What is Spellzone?
Spellzone has three main components: The Spelling Ability Test, a complete spelling course and 1000's of word lists.
The Spelling Ability Test identifies any gaps in student knowledge. It provides students with baseline scores and individual learning pathways indicating which course units should be studied. Automatic retesting keeps them on track with little intervention.
The phonics-based course covers all the English spelling rules and their exceptions with a high level of teaching, practice and revision using definitions, sentence context learning tips and multi-sensory spelling activities. Basic concepts taught include vowels, consonants, syllables, prefixes, and suffixes. Students are tested in different ways throughout the course.
Structured access to word lists makes Spellzone ideal for dyslexic and ESL students. Word lists are translatable into 92 languages and can be used with spelling activities and word games or printed as off-line resources including handwriting worksheets.
Teachers can create their own subject specific word lists. These can be set as classroom or homework tasks for individual learners or whole classes. Perfect for weekly spellings or exam preparation!
Spellzone logs all student activity in real time. Teachers can view and download a variety of reports to evaluate student success.
Recommended Usage
20 - 30 minutes per week or 10 minutes per day.
Educational Impact
Additional evidence
Jun 2019
Critical analysis – a research paper on a multi-sensory approach to supporting spelling for students with Dyslexia.
Download independent evaluationBusiness Name: Spellzone Limited HQ Location: United Kingdom Founded: 2001 | |
5-7, 8-10, 11-13, 14-16, 17-18, 19+ | |
![]() | Placement Tests Base Line ScoresCustom Learning PathwaysSpelling CourseWord ListsSpelling ListsHomeworkTask CreationPhonics BasedAdaptive LearningFully AccessibleWord List CreationResource CreationWorksheet CreationReal-time ReportingHandwriting WorksheetsFunctional Skills In English Word ListsTier 1 And 2 Word ListsKs3 Subject Spelling ListsAutomatic Re-testingMapped To The National Curriculum In EnglandGcse Study ListsSpag Resources |
![]() | English |
![]() | Robust features |
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![]() | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Spellzone is a browser-based on-line resource and can be used on any internet connected PC, laptop or mobile device. There is nothing to download or install. For best performance, we recommend the Google Chrome browser. Students and staff require usernames and passwords to access Spellzone. Students can be quickly added manually, by .csv upload or by Wonde Sync. |
![]() | Student and staff logins can be created immediately after sign up. |
![]() | ![]() ![]() Spellzone is easy for students to navigate independently. We provide free on-line training for teachers. Step-by-step guides and a guide for parents are also available to download. |
![]() | ![]() ![]() ![]() We provide free online training sessions for schools during which we run through all of the features and answer any questions. |
![]() | ![]() Anyone can create the account. Students can access Spellzone on home computers and mobile devices. |
![]() | spellingspelling rulesEnglish spellingword listsspelling listsspelling testsspelling programmespelling beephonicsdictionaryhomophonesdyslexiaSENDEFLTEFLESLSPaG |
Spellzone PricingPricing Plans Free Trial Paid Subscription Spellzone pricing starts from £0.3 / per-pupil Examples of our price bands are as follows: 20 students £149 30 students £179 40 students £199 50 students £219 100 students £289 150 students £319 200 students £339 500 students £449 1000 students £599 2000 students £799 All prices exclude VAT Save money with a multi-school Spellzone subscription: If you would like to trial or purchase Spellzone for your academy trust or school district we'll arrange everything for you, from creating school accounts to setting up multi-school league tables. Please contact us for further information and price options. ![]() |
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Spellzone Reviews
from 30 Verified Reviews
User rating
Country
Lisa McNaughton
Head of English
Used Spellzone weekly for 3-4 years
Nov 2023
It is expensive. I’d recommend to people who work in the private sector
Lisa McNaughton found Spellzone:
- Moderately reduces teacher workload“Individual spelling programmes are organised for us”
- Does not significantly reduce attainment gap“It depends on the engagement”
- Does not significantly provide school data“We use it for reporting in English”
- Moderately improves attainment“Accuracy in spelling and developing vocab”
- Moderately builds student knowledge“Vocabulary and using language in context”

Kait Conway
English Teacher
Used Spellzone weekly for 1-2 years
Nov 2023
It is an excellent resource. However, sometimes the accents/pronunciation of the words are difficult to hear.
Kait Conway found Spellzone:
- Moderately reduces teacher workload“Students are able to work independently and it can be differentiated.”
- Moderately reduces attainment gap“I use it to support those who find it easier to learn whole words (particularly everyday non-phonetically spelled words)”
- Moderately provides school data“We are able to identify those who need help more easily.”
- Moderately improves attainment“Students who engage fully with the program show marked improvement in their spelling - particularly those with dyslexia or suspected dyslexia.”
- Moderately builds student knowledge“Students are able to extrapolate spelling rules and anomalies.”

LH
Head of Learning Support
Used Spellzone daily for 5 years+
Oct 2023
I think it's an excellent program when used regularly it makes a difference
LH found Spellzone:
- Significantly reduces teacher workload“Word lists, focus on phonics, resources are all right there and easy to use”
- Moderately reduces attainment gap“When used regularly it does have an impact and we see a difference in pupils”
- Significantly provides school data“Used to give feedback to the pupils, to the staff and to the parents at Parents' Evenings. Good to check progress”
- Moderately improves attainment“Pupils who use it regularly find that their literacy skills improve.”
- Moderately builds student knowledge“Aids comprehension”

Jul 2023
Pupils need to fully understand what they have read. However there is sometimes too much writing on one page and they move straight to the activity rather than read what the purpose is.
Marina Caffrey found Spellzone:
- Moderately reduces teacher workload
- Moderately reduces attainment gap
- Slightly provides school data
- Moderately improves attainment
- Moderately builds student knowledge

Jul 2023
A useful, accessible resource.
Sarah Webb found Spellzone:
- Significantly reduces teacher workload“Once I have the spelling lists on, they are there for the future and lots of work is linked to it for the children to do.”
- Significantly reduces attainment gap“It gives all children opportunity to access and learn in the styles that suit the. It can be accessed from home for homework too.”
- Slightly provides school data
- Significantly improves attainment“The opportunity to practice and access their spellings”
- Moderately builds student knowledge

Jul 2023
Can be really efficient and works well, but have had a few problems with students being prompted to take same activities already scored 100% in.
Terrie found Spellzone:
- Slightly reduces teacher workload“Checking activities completed and duration of activities explored”
- Significantly reduces attainment gap“Spelling is more confident and will attempt unfamiliar words in writing increasing vocabulary”
- Significantly provides school data“Can identify weak spellers and comprehension levels”
- Slightly improves attainment“Confidence in trying new things”
- Significantly builds student knowledge“Using a variety of vocabulary in writing.”

Wendy
Principal Teacher
Used Spellzone daily for 5 years+
Jul 2023
There's lots about it that is great. The freedom to create adapted lists of words for pupils to investigate that links to our curriculum is very useful. The personal pathway is brilliant but I think is reliant on the pupils being supported by an adult when working on their pathway. It's too easy for them to skip the content without engaging in the practice unless they are being supported by a teacher/teaching assistant.
Wendy found Spellzone:
- Slightly reduces teacher workload“I feel we view Spellzone as an additional tool that we can use to support spelling”
- Significantly reduces attainment gap“Some pupils are hugely motivated and if supported well at home too, they can make huge strides in their personal pathway.”
- Significantly provides school data“We can compare it to other standardised testing and advise pupils/parents/other staff”
- Significantly improves attainment“If pupils are motivated and well supported using their pathway, it has an impact.”
- Significantly builds student knowledge

Mrs Moral
Academic Mentor for Reading
Used Spellzone daily for 4-6 months
Jun 2023
It's easy to set up, measure impact and follow up on what each student is doing. The extra tools are dyslexia friendly. The multiplayers option is great to keep the engagement.
Mrs Moral found Spellzone:
- Moderately reduces teacher workload“The data is very easy to collect and compare with the English curriculum.”
- Moderately reduces attainment gap“Dyslexic students have the tools incorporated to access their work. Also the variety of activities helps the attainment based on their personal skills.”
- Significantly provides school data“We use it for intervention and it's very easy to check the impact.”
- Moderately improves attainment“Students who have been using Spellzone for about 3 months, say they feel more confident when writing.”
- Moderately builds student knowledge“Some students didn't even know the vowels! EAL students weren't aware of short vowel and long vowel sounds.”

Rosemary
SEN Teacher
Used Spellzone daily for 3-4 years
Jun 2023
My score of eight is due to not all students learn by repetition and working on screen some prefer interaction with an adult.
Rosemary found Spellzone:
- Significantly reduces teacher workload“Saves finding different worksheets for students who are at different stages in spelling”
- Significantly reduces attainment gap“Students taking the spelling test after eight parts of Spellzone completed show a significant improvement and also on any whole school testing shows improvement too.”
- Slightly provides school data
- Significantly improves attainment
- Moderately builds student knowledge“Students know vowel sounds and letter order.”

Lisa
Teacher Aide
Used Spellzone daily for 1-2 years
Jun 2023
Too many certificates
Lisa found Spellzone:
- Moderately reduces teacher workload“Used during rotation times”
- Significantly reduces attainment gap“Filling the missing gaps for the individual”
- Does not significantly provide school data“We don't use it for data”
- Moderately improves attainment“Helping to fill gaps”
- Moderately builds student knowledge“Repetition”

Jun 2023
the programme is very useful to me
Emily found Spellzone:
- Moderately reduces teacher workload“automates directed learning for young people”
- Does not significantly reduce attainment gap“I find it does help students with low reading and spelling, but only as part of a range of interventions”
- Significantly provides school data“I really like how much data is recorded on students activity, including how often they log in, how ,long for, and what they achieve”
- Does not significantly improve attainment“students feel more cponfident about spelling and typing”
- Slightly builds student knowledge“unless students are dedicated it can be hard to get knowledge to stick”

Juleigh
SpLD Lead
Used Spellzone daily for 3-4 years
Apr 2023
It has shown me that pupil improvement percentages continue to excel with the implementation of SZ
Juleigh found Spellzone:
- Significantly reduces teacher workload“Enables staff to set challenges and the programme will then provide a complete overview”
- Moderately reduces attainment gap“Spelling improvement’s up by 40%”
- Significantly provides school data“Progression”
- Significantly improves attainment“Grammar”
- Moderately builds student knowledge“Users can have fun but still manage to obtain good results”

Gordon Cairns
Teacher
Used Spellzone weekly for 3-4 years
Mar 2023
.
Gordon Cairns found Spellzone:
- Does not significantly reduce teacher workload“It allows students to work independently”
- Slightly reduces attainment gap“.”
- Does not significantly provide school data“.”
- Moderately improves attainment“.”
- Moderately builds student knowledge“.”

Ana Rivera
teacher
Used Spellzone weekly for 7–12 months
Mar 2023
It has been very useful with teaching my students spelling patterns, developing phonics skills, and improving on vocabulary words to improve reading comprehension skills. It is our go to spelling website.
Ana Rivera found Spellzone:
- Significantly reduces teacher workload“Students can log right in to complete weekly spelling patterns that are implemented in my lesson plans. No need to give paper activities since I can print out right from spell zone the weekly spelling words.”
- Moderately reduces attainment gap“Students' work load is based on their individual performances. Spelling patterns has helped my students with phonics skills.”
- Significantly provides school data“I use the additional data to drive individualize instruction.”
- Moderately improves attainment“Students work on attainment using their individualized course materials.”
- Significantly builds student knowledge“Knowledge of words and vocabulary increases reading comprehension.”

Emma
SEN Teacher
Used Spellzone weekly for 3-4 years
Jan 2023
Students often enjoy the games and activities. It helps them to make measurable progress. They can use the resource at school and at home.
Emma found Spellzone:
- Moderately reduces teacher workload“The children have a personalised programme suited to address their spelling gaps, which saves me time and makes it easier to provide targeted support to individuals.”
- Moderately reduces attainment gap“Some students make good gains in their spelling knowledge from the baseline test to the final test.”
- Significantly provides school data
- Moderately improves attainment
- Moderately builds student knowledge

Kelly Schweizer
Literacy Co-Ordinator
Used Spellzone weekly for 1-2 years
Jan 2023
Useful but some features are too aimed at primary schools for our settings
Kelly Schweizer found Spellzone:
- Moderately reduces teacher workload“Marks for teachers”
- Slightly reduces attainment gap
- Slightly provides school data
- Moderately improves attainment
- Significantly builds student knowledge“Useful for curriculum lists”

Kat
Intervention Coordinator
Used Spellzone daily for 1-2 years
Dec 2022
spellzone allows students to work independently at home, it's fairly interactive, students seem to like it, we also use it for EAL students and widening their vocabulary range; it provides great feedback for teachers, students and parents, students' progress can be easily monitored. The price is reasonable.
Kat found Spellzone:
- Slightly reduces teacher workload“spellzone can be used independently at home by students, can be set as homework”
- Slightly reduces attainment gap“it's hard to say, its the first year we are using Spellzone regularly and looking closely at data”
- Significantly provides school data“we use SpZone initial assessment result combined with Spelling test score to identify students in need of spelling intervention”
- Slightly improves attainment“not yet”
- Slightly builds student knowledge“Some students, especially the weaker ones find accessing spellzone independently difficult. We see better impact on more able students with specific weakness in spelling.”

Terrie Penrose-Toms
Restart Room Coordinator
Used Spellzone daily for 5 years+
Nov 2022
A fantastic learning tool with brilliant resources and the Highest level of support possible
Terrie Penrose-Toms found Spellzone:
- Significantly reduces teacher workload“Provides an automated spelling test system”
- Significantly reduces attainment gap“Students often increase their standardised scores by up to 18 months”
- Significantly provides school data“Regularly used to deliver data to Functional skills meetings ref Literacy attainment”
- Significantly improves attainment“Helps students raise their level of spelling therefore raises their overall Literacy standards in lessons”
- Significantly builds student knowledge“The topics and the phonics rules, plus choice of Vocabulary are exceptionally educational. They introduce or consolidate rules and new Vocabulary”

A Kenton
Head of School and Spelling Lead for the MAT
Used Spellzone weekly for 3-4 years
Nov 2022
Fantastic customer service, children engaged and responsive changes on request to service
A Kenton found Spellzone:
- Significantly reduces teacher workload“Able to set spelling practice tasks in seconds”
- Moderately reduces attainment gap“One pupil used spellzone daily last year and closed attainment gap between himself and his peers to the point that he placed in Trust Spelling Bee!”
- Slightly provides school data
- Significantly improves attainment“See comment above about closed attainment gap”
- Moderately builds student knowledge

Frances Smith
Teacher in Charge
Used Spellzone daily for 3-4 years
Oct 2022
Sometimes the coursework requires a lot of reading, without the option to hear someone read the questions to them and I think this turns them off.
Frances Smith found Spellzone:
- Significantly reduces teacher workload“You can often find a spelling list created either by spellzone or by another teacher, rather than making your own. Various Phonics lists are available and accessible on the site as well as National Curriculum guides and lists.”
- Significantly reduces attainment gap“The games help encourage those children who would not otherwise engage with spelling tests to participate.”
- Significantly provides school data“Helps school monitor spelling ability”
- Significantly improves attainment“Some have increased score by 22% over a year”
- Significantly builds student knowledge“I tend to use spellzone to reinforce children's knowledge, not necessarily to teach”

Aaron Warren
English Co-ordinator and Year 5 Teacher
Used Spellzone weekly for 1-2 years
Sep 2022
There are some good features; however, there are also some aspects of it that could be improved. Some of the children at our school can get bored with the games and I would encourage Spellzone to look at Sumdog as that has a brilliant gaming platform, but doesn't have some of the excellent features that Spellzone has.
Aaron Warren found Spellzone:
- Significantly reduces teacher workload“It's really quick to generate a list of spellings and assign the children tasks.”
- Does not significantly reduce attainment gap“I like the idea of the course pathway but it's not interactive enough for children to use. There's a lot of reading involved, whilst I think it should be more game-based and interactive for the children to navigate through. The CP is a huge advantage to Spellzone but I think the execution of it isn't quite right. We now use spellzone to create lists for our children and set tasks based on their spelling patterns from their NGST spelling test. It works quite well for that.”
- Slightly provides school data“The spelling tests can be quite helpful to show progress but we use NGST to more accurately show how children are spelling certain patterns.”
- Does not significantly improve attainment“Please see previous comments.”
- Does not significantly build student knowledge“It is limited due to the way the CP works. I like the explanation of the spelling rules and this can be useful when introducing a pattern to the class. I don't feel the CP is engaging enough for the children to learn from - even though it has good content. I feel it is more for teachers than for students.”

Monica Monserrat Lopez Cortes
Teacher
Used Spellzone weekly for 7–12 months
Sep 2022
I would like to see grammar activities
Monica Monserrat Lopez Cortes found Spellzone:
- Significantly reduces teacher workload“It helps me to improve students' pronunciation and motivate them to increase their vocabulary by having fun playing games.”
- Moderately reduces attainment gap“Students understand better in a short time.”
- Moderately provides school data“Parents like the idea school provides new tools to students to learn.”
- Moderately improves attainment“students feel more confidence”
- Significantly builds student knowledge“SS get better grades”

cd. Maria Jose Castro
General Subprincipal and English supervisor
Used Spellzone daily for 1-2 years
Sep 2022
so far they´re always there when we need them to assist us, price is good and teachers are happy
cd. Maria Jose Castro found Spellzone:
- Significantly reduces teacher workload“on diferent topics of investigation, ludic games and spelling , vocabulary”
- Significantly reduces attainment gap“kids now are more audiovisual than before, their respond and understanding is faster”
- Significantly provides school data“one example, the list control and children advance”
- Significantly improves attainment“their responds are faster and they have better understanding to reach it”
- Significantly builds student knowledge“being more audiovisual, their interest is higher”

Patricia Kujawski
Teacher
Used Spellzone weekly for 4-6 months
Sep 2022
The students enjoy working on Spellzone and ask all the time if they can get on the website.
Patricia Kujawski found Spellzone:
- Significantly reduces teacher workload“Students can practice their spelling on their own and take the test online.”
- Moderately reduces attainment gap“Spellzone fills in gaps in their spelling foundatonal skills.”
- Slightly provides school data“N/A”
- Moderately improves attainment“Spelling improves among the students.”
- Significantly builds student knowledge“The understanding of rules of spelling help the students write better essays.”

Jody Unterrheiner
Executive Director
Used Spellzone daily for 1-2 years
Feb 2022
I love how it is differentiated for all levels. The games and activities give children time to practise words at their unit level. Children can use it both at home and at school. And children find it fun. They don't realise they are learning when they are playing the games.
Jody Unterrheiner found Spellzone:
- Significantly reduces teacher workload“The individual spelling pathways created mean it is differentiated for a wide range of abilities in the classroom. Children can just log on and learn at their level.”
- Significantly reduces attainment gap“You can see students making improvements in their spelling when they progress through the units and their Spelling Ability Test result improves. I can also see improvements during individual writing.”
- Significantly provides school data
- Significantly improves attainment“Writing levels have been improving. Along with pronunciation and speaking skills.”
- Significantly builds student knowledge“Students' knowledge of spelling rules has increased.”

Pedagogy
Certified by Education Alliance Finland, 12/2019
EAF Evaluation is an academically-backed approach to evaluating the pedagogical design of a product. EAF evaluators assess the product using criteria that covers the most essential pedagogical aspects in the learning experience.
Learning goals
Certified by Education Alliance Finland
The supported learning goals are identified by mapping the product against the selected reference curriculum and soft skills definitions most relevant for the 21st century.
- Learning to notice causal connections
- Practising visual recognition
- Practicing to observe spoken and written language
- Practicing categorization and classification
- Practicing memorizing skills
- Practicing letters, alphabets and written language
- Learning to find the joy of learning and new challenges
- Practicing to take responsibility of one's own learning
- Practicing persistent working
- Learning the basics of spelling
- Practicing keyboard skills and touch typing
- Using technology as a part of explorative process
- Enabling the growth of positive self-image
- Practicing to use foreign language as a communication tool
- Use a thesaurus.
- Use dictionaries to check the spelling and meaning of words.
- Use knowledge of morphology and etymology in spelling and understand that the spelling of some words needs to be learnt specifically, as listed in English Appendix 1.
- Continue to distinguish between homophones and other words which are often confused.
- Spell some words with ‘silent’ letters [for example, knight, psalm, solemn].
- Spell words that are often misspelt (English Appendix 1).
- Spell further homophones.
- Use further prefixes and suffixes and understand how to add them (English Appendix 1).
- Apply spelling rules and guidance, as listed in English Appendix 1.
- Add suffixes to spell longer words, including –ment, –ness, –ful, –less, –ly.
- Distinguishing between homophones and near-homophones.
- Learning to spell more words with contracted forms.
- Learning to spell common exception words.
- Learning new ways of spelling phonemes for which one or more spellings are already known, and learn some words with each spelling, including a few common homophones.
- Spelling segmenting spoken words into phonemes and representing these by graphemes, spelling many correctly.
- Using letter names to distinguish between alternative spellings of the same sound.
- Using the spelling rule for adding –s or –es as the plural marker for nouns and the third person singular marker for verbs.
- Using the prefix un–.
- Apply simple spelling rules and guidance.
- Using –ing, –ed, –er and –est where no change is needed in the spelling of root words [for example, helping, helped, helper, eating, quicker, quickest].
- Spelling common exception words.
- Spelling words containing each of the 40+ phonemes already taught.
- Apply their growing knowledge of root words, prefixes and suffixes (morphology and etymology), as listed in English Appendix 1, both to read aloud and to understand the meaning of new words that they meet.
- Apply their growing knowledge of root words, prefixes and suffixes (etymology and morphology) as listed in English Appendix 1, both to read aloud and to understand the meaning of new words they meet.
- Read further exception words, noting the unusual correspondences between spelling and sound, and where these occur in the word.
- Read further common exception words, noting unusual correspondences between spelling and sound and where these occur in the word.
- Read words containing common suffixes.
- Read accurately words of two or more syllables that contain the same graphemes as above.
- Read accurately by blending the sounds in words that contain the graphemes taught so far, especially recognising alternative sounds for graphemes.
- Continue to apply phonic knowledge and skills as the route to decode words until automatic decoding has become embedded and reading is fluent.
- Read other words of more than one syllable that contain taught GPCs.
- Read words containing taught GPCs and –s, –es, –ing, –ed, –er and –est endings.
- Read common exception words, noting unusual correspondences between spelling and sound and where these occur in the word.
- Apply phonic knowledge and skills as the route to decode words.
- Using dictionaries to check the meaning of words that they have read.
- Practicing letters, alphabets and written language
- Practicing to observe spoken and written language
- Learning the basics of spelling
- Distinguishing between homophones and near-homophones.
- Using –ing, –ed, –er and –est where no change is needed in the spelling of root words [for example, helping, helped, helper, eating, quicker, quickest].
- Spelling common exception words.
- Practising visual recognition
- Read words with contractions [for example, I’m, I’ll, we’ll], and understand that the apostrophe represents the omitted letter(s).
- Read other words of more than one syllable that contain taught GPCs.
- Read words containing taught GPCs and –s, –es, –ing, –ed, –er and –est endings.
- Read common exception words, noting unusual correspondences between spelling and sound and where these occur in the word.
- Respond speedily with the correct sound to graphemes (letters or groups of letters) for all 40+ phonemes, including, where applicable, alternative sounds for graphemes.
- Apply phonic knowledge and skills as the route to decode words.
- Acquire a wide vocabulary, an understanding of grammar and knowledge of linguistic conventions for reading, writing and spoken language.
- Use knowledge that every syllable must have a vowel sound to determine the number of syllables in a printed word.
- Know final -e and common vowel team conventions for representing long vowel sounds.
- Decode regularly spelled one-syllable words.
- Know the spelling-sound correspondences for common consonant digraphs.
- Know and apply grade-level phonics and word analysis skills in decoding words.
- Segment spoken single-syllable words into their complete sequence of individual sounds (phonemes).
- Isolate and pronounce initial, medial vowel, and final sounds (phonemes) in spoken single-syllable words.
- Demonstrate understanding of spoken words, syllables, and sounds.
- Identify words and phrases in stories or poems that suggest feelings or appeal to the senses.
- Practicing to observe spoken and written language
- Supporting student to build their own linguistic and cultural identity
- Learning about different languages
- Practicing memorizing skills
- Practicing letters, alphabets and written language
- Practicing to set one's own learning goals
- Practicing to take responsibility of one's own learning
- Learning the basics of spelling