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Year 2 common exception words

These are the 64 common exception words the national curriculum in England gives for Year 2, from door to Christmas; schools may also use other words, depending on the phonics programme they follow. Children are taught to read and spell them. The official list marks children with an asterisk: it isn’t an exception to what has been taught so far, but it is included because of its link with child. We show it without the asterisk.

Year 2 · 64 words

The 64 words

  1. door
  2. floor
  3. poor
  4. because
  5. find
  6. kind
  7. mind
  8. behind
  9. child
  10. children
  11. wild
  12. climb
  13. most
  14. only
  15. both
  16. old
  17. cold
  18. gold
  19. hold
  20. told
  21. every
  22. everybody
  23. even
  24. great
  25. break
  26. steak
  27. pretty
  28. beautiful
  29. after
  30. fast
  31. last
  32. past
  33. father
  34. class
  35. grass
  36. pass
  37. plant
  38. path
  39. bath
  40. hour
  41. move
  42. prove
  43. improve
  44. sure
  45. sugar
  46. eye
  47. could
  48. should
  49. would
  50. who
  51. whole
  52. any
  53. many
  54. clothes
  55. busy
  56. people
  57. water
  58. again
  59. half
  60. money
  61. Mr
  62. Mrs
  63. parents
  64. Christmas

Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Source: Department for Education, National Curriculum in England: English programmes of study, Appendix 1: Spelling (2013). National Curriculum in England: English programmes of study, Appendix 1: Spelling · Open Government Licence v3.0

Practising these words at home

  • Learn the families together

    Find, kind, mind and behind share a pattern, as do old, cold, gold, hold and told, and could, should and would. Learning them as a group means one pattern for several words.

  • Mind the capital letters

    Mr, Mrs and Christmas always start with a capital letter. Check it as part of the spelling.

  • Write it from memory

    Look at the word, say it, cover it, write it, then check it letter by letter. Our look, say, cover, write, check guide shows how.

  • Dictate a sentence

    Say a short sentence using two or three of the words, such as ‘Could you find my gold money?’, and let your child write it.

Questions parents ask

How many Year 2 common exception words are there?
The national curriculum lists 64 common exception words for Year 2, from door to Christmas. As for Year 1, it adds that schools may use other words, depending on the programme they follow, so your child’s list from school may differ a little in order or content.
Why are fast, path and bath on the list?
Because in some accents the ‘a’ in these words sounds like ‘ar’, which the spelling doesn’t show. The curriculum notes that past, last, fast, path and bath are not exceptions in accents where the ‘a’ is said as in cat. Depending on how your family speaks, they may be easy or tricky for your child.
Which words are the trickiest?
Words with a sound spelt in a rare way. The curriculum points out that great, break and steak are the only common words where the ‘ay’ sound is spelt ‘ea’. Words such as eye, busy, people and sugar also have no simple rule, so they are best learnt as a whole, a few at a time.
Can I print this list?
Yes. The list is Crown copyright, published under the Open Government Licence, which allows copying and printing as long as the source is credited. The source is English Appendix 1: Spelling, from the Department for Education, credited at the bottom of this page, so you can print the page as it is.

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