Vocabulary
A misspelled answer is a wrong answer in reading and listening. With a practice exercise.
Spelling rules for IELTS matter more than candidates expect. In reading and listening a misspelled answer is marked wrong, even when the examiner can see exactly what you meant. In writing, repeated misspellings pull down your Lexical Resource band.
English spelling has fewer reliable rules than most languages, and every rule below has exceptions. Learning the patterns still helps, because the same handful of errors accounts for most of the marks lost.
The patterns
Six patterns, each with the exceptions that catch people.
Follows the rule: believe, chief, niece, piece, thief. After c: deceive, receive, ceiling. Exceptions: weird, height, neither, ancient, caffeine, foreign, efficient.
When the sound is ay, the spelling is usually ei even without a c: weigh, freight, neighbour, eight, vein.
If you remove the ending and a complete word remains, it is usually -able: depend + able, adore + able, rely + able. If what remains is not a word, it is usually -ible: poss + ible, terr + ible, ed + ible.
Knowledge keeps its e in knowledgeable, and notice keeps it in noticeable, because the e keeps the soft sound. Believe drops it in believable. There is no shortcut here; these are worth learning individually.
Stop becomes stopped, plan becomes planned, begin becomes beginning. A short vowel plus a single consonant usually doubles when you add an ending.
Both are accepted in IELTS, but be consistent. British: colour, centre, organise, travelled, programme. American: color, center, organize, traveled, program. Mixing the two within one script is noticed.
Method
Six situations, and what to do about each.
A misspelled answer is wrong. Copy the word from the passage rather than writing it from memory, because the correct spelling is printed in front of you.
Names and places are usually spelled out in the recording. Write the letters as you hear them and do not try to guess the whole word.
Occasional slips are tolerated. The same misspelling repeated across an essay is treated as a pattern and does affect your band.
In writing, use a different word. There is no benefit in an ambitious word you spell wrongly, and a simpler correct word scores better.
Answers in the listening and reading papers are typed, so legibility is no longer a risk. Capitals are still accepted if you prefer them.
There is no spellchecker. Computer-delivered IELTS gives you a word count but no spelling correction, so the same care applies.
Practice
Choose the correct spelling.
Each question contains one correct spelling and three plausible mistakes.
Where a rule applies, think about which rule it is. Where the word is an exception, it is simply worth memorising.
1Which is correct?
Receive. The e comes before the i after c. This is the commonest spelling error in candidate writing.
2Which is correct?
Dependable. Remove the ending and depend remains, which is a complete word, so the ending is -able.
3Which is correct?
Responsible. Remove the ending and respons is left, which is not a complete word, so the ending is -ible.
4Which is correct?
Beginning. The final n doubles before -ing. Stopped and planned follow the same pattern.
5Which is an exception to i before e?
Weird. There is no c, so the rule says i before e, but the correct spelling is ei. Height, neither and foreign are exceptions too.
6You are writing an essay and cannot remember how to spell a word. What should you do?
Use a different word. There is no benefit to an ambitious word spelled wrongly, and a simpler accurate word scores better under Lexical Resource.
Most candidates have three or four words they always get wrong and never notice, because the mistake looks right to the person who wrote it.
The complete IELTS course on IELTStestONLINE has video lessons on every question type, many more exercises like this one, and your own support tutor you can ask when an answer does not make sense. Take a look at the complete course
Choosing a correct spelling from four options is easier than producing it under time with the recording still playing.
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Yes. In reading and listening a misspelled answer is marked wrong. In writing, repeated misspellings lower your Lexical Resource band.
Yes. British and American spellings are both accepted, but be consistent and do not mix the two within one script.
Yes, in the listening and reading papers. Since answers are typed, it makes no difference to the marking either way.
No. Computer-delivered IELTS shows a word count but does not correct spelling, so the same care is needed.
Use a different word you are confident about. An ambitious word spelled wrongly scores lower than a simple word spelled correctly.
Full membership
A single slip is forgiven. The same mistake across a whole script is evidence about your level, and you are the least likely person to spot it.
IELTStestONLINE assesses your writing and speaking against the four IELTS criteria, instantly and as often as you like, using a system built by a former IELTS examiner and examiner trainer. It keeps every score in one place with an estimated band, and it carries no advertising.
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