Common Exception Words (Year 1 & Year 2)
The complete list of common exception words for Year 1 and Year 2, plus a free printable practice pack. These are the tricky words children need to learn by heart because they don't follow normal phonics rules.
Checked November 2026.
Printable worksheets with 11 pages of activities
What are common exception words?
Sometimes called tricky words or red words, common exception words are words that don't follow the usual phonics rules. Your child can't simply "sound them out" — words like said (where "ai" makes an unusual sound) or was (which doesn't follow normal vowel patterns) just need to be learnt by heart.
They're called "common" because they appear so frequently in books and everyday reading. The sooner your child recognises them on sight, the more fluent their reading becomes.
Year 1 common exception words
Children learn these 45 words in Year 1 (ages 5–6), alongside their phonics:
Year 2 tricky words
This is the Year 2 tricky-words list — in school language, the Year 2 common exception words. Year 2 (ages 6–7) adds 64 more words to the Year 1 list, and they are harder: longer words, silent letters and spellings that break the rules in new ways (because, beautiful, Christmas).
How to help your child learn them
Learn 5–10 words per week. Trying to learn them all at once doesn't work. Here's a method teachers recommend:
- Look at the word carefully
- Cover it with your hand
- Write it from memory
- Check — did you get it right?
Spot the tricky bit: Circle the part of each word that doesn't sound how you'd expect. In said, it's the "ai". In school, it's the "ch". Focusing on the unusual part helps it stick.
Three games that make the words stick:
- Word detective: give your child the week's five words on a card, then hunt for them together in a bedtime book. Every find earns a tick.
- Rainbow writing: your child writes the word three times in three colours, saying the tricky bit out loud each time — "s-ai-d, the ai says e".
- Missing bit: write the word with the tricky part blank (s__d) and let your child fill it in from memory. If they get it wrong, cover it and try again tomorrow.
Two or three games a week, five minutes each, beats a long drilling session every time — and it keeps the Year 2 list from feeling like a mountain.
Questions parents ask
What's the difference between tricky words and common exception words?
They're the same thing! "Tricky words" is the informal name teachers use. "Common exception words" is the official UK curriculum term. Some schools also call them "red words".
How many should my child learn per week?
Aim for 5–10 new words per week. Quality over quantity — it's better to really know 5 words than to half-know 20.
My child keeps forgetting them — is this normal?
Completely normal. These words need lots of repetition because they can't be sounded out. Keep practising little and often rather than long sessions.
Are these the same as high frequency words?
Not quite. High frequency words are simply common words (many follow phonics rules). Common exception words are the subset that break the rules and must be memorised.
My child spells 'becos' for 'because' — is that a problem?
No — it is a good phonetic attempt, and it shows their sounding-out is working. Point out the tricky bit ('au' says 'o'), then practise it with look, cover, write, check. Most children spell 'because' wrong several times before it sticks.
Do children need to spell these words too, or just read them?
Both. Reading them by sight comes first, but the National Curriculum expects Year 1 and Year 2 children to spell them as well — they are in the spelling appendices schools teach from. Spelling practice with look, cover, write, check is what moves a word from 'I recognise it' to 'I can write it'.