Year 1 and 2 Common Exception Words — KS1 Spelling Game ✏️

The Year 1 and 2 common exception words are the words children in England learn to spell in Key Stage 1 that don't follow the usual phonics rules — said, friend, because, people. They come from the National Curriculum's English Appendix 1. Hangmango turns the list into a KS1 spelling game: every word on it is in this category, so pupils practise the real list letter by letter — free, no login, on any device, in class or at home.

Every word the game can pick is on the Year 1 & 2 Spellings word list, sorted by difficulty.

How the levels work

All 92 words are split into three by length, so the same list works across the class:

• Easy — the shortest words (3–4 letters).
• Medium — the middle of the list (4–5 letters).
• Hard — the longest words (5–9 letters), where one missed letter matters most.

Very short words from the Year 1 list (a, I, is, be, do and the like) and the titles Mr and Mrs are left out — too short to play as hangman. Everything else is here.

Year 1 common exception words

the, today, said, says, are, were, was, his, has, you, your, they, she, here, there, where, love, come, some, one, once, ask, friend, school, put, push, pull, full, house, our.

Year 2 common exception words

door, floor, poor, because, find, kind, mind, behind, child, children, wild, climb, most, only, both, old, cold, gold, hold, told, every, everybody, even, great, break, steak, pretty, beautiful, after, fast, last, past, father, class, grass, pass, plant, path, bath, hour, move, prove, improve, sure, sugar, eye, could, should, would, who, whole, any, many, clothes, busy, people, water, again, half, money, parents, christmas.

Spelling games for the classroom

• Whole-class starter — put the game on the board with ⛶ Fullscreen and let pupils take turns suggesting letters. Five minutes, no set-up.
• Pairs race — two pupils, one tablet or Chromebook each, same level: who finishes three words first?
• Plenary check — play two or three words from this week's focus at the end of the lesson to see which spellings stuck.
• Before a spelling test — a quick round on Hard warms up the words most likely to trip pupils up.

Set it as spelling homework

Share this page's link — hangmango.net/en/year12/ — on Google Classroom, Teams or your school app. It works on any home device with no accounts, so every family can join in.

Only this week's words?

To practise a handful of words at a time, make a spelling list: paste them into Custom Word → 📝 Spelling list and send your class one link. Each pupil plays every word and sees how many they got.

Tricky words on this list

• Because — the middle sounds like "cos" but is spelled -cau-.
• Beautiful — eau, borrowed from French, is the part everyone learns separately.
• Friend — i before e — "a friend to the end".
• People — an o nobody pronounces: pe-o-ple.
• Christmas — a silent h after the C, and a t most people don't say.

Questions

Is this the official list?
Yes — the words come from the statutory spelling lists in English Appendix 1 of the National Curriculum in England (2014), published under the Open Government Licence.

Which year groups is it for?
Year 1 and Year 2 (Key Stage 1), though it's just as useful for older pupils catching up or anyone practising tricky English spellings.

Does it work on a classroom screen?
Yes — press ⛶ Fullscreen and play as a class, one letter each. It also works on tablets, Chromebooks and phones, with no accounts or downloads.

Play more: Year 1 & 2 Spellings · Year 1 & 2 Spellings word list · Year 3 & 4 Spellings · Year 5 & 6 Spellings · For teachers