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10 IELTS Spelling Mistakes Every Candidate Makes (And How to Fix Them Fast)

December 19th, 2025

10 IELTS Spelling Mistakes Every Candidate Makes (And How to Fix Them Fast)

10 IELTS Spelling Mistakes Every Candidate Makes (And How to Fix Them Fast)

Many IELTS candidates are convinced that their score is being held back by grammar or ideas, when in reality spelling is quietly costing them points across multiple sections. You can understand every question perfectly, give strong opinions, and use advanced vocabulary-and still lose marks simply because a few key words are spelled incorrectly. This guide walks you through the 10 most common spelling mistakes we see again and again in IELTS Writing, Reading, and Listening, then shows you exactly how to fix each one with fast, practical drills. Think of it as a mini‑course in exam‑specific spelling: list‑style for easy scanning, but deep enough that you can actually change your habits before test day.

Quick summary (TL;DR):

  • Spelling affects Listening/Reading accuracy (gap fills) and Writing Lexical Resource-it’s one of the easiest ways to leak points.
  • Your goal isn’t “perfect spelling.” It’s automatic spelling for high-frequency IELTS words under time pressure.
  • Fix patterns with short, repeatable drills (recall → check → rewrite the tricky chunk), not random lists.

Related reading on Spelling.School (recommended):

Why Spelling Quietly Lowers Your IELTS Band Score (More Than Most Candidates Realize)

Where Spelling Is Actually Scored

Spelling is not a separate band in IELTS, but it affects several parts of your score at the same time. Here's where it shows up:

  • Listening and Reading: Many question types-especially gap‑fills, short‑answer questions, and sentence completions-require you to spell the answer exactly as it appears in the tape script or text. One missing letter can turn a correct answer into a wrong one.
  • Writing Task 1 and Task 2: Spelling errors feed into your Lexical Resource score (vocabulary), and a large number of mistakes can also make your ideas harder to follow, which touches Coherence and Cohesion.

In other words, spelling is everywhere, even if you don't see a separate "Spelling" box on the band descriptors.

How a Few Errors Can Drag a Good Essay Down

Many candidates aiming for Band 7+ are surprised when their Writing comes back at 6.0 or 6.5 despite good grammar and strong task response. Often, the problem is that high‑frequency academic words-environment, government, development, communication, accommodation-are misspelled several times across the essay. Examiners are trained to look for accurate, controlled vocabulary, and repeated spelling mistakes send the opposite signal: they suggest that your control of those key words is shaky. Three to five visible spelling errors in a 250‑word essay can be enough to keep your Lexical Resource band below where it should be, even if your sentences are otherwise strong.

How Spelling Mistakes Waste Time and Mental Energy

Spelling doesn’t just cost you marks directly; it also steals time and focus during the test. If you hesitate on every second long word-accommodation… is it one “m” or two? government… where does the “n” go?-you burn mental energy that should be spent planning ideas, choosing examples, and checking grammar. In Listening and Reading, second‑guessing your spelling can make you miss the next question while you’re still worrying about the last one. Strong spelling turns common IELTS words into automatic reflexes, so you can concentrate on understanding and answering, not letter‑by‑letter decisions.

What This Guide Does (and Doesn’t) Cover

This article doesn't try to list every obscure spelling rule in English. Instead, it focuses on systematic mistakes that almost every IELTS candidate makes at some point: high‑frequency academic words, British vs American variations, "easy" nouns that are hard to write, double consonants, tricky endings, numbers and dates, copying errors, over‑ambitious vocabulary, and bad study habits. For each mistake, you'll see the pattern, real exam‑style examples, a fast fix, and a micro‑drill you can start using this week. If you want a deeper explanation of why spelling matters so much for IELTS in general, you can later read our breakdown in "The Hidden Reason IELTS Candidates Lose a Whole Band: Spelling".

How This Guide Works (And How to Use It During Your Prep)

The 10-Mistake Framework

Each of the ten sections that follow focuses on one specific type of mistake that regularly shows up in real IELTS scripts and answer sheets. Every mistake section follows the same structure:

  1. The pattern – what kind of error it is and why it happens
  2. Real exam examples – actual mistakes we see from candidates, so you can recognize them in your own work
  3. A fast fix – usually a pattern or habit you can change immediately
  4. A micro‑drill – a short practice exercise you can repeat in 5–10 minutes

The goal is not to shame you for making these mistakes. The goal is to make each one so visible and concrete that you can eliminate it from your performance before test day.

Turning This Article into a Checklist and Study Plan

You'll get the best results if you treat this guide as a checklist rather than a one‑time read. As you go through each mistake, ask yourself: "Have I seen this in my own writing or tests?" and mark any section that feels familiar. Then, over the next one or two weeks, work through those sections again with a notebook or digital document open-copying the fast fixes, writing down sample words that match your own errors, and completing the micro‑drills. This article pairs especially well with our long‑form guides on IELTS spelling, including "The Hidden Reason IELTS Candidates Lose a Whole Band: Spelling" and our general spelling‑mastery roadmap for adults and ESL learners.

Building Your Own “IELTS Spelling Toolkit”

As you read, start building a small IELTS spelling toolkit: a list or spreadsheet where you track danger words, high‑risk patterns, and your own corrections. You can turn each of the ten mistakes below into its own section in that toolkit, with example words and mini‑drills you revisit several times before the exam. By the time you've worked through all ten, you won't just "know" about these mistakes in theory-you'll have a personalized practice system designed around the way you actually misspell words in IELTS. For help choosing which words to include, our commonly misspelled words guide provides ready‑made lists with memory tricks.

Mistake 1: Misspelling High-Frequency Academic Words (Environment, Government, Development…)

What This Mistake Looks Like in Real Scripts

Open a typical Band 6 Writing Task 2 paper and you’ll often see otherwise solid essays ruined by words like goverment, enviroment, developement, educasion, technoligy, or oppurtunity. These are not rare, advanced terms-they’re core academic words that appear again and again in IELTS prompts and model answers. When these words are misspelled repeatedly, examiners quickly notice. It suggests that your control of crucial academic vocabulary is limited, even if your ideas are strong and your grammar is mostly accurate.

Why These Words Appear Everywhere in IELTS

IELTS Task 2 essays and Reading passages frequently cover themes like environment, education, technology, government policy, development, health, and society. That means words such as environment, government, development, education, technology, population, communication, and infrastructure are high‑frequency items in the exam. They also contain exactly the kinds of tricky patterns-unstressed vowels, double letters, common suffixes-that cause spelling errors under time pressure. Fixing the spelling of just 50–100 of these high‑frequency words can dramatically clean up your Writing and stop you losing easy Reading/Listening marks.

Fast Fix: Group by Pattern, Not by Topic

Instead of studying these words as random items, group them by spelling pattern. For example, put environment, government, employment, development, improvement into a “‑nment/‑ment” family; put education, population, communication, pollution, transportation into a “‑tion” family. In each group, highlight the unstressed syllables that usually cause trouble: the ‑ron‑ in environment, the govern‑ in government, or the ‑velop‑ in development. When you see how these pieces repeat across multiple words, each word becomes easier to remember and spell.

Micro-Drill: 5-Minute Academic Word Spotlight

Pick 5–10 high‑frequency academic words you know you'll need for IELTS (you can also borrow from our guide to commonly misspelled words and spelling patterns). Write a two‑column mini‑table: correct spelling on the left, your typical wrong versions on the right. Then, for five minutes, cycle through them: cover the correct column, spell from memory, uncover and correct, and finally write one short sentence using each word in an IELTS‑style context (e.g., “The government should invest more in public transport to reduce pollution in urban areas.”). Repeat this quick drill a few times a week until these words feel automatic.

Mistake 2: Confusing British and American Spelling (Colour vs Color, Organise vs Organize)

Why Mixing Styles Hurts Your Score

IELTS accepts both British and American spelling, but examiners expect you to be consistent inside a single essay or answer sheet. When you write colour in one paragraph and color in the next, or mix organise with organize in the same Task 2 response, it signals that you don’t fully control the conventions of any one variety of English. This inconsistency can lower your Lexical Resource score, because it suggests weaker command of written form, even if your vocabulary choices are otherwise appropriate.

What Examiners Actually Expect

Officially, IELTS does not punish you for choosing British or American spelling-as long as you stick with one system. However, many preparation materials and teachers in different countries mix the two without saying so, which trains candidates to write “however, the government should organize public transport in city centre” in the same sentence. That kind of hybrid writing stands out to trained readers. The safest, simplest approach is to choose one variety based on your exam location and goals-British English is usually recommended-and then commit to it fully during your preparation.

Fast Fix: Lock In One Variety for All Your Practice

Decide today whether you are going to write in British or American English for IELTS. Once you’ve decided, write it at the top of your IELTS notebook or digital notes: “I use British spelling for this test.” Then, create a short list of high‑risk pairs that you will see constantly in IELTS topics, such as colour/color, organise/organize, centre/center, travelled/traveled, programme/program, labour/labor, behaviour/behavior. Study the versions that match your chosen variety and add them to your danger word list if you often mix them up.

Micro-Drill: Pre-Submission Consistency Check

Before you finish any Writing Task 1 or Task 2 practice essay, take one extra minute for a consistency scan. Quickly search your paragraphs for the high‑risk pairs on your list and make sure they all match your chosen variety. Over time, you’ll catch fewer and fewer mismatches, because your brain will internalize the pattern. You can reinforce this habit by reading high‑quality articles in your chosen variety (for example, UK news sites if you’ve chosen British spelling) and noticing how these common words are spelled again and again.

Mistake 3: Losing Listening & Reading Marks on Simple Nouns (Accommodation, Maintenance, Library…)

The “Easy Word, Zero Score” Problem

One of the most painful ways to lose IELTS marks is to miss a Listening or Reading question even though you knew the answer perfectly. You hear “The price includes accommodation and breakfast,” you understand everything, you know the gap‑fill answer is “accommodation”-and then you write accomodation or acommodation. The meaning is right, but the answer is marked wrong because the spelling doesn’t match the key. The same thing happens with “maintenance,” “library,” “schedule,” and many other “simple” nouns that hide double letters, awkward vowel patterns, or silent syllables.

Why These Nouns Are So Dangerous

These words feel easy in terms of vocabulary and comprehension, so most candidates underestimate them. They appear in booking forms, notes, maps, and short Reading passages: words like accommodation, maintenance, library, registration, transportation, schedule, equipment, opportunity. Under exam pressure, your hand writes the version you’ve always used, not the one you saw in the textbook. Because the words look familiar, you often don’t notice the error when you check your answers. Over a whole test, a handful of these “easy” mistakes can cost you half a band in Listening or Reading.

Fast Fix: Learn the Hidden Patterns Inside These Words

Treat these high‑risk nouns as pattern flashcards, not random items. For example, accommodation is famous in IELTS circles because it has two doubled consonants: cc and mm. You can remember it as “a‑ccom‑mo‑da‑tion”-five chunks, with cc and mm in the middle. Maintenance hides a tricky “tenan” sound in the middle (main‑ten‑ance), not “maintainance.” Library has two syllables (li‑brary), not “libary.” Breaking these words into syllables and highlighting the “weird” parts makes them much easier to recall accurately under time pressure.

Micro-Drill: 5-Minute Dictation with Exam Pressure

Create a short dictation list of 8–10 high‑risk nouns that often appear in IELTS Listening and Reading (you can borrow from your practice tests or from our commonly misspelled words guide). Have a friend read them to you, or use text‑to‑speech or audio from real tests. For five minutes, run this cycle: hear the word → write it from memory → check it immediately against the correct version → underline any missing or extra letters → rewrite only the tricky part three times. Once a week, do this drill under timed conditions, pretending you’re on test day. Over time, these “easy but dangerous” words will become automatic.

Mistake 4: Double-Letter Confusion (Success, Recommend, Occur, Accommodation)

The Most Common Double-Letter Traps

Double consonants are responsible for an enormous percentage of IELTS spelling mistakes. Candidates write sucess, adres, recomend, begining, ocurred, comittee when they mean success, address, recommend, beginning, occurred, committee. In fast Writing tasks or timed note‑taking, it’s easy to drop or add an extra consonant without noticing. Because many of these words are also frequent in IELTS topics-success, address, recommend, occur, accommodation-getting them wrong several times can make an otherwise good script look messy.

Simple Rules of Thumb (Without Deep Linguistics)

You don’t need to learn a full phonology course to improve your double‑letter spelling. Instead, remember a few practical patterns. Certain consonant pairs-ss, ll, mm, nn, tt, rr, pp-are doubled far more often than others in English. Many short vowels in stressed syllables are followed by double consonants when adding endings (begin → beginning, occur → occurred, prefer → preferred), while long vowels or diphthongs often are not (rain → raining, need → needed). There are exceptions, but even these rough guidelines help you guess better under pressure.

Fast Fix: Build Double-Letter Families

Instead of trying to memorize each tricky word separately, group them into double‑letter families. For example, put success, successful, successfully together; recommend, recommendation, recommended; occur, occurred, occurrence; accommodate, accommodation; address, addressed, addressing. When you practise, don't just spell the base word-write the whole family and notice how the double consonants behave across forms. This is also a perfect place to connect with our more general guides on double‑letter patterns and commonly misspelled words.

Micro-Drill: 5-Word Double-Letter Sprints

Choose five double‑letter families you struggle with and write them in a list. Set a timer for three minutes and try to write each family from memory (all forms, e.g., success/successful/successfully). Then check and correct. Repeat this sprint a couple of times a week. For extra IELTS relevance, finish each sprint by writing one or two Task 2 sentences that use as many of those words as possible, such as: “Governments should address environmental issues to ensure long‑term success in sustainable development.” This forces you to practise the spelling in realistic exam contexts.

Mistake 5: “-tion” / “-sion” / “-cian” Endings (Education, Decision, Politician)

Why These Endings Matter So Much in IELTS

English academic vocabulary is full of nouns ending in ‑tion, ‑sion, ‑ssion, and ‑cian: education, pollution, information, communication, decision, profession, discussion, politician, electrician, musician. These words are everywhere in IELTS tasks, especially in Writing Task 2 where you discuss education systems, pollution levels, communication technology, political decisions, and more. When candidates write educasion, decission, discusion, technicion, or musicion, they lose credibility and, in Listening/Reading gap‑fills, may lose the mark completely.

Typical Errors Candidates Make

Common patterns include writing “shun” as ‑sion in every case (educasion), doubling the “s” where it doesn’t belong (decission), or mis‑guessing job endings (technician written as technicion). These errors usually come from relying only on sound: many of these endings are pronounced /ʃən/ or /ʒən/ no matter how they are spelled. Because the pronunciation is similar, it’s easy to forget whether a word takes ‑tion, ‑sion, ‑ssion, or ‑cian unless you’ve seen it enough times and paid attention to its family.

Fast Fix: Learn a Few Reliable Patterns

While there are exceptions, you can remember a few helpful rules of thumb. Many verbs ending in ‑ate, ‑ct, or ‑it form nouns with ‑tion (educate → education, pollute → pollution, communicate → communication, decide → decision is an exception but still a pattern family). Words where the base ends in d/t/s often take ‑sion/‑ssion (decide → decision, discuss → discussion, permit → permission). Job titles describing people-musician, electrician, politician, optician-typically use ‑cian. Studying these groups as families, not single words, will make your guesses far more accurate under exam pressure. For a broader overview of these patterns beyond IELTS, see our pattern guide "The 7 Most Important English Spelling Patterns Every Learner Should Know".

Micro-Drill: Verb → Noun Transformation Practice

Create a two‑column list with verbs on the left and their noun forms on the right, leaving some blanks for you to fill. For example: educate → ______; decide → ______; pollute → ______; discuss → ______; elect → ______; music → ______; electric → ______; politics → ______. First, cover the noun column and write the correct forms from memory; then uncover and correct as needed. To finish, write a few Task‑2‑style sentences using several of the nouns you practised: “In many countries, education plays a crucial role in reducing pollution and improving political decision‑making.” This reinforces both spelling and usage at the same time.

Mistake 6: Mishearing and Misspelling Numbers, Dates, and Simple Data in Listening

What This Mistake Looks Like in the Real Test

In IELTS Listening, many questions don't test vocabulary or ideas at all-they test whether you can catch and record simple data accurately. You'll hear phone numbers, prices, addresses, dates, times, and booking details, then write them in short‑answer or form‑completion questions. Candidates understand perfectly that the woman said "The total is thirty‑five dollars" or "The course starts on the twenty‑third of March," but they lose the mark because they write:

  • thirteen five instead of thirty‑five
  • thirsty instead of thirty
  • 23th March instead of 23rd March
  • twenty third March when the key requires 23 March or 23rd March
  • 16.50$ instead of $16.50 (wrong order or symbols, depending on the test instructions)

The problem is not that they don't understand. The problem is that under time pressure they mis‑hear a sound contrast (fifteen/fifty, thirteen/thirty), or they haven't fully learned the conventional written forms of dates, times, and numbers in English.

Why These Errors Are Partly Listening and Partly Spelling

Number and date mistakes are two problems combined:

  • Listening problem: English reduces and blurs certain sounds. "Fifteen" and "fifty" can sound very similar in connected speech; so can "thirteen" and "thirty." Stress patterns help, but if you're nervous or distracted, you might catch the wrong one.
  • Spelling/formatting problem: Even when you hear correctly, you must turn it into standard exam‑friendly writing:
    • knowing when to write 23 March, 23rd March, or 23/03,
    • writing twenty‑five with a hyphen, not twenty five,
    • writing $16.50 (or 16.50 dollars) instead of 16,50 if you're used to a different decimal system.

Many candidates train only their listening, not their written habits, so the same small mistakes keep appearing in practice tests and on the real exam.

Fast Fix: Train High-Risk Number Words and Standard Written Forms

You can dramatically reduce these errors by building a tiny, focused "numbers and data" toolkit. Start by mastering the classic confusions: 13 / 30, 14 / 40, 15 / 50, 16 / 60, 17 / 70, 18 / 80, 19 / 90. Listen and repeat them in pairs, noticing that teen words have strong stress on the second syllable (thirTEEN), while ty words usually stress the first syllable (THIRty). This stress difference is your key to distinguishing them under pressure.

Next, lock in written conventions for dates. Practise writing dates exactly the way IELTS prefers: 23 March or 23rd March, 23 March 2025 (no comma), or the twenty‑third of March (for sentence completions). Avoid mixing formats like 23rd of March 2025th. Consistency matters more than perfection here.

Standardize how you write times and prices before test day. For times, decide whether you'll write 9:15 or nine fifteen depending on the question type. For prices, use $16.50 (or 16.50 dollars if the question requires words). Decide in advance so you don't improvise under pressure.

Finally, practise address and postcode patterns. English postcodes and addresses often mix numbers and letters (e.g., SW7 2AZ). Spend a few minutes each week copying real examples so you're comfortable writing them clearly and in the right order. Over a few practice sessions, this tiny bit of focused work can save you several Listening marks-often enough to move from Band 6.5 to 7.0 or from 7.0 to 7.5.

Micro-Drill: 5-Minute Data-Heavy Dictation

Set a timer for five minutes and run this sequence:

  1. Prepare 8–10 short prompts that contain numbers, dates, times, and prices, for example:
    • "The appointment is on the twenty‑ninth of September at 4:45 p.m."
    • "Her new phone number is 0 7 9 4 3 6 2 8 1 5."
    • "The course fee is three hundred and twenty‑five pounds."
  2. Use audio from real IELTS tests, a text‑to‑speech tool, or a partner to read each prompt once or twice, just like in the exam.
  3. Write only the answers, exactly as you would in the Listening test (for example, just "£325" or "29 September").
  4. After the dictation, check each answer against the script or correct version. For every mistake:
    • underline the wrong part,
    • rewrite the correct form three times,
    • add it to your "numbers and data" section in your spelling toolkit.

Repeat this once or twice a week and you'll notice that number‑ and date‑based Listening questions become some of the easiest marks on the paper instead of hidden traps.

Mistake 7: Copying from the Text Incorrectly in Reading

How Candidates Lose Marks Even When the Answer Is In Front of Them

In IELTS Reading, many question types-sentence completion, short‑answer questions, summary completion-require you to copy words or phrases directly from the passage. You don't have to invent any vocabulary; the answer is right there in front of you. Yet thousands of candidates still lose marks because they write:

  • enviroment when the passage says environment
  • long‑term developement when the passage says long‑term development
  • public transportation system when the answer key requires just public transport
  • United states instead of United States (losing marks if capitalisation is required)

These are some of the most frustrating errors in IELTS: you understood the passage, you found the correct phrase, but you copied it carelessly or changed it slightly, so the answer is marked wrong.

Why Copying Under Time Pressure Is So Risky

Most copying mistakes come from rushing and bad habits, not low English level. Your eyes jump too quickly across the line, skipping letters in the middle of long words. You assume you "know" how a word is spelled and autocorrect it in your head, even when the text shows the correct version. Sometimes you copy only part of the phrase (for example, leaving out "of" or "on") or add extra words that break the instructions ("NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS"). Other times you change the form of the word (from plural to singular or verb to noun) even when the instructions say "Use words from the text."

Because Reading is tightly timed, many candidates never slow down enough to build a safe copying routine, so the same sloppy errors appear on every practice test. The solution isn't to work faster-it's to work more carefully at exactly the right moments.

Fast Fix: Use a Simple "Copy + Check" Two-Step

Instead of treating copying as automatic, turn it into a conscious two‑step process:

  1. Copy carefully, not creatively.
    • Place your finger, pen tip, or cursor under the exact phrase in the text.
    • Copy it letter by letter, space by space, hyphen by hyphen into your answer sheet.
    • Do not change the spelling, capitalisation, or word order unless the question clearly requires a grammatical change (for example, turning a noun into an adjective).
  2. Do a 3-second micro-check.
    • Quickly compare each answer with the original phrase: move your eyes across both versions at the same time.
    • Ask: "Have I dropped any letters? Changed a plural to a singular? Missed a hyphen or capital letter?"
    • If you find a mismatch, correct it immediately before moving to the next question.

This "copy + check" habit takes only a few extra seconds per answer, but it removes a whole category of avoidable spelling mistakes. Over a 40‑question paper, that can mean two or three additional correct answers-often the difference between Band 6.5 and Band 7 in Reading.

Micro-Drill: Timed Copying Practice with Real Passages

Once or twice a week, do this 10‑minute drill:

  1. Choose a short IELTS‑style Reading passage (150–250 words) from a textbook or past paper.
  2. Select 10 phrases or sentences from the passage and write them on a separate piece of paper as "questions," with blanks where the phrase should go.
    • For example: "The main advantage of the new system is __________."
  3. Set a timer for 5 minutes. Your job is to:
    • locate each phrase in the passage,
    • copy it exactly into the blank, using the "copy + check" method.
  4. After time is up, compare your answers letter by letter with the original passage. Circle any copying or spelling errors and add those words or patterns to your spelling log.

Over time, you'll train yourself to slow down at exactly the right moments-during copying-while still working quickly overall.

Mistake 8: Using Advanced Vocabulary You Can't Spell Reliably

How Over-Ambitious Word Choice Backfires in Writing

Many IELTS candidates have been told that to reach Band 7 or 8 they must use "advanced vocabulary." In response, they fill their essays with words like indispensable, detrimental, ubiquitous, exacerbates, paradigm, unprecedented-but spell them as indespensable, detremental, ubiguitous, exzacerbates, or paridgm. The result is the opposite of what they want.

Examiners see frequent errors in complex words and assume your control of advanced lexis is weak. Spelling mistakes on "fancy" vocabulary drag down your Lexical Resource score, even if your ideas are strong. Worse, you spend extra mental energy trying to remember rare words instead of focusing on clear argument, coherence, and task response. IELTS does reward a range of vocabulary, but what matters most is that the words you choose are accurate, natural, and spelled correctly-not that they sound impressive.

What Examiners Actually Want to See

At Band 7 and above, the official descriptors emphasise three things: "A sufficient range of vocabulary to allow some flexibility and precision," "Uses less common lexical items with some awareness of style and collocation," and "Produces occasional errors in word choice, spelling, and/or word formation."

Notice the balance: examiners expect occasional slips, but not repeated errors on the same common academic words. They would rather see clear, correct phrases like "a significant impact on public health," "this policy could negatively affect low‑income families," or "internet access is widely available in urban areas" than see a paragraph full of badly spelled "advanced" words. In other words, "safe but accurate" vocabulary beats "impressive but wrong" every time.

Fast Fix: Build a "Trusted Vocabulary Bank"

Instead of chasing every difficult word you meet, build a trusted vocabulary bank through a simple four-step process. First, collect words you already use accurately. Look through your recent essays and underline words and phrases that fit IELTS topics well, that you can spell correctly from memory, and that you understand deeply (not just from a translation). These are your foundation.

Second, add a few carefully chosen "upgrade" words. For each topic (education, environment, technology, health, society), pick 3–5 slightly more advanced words or phrases you want to master-for example, sustainable, inequality, implement, regulate, affordable, accessible, digital literacy. Don't go overboard; quality matters more than quantity.

Third, test your spelling before using a word in the exam. If you can't spell it correctly three times in a row from memory, it doesn't belong in your "trusted bank" yet. Keep practising it in your spelling log, but don't risk it on test day. This rule saves you from embarrassing mistakes.

Finally, practise using bank words in full IELTS sentences. Don't just memorise single words-memorise chunks, such as "rely heavily on," "pose a serious risk," "play a crucial role in," "bridge the gap between." These are easier to recall and more natural in essays. Over a few weeks, your trusted bank will grow into a powerful, exam‑ready toolkit of words you can use confidently without worrying about spelling.

Micro-Drill: Safe Synonym Swap and Sentence Writing

Try this 10‑minute exercise to stabilise your vocabulary:

  1. Take an old essay where you tried to use a lot of advanced vocabulary. Highlight any words you spelled incorrectly or felt unsure about.
  2. For each one, find a simpler, safer synonym or phrase that you can already spell perfectly (for example, swap ubiquitous for very common, or ameliorate for improve).
  3. Write two new sentences for each safer word or phrase, in full IELTS Task 2 style. For example:
    • "Online shopping is very common in many countries, especially among young adults."
    • "Governments should improve public transport to reduce traffic congestion."
  4. Add the safer options to your trusted vocabulary bank and your spelling log. Over time, promote only the words you can spell perfectly into your "exam‑day" vocabulary.

This drill trains you to prioritise clarity and accuracy over showing off, which is exactly what IELTS rewards.

Mistake 9: Not Having a System for Tracking Personal Spelling Errors

The Cost of Repeating the Same Mistakes in Every Mock Test

If you look at several weeks of your Writing, Reading, and Listening practice, you'll usually find the same spelling mistakes appearing again and again: goverment in three different essays, accomodation in every Listening section about hotels, enviroment in both Task 1 and Task 2 scripts, libary instead of library in Reading answers.

The problem is not that you "don't know" these words; it's that you never forced your brain to fix them properly. Without a system, your corrections are random: you see the mistake once, think "Ah, I should remember that," and then forget about it. On test day, your hand writes the old version again-and you lose marks that could easily have been saved. This is why tracking matters: it turns random corrections into systematic improvement.

Fast Fix: Create a Simple "IELTS Spelling Log"

You don't need a complicated app or software. A paper notebook, spreadsheet, or note on your phone is enough, as long as you use it consistently. Set up a table with columns for: Word (the correct spelling, e.g., accommodation), My wrong version (exactly how you wrote it, e.g., accomodation), Pattern / reason (what went wrong, e.g., "double cc and mm," "unstressed vowel," "British vs American"), Example sentence (one IELTS‑style sentence using the word correctly), and Review dates (when you will look at this word again for spaced repetition).

Whenever you finish a practice test or essay, scan quickly for spelling errors-especially in high‑frequency academic words. Add 3–10 of the most important ones to your spelling log, and mark them for review on future days (for example, tomorrow, in three days, in a week). This turns every small mistake into a learning asset instead of a repeated weakness.

Micro-Drill: 5-Minute Post-Test Correction Routine

After each piece of IELTS practice, spend five focused minutes on spelling. First, collect your mistakes: underline spelling errors in your Writing / Reading / Listening answers and choose the 5–10 most common or most important words. Then analyse each one by asking yourself, "What pattern did I miss?" (double letter, silent vowel, British vs American, ‑tion/‑sion ending, etc.) and write that in your log.

Next, correct and reinforce: write the correct spelling three times while saying the word aloud, then write one short IELTS‑style sentence that uses the word correctly. Finally, schedule review by adding quick review dates (for example, tomorrow and one week later). On those days, open your log and test yourself without looking.

Five minutes doesn't feel like much, but over several weeks it builds a personalised spelling syllabus based on your real IELTS errors-far more powerful than any generic list. This approach uses active recall (retrieval practice), which research shows leads to better spelling performance than passive copying, even with equal practice time. (Taylor & Francis Online)

Mistake 10: Cramming Spelling the Week Before the Exam (Instead of Using Spaced Practice)

Why Last-Minute Cramming Fails for Spelling

In the final week before IELTS, many candidates panic and decide to "fix spelling" by memorising huge word lists. They spend hours the night before the exam copying hundreds of words-environment, government, development, accommodation, etc.-but on test day they still write enviroment and accomodation. Why?

Because spelling is a motor skill and a memory skill, not just a knowledge item. You can't permanently change how your hand writes a word by seeing it a few times the night before. The brain needs repeated, spaced encounters with each word in different contexts (dictation, copying, sentence writing) before the correct version becomes automatic. Cramming creates a short‑term feeling of familiarity, but that feeling disappears quickly under exam pressure.

What Effective Spelling Study Looks Like Instead

Successful IELTS candidates treat spelling as a daily habit, not a last‑minute emergency. They focus on a small number of high‑impact words each day (3–5 is enough), and they recycle those words over days and weeks through dictation, copying, sentence writing, and review. They integrate spelling practice into real IELTS tasks, not separate from them-for example, building spelling checks into Writing feedback and Listening review. Most importantly, they track progress with a spelling log and short self‑tests.

This approach uses the principle of spaced repetition: every time you recall and write a word correctly after a short delay, your brain strengthens that memory pathway. After several repetitions, the correct spelling becomes your default reflex. This is why cramming fails-your brain needs time and repetition to build those pathways. Research shows that spaced practice significantly outperforms massed practice (cramming) for long-term retention, with over 90% of studies demonstrating clear benefits. (PMC) For a deeper dive into the science behind this, see our comprehensive guide to spaced repetition and spelling.

Fast Fix: Build a 10-Minute Daily Spelling Routine

You don't need hours-10 focused minutes per day can transform your IELTS spelling over a month:

  1. Review (2–3 minutes)
    • Open your spelling log and test yourself on a small set of previous words (for example, yesterday's or last week's entries).
    • Cover the correct column, spell each word from memory, then uncover and correct.
  2. Learn 3–5 new high-impact words (3–4 minutes)
    • Choose words from your recent practice tests or from the earlier sections of this article (high‑frequency academic words, double‑letter traps, ‑tion/‑sion endings, etc.).
    • Add them to your log with wrong versions, patterns, and example sentences.
    • Write and say each one several times.
  3. Apply in context (3–4 minutes)
    • Write 2–3 IELTS‑style sentences that use as many of today's words as possible.
    • If you have time, turn one of those sentences into a mini‑paragraph.

Done consistently, this short routine will do more for your score than any emergency cramming session. This same approach works for learners of all ages-if you're helping someone else with spelling, our 10-minute daily spelling practice routine adapts these strategies for any context.

Micro-Drill: Sample 7-Day Mini-Plan You Can Start Today

Here's a simple week‑long plan you can plug into your existing IELTS prep. Day 1 focuses on academic core words: choose 5–8 high‑frequency academic words (environment, government, development, technology, education, communication, population, infrastructure), add them to your log, study patterns, and write sentences.

Day 2 tackles double letters: focus on families like success, address, recommend, occur, accommodation, and create and write mini‑families (success/successful/successfully, occur/occurred/occurrence, etc.). Day 3 covers tricky endings: practise education, pollution, communication, decision, discussion, musician, electrician, politician, build a verb → noun transformation table, and test yourself.

Day 4 addresses numbers, dates, and simple data: train the classic confusions (13/30, 15/50, etc.) and date formats (23 March, 23rd March), then do a 5‑minute Listening dictation focusing only on data. Day 5 builds your personal weakness log: go through old essays and tests, add 10 of your own repeated mistakes to the log, analyse patterns, and write fresh example sentences.

Day 6 is mixed review under time pressure: set a 10‑minute timer and mix all categories (academic words, double letters, ‑tion/‑sion endings, data), then dictate or copy short sentences and check every spelling. Day 7 integrates everything: do a full Writing or Listening practice under exam conditions, then immediately afterwards run the 5‑minute post‑test correction routine from Mistake 9.

You can repeat or extend this 7‑day cycle as many times as you like before your real exam, each time focusing on new words drawn from your practice.

Putting It All Together: A 14-Day Plan to Eliminate Your Costliest IELTS Spelling Mistakes

You don't need months and months to see real improvement. If your exam is coming up soon-or if you just want a focused reset-use this 14‑day intensive plan to attack the most expensive spelling mistakes first. You can combine it with your other IELTS practice; think of it as a spelling upgrade layer that sits on top of your usual work.

Days 1–7: Fix the "Core 5" Writing and Vocabulary Mistakes

During the first week, focus on Mistakes 1–5, which mainly affect Writing, Reading, and overall vocabulary control. These are the mistakes that cost candidates the most marks in Writing and make Reading answers wrong even when the meaning is correct.

Day 1 tackles high-frequency academic words. Build a list of 20–30 words relevant to IELTS (environment, government, development, population, communication, infrastructure, etc.), group them by spelling pattern (‑ment, ‑tion, unstressed vowels), do the 5‑Minute Academic Word Spotlight drill, and write one short Task 2 paragraph that uses at least 6–8 of them accurately.

Day 2 locks in your British vs American spelling choice. Decide once and for all which system you'll use for your IELTS exam, create a mini‑list of high‑risk pairs (colour/color, organise/organize, centre/center, programme/program, etc.), and do a Writing Task 1 or Task 2 followed by the Pre‑Submission Consistency Check.

Day 3 focuses on those "easy" nouns that cost Listening and Reading marks. Make a list of 15–20 high‑risk nouns (accommodation, maintenance, library, registration, transportation, equipment, opportunity, schedule…), break each into syllables and highlight tricky parts, then run the 5‑Minute Dictation with Exam Pressure drill using real or simulated Listening material.

Day 4 addresses double-letter confusion. Choose 5–8 double‑letter families (success, recommend, occur, accommodate, address…), do the 5‑Word Double‑Letter Sprints, then write 3–4 Task‑2‑style sentences using as many of these families as possible.

Day 5 covers tricky endings. Build a verb → noun table (educate → education, pollute → pollution, discuss → discussion, decide → decision, etc.), practise transforming them, and then write them in a short essay paragraph.

Day 6 sets up your tracking system. Go through this week's work and add all repeated mistakes to your IELTS Spelling Log, then start your 10‑minute daily review habit (from Mistake 10). This is when mistakes start becoming learning opportunities.

Day 7 is your checkpoint. Do one full Writing test (Task 1 + Task 2) or two timed essays, count your visible spelling errors in high‑frequency academic words and double‑letter words, and compare with earlier work. Are you already seeing fewer errors? This comparison will show you real progress.

Days 8–14: Make Your Spelling Exam-Proof

In week two, you'll connect your spelling work directly to Listening and Reading performance and stabilise your habits. This is when everything comes together and becomes automatic.

Day 8 focuses on numbers, dates, and simple data. Train classic confusions (13/30, 15/50, etc.) and written date formats, then do the 5‑Minute Data‑Heavy Dictation with numbers, addresses, and prices. These are easy marks to lose but also easy marks to secure with a bit of focused practice.

Day 9 teaches safe copying from Reading passages. Practise the "Copy + Check" two‑step with a short Reading passage, then create 10 gap‑fill or short‑answer questions and answer them under time pressure, focusing on perfect copying. This habit alone can save you 2–3 marks per Reading test.

Day 10 builds your trusted vocabulary bank. Build or refine your bank, then rewrite one old essay, replacing over‑ambitious, error‑prone words with safe, accurate synonyms. You'll be surprised how much cleaner and more confident your writing feels.

Day 11 expands your personal error tracking. Do a full Reading or Listening section, extract all spelling‑related errors, add them to your log, and run the 5‑minute correction routine. By now, your log should be growing into a powerful personalized study tool.

Day 12 locks in your daily routine. Follow the 10‑Minute Daily Spelling Routine exactly as described, and make sure your log has entries with future review dates scheduled. This routine is what separates successful candidates from those who keep making the same mistakes.

Day 13 is full integration. Do a timed Writing task plus a Listening or Reading section, applying every spelling habit you've built: numbers and dates, copying, trusted vocabulary, consistency checks, and log updates. This is your dress rehearsal.

Day 14 is your final checkpoint. Compare your current work with essays and tests from before this 14‑day plan. Count fewer spelling errors on high‑frequency academic words? Fewer Listening/Reading answers lost to spelling? More confidence when writing complex words? These comparisons will show you exactly how much you've improved.

By the end of two weeks, most candidates see visible reductions in spelling errors, cleaner essays, and higher raw scores in Listening and Reading. Even a small improvement-2–3 extra correct answers per paper, or a cleaner Writing script-can be enough to push you from Band 6.5 to Band 7+.

FAQ: IELTS-Specific Spelling Questions

"Will one or two spelling errors ruin my score?"

No. Occasional minor errors are completely normal, even at Band 7 or 8. Examiners are looking for patterns, not perfection: a few small slips in a 250‑word essay won't ruin your score if your vocabulary is otherwise accurate and varied. However, repeated errors in common academic words (like environment, government, development) or constant mixing of British and American spelling can hold your Lexical Resource score down.

In Listening and Reading, each answer is marked separately. One or two spelling errors will only cost you those specific marks-but remember that a few extra wrong answers can be the difference between, for example, Band 7.0 and 7.5. That's why it's worth eliminating systematic spelling problems before test day.

"Do I lose points in Speaking for spelling if I pronounce a word strangely?"

No-IELTS Speaking does not assess spelling directly. Examiners cannot see how you would write a word; they only hear your pronunciation. You will not lose points just because the written form of a word is difficult (accommodation, environment, schedule, etc.).

However, spelling and pronunciation are sometimes connected through your overall familiarity with a word. If you rarely see or write a word correctly, you may also mispronounce it in a way that makes it hard to understand. In that case, you might lose points for Pronunciation or Lexical Resource, not for spelling itself. The solution is to learn words as whole packages-meaning, spelling, and pronunciation together.

"Is it okay to use American spelling if the test is in the UK?"

Yes. IELTS accepts both British and American spelling in Writing, Reading, and Listening, no matter where you take the exam. You are not penalised for choosing color instead of colour or organize instead of organise-as long as you are consistent within one script.

What examiners dislike is mixing systems in the same essay: writing centre in one sentence and center in the next, or combining labour with behavior. The safest approach is to choose one variety based on your goals (British English is usually recommended for IELTS) and commit to it throughout your preparation and on test day.

"How many spelling mistakes are 'allowed' in a Band 7 essay?"

There is no official "maximum number," but examiner experience suggests that for Band 7 Lexical Resource, your essays should show mostly accurate spelling on common and high‑frequency academic words, only occasional, non‑systematic errors (especially on less common words), and no constant repetition of the same basic mistakes (e.g., goverment in every paragraph).

If an examiner can clearly see several obvious spelling errors on every line-especially on key topic vocabulary-it will be difficult to reach Band 7 for Lexical Resource, even if your ideas and grammar are strong. A practical target is to reduce your visible spelling mistakes to the point where they feel like rare accidents, not a regular part of your writing.

Sources, Further Reading, and Related Spelling.School Guides

This article gives you the IELTS‑specific starting point, but there's much more to explore. Our deeper IELTS spelling strategy posts provide a step‑by‑step breakdown of why spelling matters so much for IELTS scores, with real band‑descriptor examples and student scripts. Start with "The Hidden Reason IELTS Candidates Lose a Whole Band: Spelling" for the full picture.

Research Citations

  • PMC - The Distributed Practice Effect on Classroom Learning: A Meta-Analysis. A comprehensive meta-analysis confirming that spaced practice outperforms massed practice (cramming) across academic learning contexts.
  • Taylor & Francis Online - Retrieval practice benefits for spelling performance in fifth-grade students. A 2023 study showing that active recall leads to better spelling performance than passive copying, even with equal practice time.
  • PMC - Testing Improves Performance as Well as Assesses Learning. Research on the testing effect (retrieval practice) showing that recalling information strengthens memory more than re-reading.

If you're building your spelling log and trusted vocabulary bank, our commonly misspelled words guide and spelling patterns guide are essential. These curated lists show you the exact words IELTS candidates miss most often, grouped by pattern (double letters, ‑tion/‑sion, unstressed vowels, British vs American). They're perfect for filling in the gaps in your personal toolkit.

For the daily routine and spaced practice techniques we covered in Mistakes 9 and 10, check out our 10-minute daily spelling practice routine and our comprehensive guide to spaced repetition. These provide practical instructions for setting up 10‑minute daily routines, using simple spaced‑repetition systems (digital or paper), and connecting spelling review to your broader IELTS study plan.

Finally, if you want to fix spelling at the root level-beyond just IELTS-our guides for adults struggling with spelling and ESL learners offer long‑form guides on core English spelling patterns, pronunciation links, and long‑term strategies for becoming a confident, accurate speller in everyday life. Use this article as your IELTS‑specific foundation, then explore the related guides to build a spelling system that serves you not only on exam day, but in university, work, and real‑world communication.

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10 IELTS Spelling Mistakes Every Candidate Makes (And How to Fix Them Fast) | Spelling.School