11+ spelling questions: how to spot the mistake

An 11+ spelling question usually hides a single plausible misspelling inside an ordinary sentence — or asks your child to confirm that there is no mistake at all. To spot it reliably, stop skimming for meaning, point under one word at a time, and check each word’s syllables and spelling patterns in isolation.

In 11+ English, spelling and proofreading tasks test whether a child can notice letter-order slips, missing double letters, suffix rules, and homophones under gentle time pressure. GL Assessment says the school or local authority chooses the subjects and the balance of question types, so check your own test’s guidance.^[1] Because fluent readers automatically repair small misspellings when reading at normal speed, slowing the eye down is the single biggest improvement most children can make.

A three-step method

1. Read word by word, pointing under each word on paper

When you read a sentence normally, your brain predicts the next word from the meaning and skips over swapped vowels or missing letters. Break that habit by placing the tip of a pencil under each word in turn.

Look at the letters of that word on its own, as if it were printed on a flashcard, before moving to the next word. Also check short everyday words and homophones (their, there, they’re; to, too, two; stationary, stationery), where the spelling depends on the meaning of the sentence.

2. Say each word in syllables and check familiar patterns

Break longer words into clear syllables in your head — such as sep-a-rate, ne-ces-sa-ry, or de-fi-nite-ly — and check the spelling patterns that 11+ setters test most often:

• ie and ei vowel pairs: check the letters after c (receive, ceiling, deceive) as well as familiar exceptions (weird, seize, protein).
• Double and single consonants: check prefixes joined to roots (dis + appear = disappear, un + necessary = unnecessary) and words like accommodate or embarrass.
• Silent letters: watch for silent k, g, w, b, h, or t (knowledge, foreign, subtle, rhythm, castle).
• Suffixes such as -ful, -tion, and -ly: remember that the suffix -ful has only one l (beautiful, grateful, hopeful) while adding -ly to a word ending in l gives a double ll (carefully, finally).

3. Compare with words from the same family and check every word before choosing

If a vowel looks uncertain inside an unstressed syllable, think of a related word from the same word family where that vowel is stressed: definite comes from finite, competition comes from compete, and signature gives the hidden g in sign. Check every word in the sentence before marking your answer — and if your paper includes a “no mistake” option, choose it with confidence once you have verified each word.

Common mistakes

• Reading at normal speed so the brain corrects the mistake automatically: Skimming the sentence for story meaning lets recieved or seperate slip past unnoticed.
• Checking only long words: Setters often leave a long word like extraordinary spelt properly while hiding the mistake in a shorter word like truley or untill.
• Changing a correct word because it looks unusual: Words such as queue, rhythm, or twelfth can look strange when stared at for too long; check the rule rather than guessing.
• Missing homophones such as their, there, and they’re: A homophone is a real English word, so you have to check that its meaning fits the sentence.

Practise little and often

1. Pick five tricky words from the Year 5 and 6 statutory word list and group them by pattern (for example, words ending in -able and -ible, or words with ei after c).
2. Write three short sentences — two with one deliberate spelling slip and one with no mistake — and ask your child to proofread them with a pencil point.
3. When a word is missed, write it out split into syllables alongside one word from the same family rather than copying it out ten times without thinking.

Keep practising English

When your child is ready to try five original English questions with instant worked explanations, start the free 5-question quiz below.