). Change y to i before adding an ending, unless the ending is -ing (carry → carried, but carrying). Practise one rule per week with five or six words from the list.
6. Tricky words spelt phonetically
The high-frequency words that don't follow phonics — the ones on the "tricky word" or "common exception word" list.
- was → woz, said → sed
- because → becos, people → peple
- friend → frend
How to fix it: these are meant to be learned by sight, not sounded out. Mnemonics work well for the longest ones: because = Big Elephants Can Always Understand Small Elephants; friend = a friend to the end.
7. Punctuation and capitals
Every word right, but no full stop, no capital letter, or a missing question mark. This starts costing marks as soon as sentence dictation begins.
How to fix it: when you dictate at home, say the punctuation aloud — "The dog ran home, full stop" — which is what most teachers do in class. Then a final check just for punctuation: capital at the start, full stop at the end. DictationEasy can read punctuation in the text so home practice matches the test.
8. Skipped or reordered words
When the sentence gets long, the child writes the first half and loses the second.
- The big brown dog ran home → The dog ran home
- Words in the wrong order
The hand is slower than the ear; by the time the first half is written, the second half has gone.
How to fix it: don't break the sentence into chunks at home. Say the whole sentence, let your child hold it in memory, and write. It's harder at first, but it's exactly the skill needed in class. Afterwards, listen to the sentence once more and check nothing is missing.
Number the mistakes and the practice gets shorter
When the test comes back, write the number (1–8) next to each mistake. After three or four tests, you'll see your child mainly falls into two or three categories. Then there's no need to practise the whole list — only those categories. Practice gets shorter and works better.
And if you can't dictate every evening, DictationEasy lets you save the week's list so your child practises alone, hearing and writing rather than copying. You only do the marking together.
Related: Why Is Your Child Failing Dictation Tests? 5 Common Reasons
Related: Your Child's First Spelling Test in Year 1: A Parent's Guide
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the most common spelling mistake in primary school?
In the early years, digraphs written as single letters (ship → sip). From Year 3 onwards, homophones (there/their/they're) and suffix errors take over. The fixes are different: digraphs need sound-counting, homophones need meaning.
Should I make my child copy each word out ten times?
Copying while looking at the word is low-value. If they copy, have them say the letters aloud as they write. Better still, have them write the word after hearing it, without seeing it — that's what the test asks for.
My child makes the same mistakes every week. What can I do?
Keep a "wrong words" notebook: each mistake goes in, spelt correctly. The night before the test, revise that notebook, not the whole list. It takes less time and works better.
Does punctuation count in a spelling test?
Once sentence dictation starts — usually Year 2 — yes, in most schools. Include it in home marking from the beginning so your child expects it.
Are mirror letters (b/d) something to worry about?
In Year 1 and early Year 2, no — they're very common and fade with reading and writing practice. If they clearly persist beyond Year 2, mention it to the class teacher.
