Mastering IELTS Spelling: 7 Common Mistakes and How to Improve
IELTS Spelling is a crucial aspect of the IELTS test, as you’re required to spell words accurately in Listening, Reading, and Writing sections. Read on this article to find out essential tips and effective IELTS spelling practice to enhance your IELTS spelling skills.
Why IELTS Spelling Matters
Correct IELTS spelling is very important and can be the reason for not reaching the band score you are aiming for. Common spelling mistakes in IELTS Listening will be marked as incorrect. In the Writing test, words with spelling errors can lead to confusion.

For example, if you hear the word “business” but write “bussines,” your answer will be wrong. Even though you understood the word correctly, the incorrect spelling affects your score.
Top Common Spelling Mistakes in IELTS Test
Single and Double Consonants
Test takers often encounter common spelling mistakes in IELTS test when single or double consonants occur nearby in a word.

- Single consonant followed by double consonant: across, process, recommend, necessary
- Double consonant followed by single consonant: apparent, exaggerate, occasion, parallel, immediate
- Two pairs of double consonants: address, assess, accommodation, possess, success, occurrence
Suffixes to Words
IELTS test takers often struggle with spelling when adding specific endings like –ed, -ing, or -est to words, as sometimes the last consonant in the word is doubled.

For example:
- stop → stopped, stopping
- thin → thinner, thinnest
- win → winning, winner
- prefer → preferred, preferring
Words Changing Form
A word’s spelling often changes when its form changes, which can pose a common challenge for IELTS candidates.

Here are some examples:
- Changing adjectives to nouns: evident → evidence, intelligent → intelligence
- Changing nouns to adjectives: beauty → beautiful, industry → industrial
- Changing verbs to nouns: achieve → achievement, describe → description
- Changing nouns to verbs: advice → advise, practice → practise
Silent Letters in Consonant Clusters

Test takers frequently find it challenging to spell words containing silent letters within consonant clusters. Here are some common examples:
- nm in environment, government
- mn in autumn, column
- sc in conscious, discipline, science
- xc in excited, exception
- kn in know, knee, knob
- th in ordinals: eighth, twelfth
Frequently Confused Words
IELTS spelling mistakes often occur when candidates confuse words that sound similar but have different meanings and spellings.

For example:
- accept ≠ except
- advice ≠ advise
- stationary ≠ stationery
- weather ≠ whether
- alter ≠ altar
- bear ≠ bare
- desert ≠ dessert
- whose ≠ who’s
- passed ≠ past
- costume ≠ custom
Difficult Words to Spell
There are some words in English that are simply difficult to pronounce and spelling, and IELTS test takers often struggle with them.

Commonly misspelled words include:
- hierarchy
- entrepreneur
- nauseous
- perseverance
- maintenance
- accommodate
- minuscule
- conscientious
- liaison
- narcissistic
British vs. American Spelling
In the IELTS test, both British and American spellings are accepted, so you can be flexible between two styles.

However, switching between the two can create confusion and may impact your overall score, so it’s best to stick to one spelling convention to demonstrate clarity and accuracy.
Conclusion
IELTS spelling is very important when you take this test as it could be the reason for not reaching the band score you need. If you feel like you need more help with your spelling, test your spelling skills regularly with IELTS online test prepared by IELTS TEST PRO for IELTS spelling practice with a variety of exercises.