NAPLAN Spelling PracticeYear 3, 5, 7 & 9

NAPLAN spelling tests target curriculum-appropriate vocabulary at each year level. The words are not published in advance, but they draw on spelling patterns students should know by that point in their schooling. Year 3 and 5 focus on common high-frequency words and regular spelling patterns. Year 7 and 9 extend to multisyllabic words, suffixes, prefixes, and words derived from Latin and Greek roots. Practising a broad range of age-appropriate words, like the lists on this page, is the most effective preparation.

In the NAPLAN spelling section, students hear a word spoken aloud in a sentence and must type the correct spelling. There is no multiple-choice option. This audio-first format means students cannot guess from visual options; they need to know how to spell each word independently. Lit Spelling uses exactly the same format: hear the word spoken, then type it. Practising with Lit Spelling directly mirrors how NAPLAN delivers its spelling questions.

NAPLAN is sat by students in Year 3, Year 5, Year 7, and Year 9. Spelling is tested in all four year groups. Each year level has age-appropriate questions: Year 3 tests common high-frequency words; Year 5 extends to more complex patterns; Year 7 and Year 9 include multisyllabic academic vocabulary. Use the year-level pages linked above to practise the right words for your child's year group.

The NAPLAN writing and conventions test includes approximately 28 spelling questions, typically delivered in around 45 minutes alongside punctuation and grammar questions. Each question presents a sentence with a missing word read aloud, and students must type the correctly spelled word. Because spelling makes up a significant portion of the conventions test, consistent daily practice across the 6–8 weeks before NAPLAN can have a meaningful impact on results.

NAPLAN 2027 is scheduled for mid-March. Schools in Australia sit the tests during a designated testing window, typically across two weeks. Parents and students should check their school's specific testing dates. To be well-prepared, aim to practise spelling daily from at least 6 weeks before the window opens, which means starting in late January or early February. If this year's results showed spelling as a gap, steady practice between now and March is the most reliable way to close it.

The manual approach is to print out a word list and tick or cross each word as your child practises. Keeping track becomes tedious quickly, especially across multiple sessions and week after week. Lit Spelling handles this automatically. Every word your child gets wrong is flagged as a tricky word and brought back in a future session. Over time, words that need more work get more practice, and words they have mastered appear less often. You can view tricky words directly in the app. There is nothing to maintain, and nothing falls through the cracks.