Applying the UK English convention required by the assessment through unambiguous contrasts: -our endings (colour, favourite), -re endings (centre, metre), non-computing programme, -ogue endings (dialogue, catalogue), jewellery, and standard British double-l forms such as travelling and cancelled. Variable British -ise/-ize forms are not treated as errors.
Where your child meets this in real life: Proofreading writing influenced by USA spellings while applying the UK English convention required by the SEAG specification
Spelling is questions 11 to 15 of the English section in each SEAG paper. They are multiple choice, such as finding the part of a sentence with a misspelt word.
SEAGReady breaks british spelling conventions into 2 steps, taught in order so each skill builds on the last.
Spell British -our words (colour, favourite, neighbour, harbour) and -re words (centre, metre, litre, theatre), spotting and correcting the American -or and -er versions.
Proofread unambiguous UK forms such as programme, catalogue, dialogue, travelling, cancelled and jewellery while recognising that some -ise/-ize variants are both accepted in British English.
Try three free questions from our british spelling conventions course. They start easy and get harder, so you can see where your child's confidence runs out. If they manage the last one without a hint, this topic is probably secure. If not, the steps above show where to start.
This is the exact interactive worked example your child sees in SEAGReady. Step through it and watch the method build up.
Amy is copying facts from an American website for her project on the coastal path: "The visitor center has a display about the color of the stones."
Two words are American spellings. What should Amy write in her project?
In these two target words, center has the USA -er order and color has the USA -or spelling. Other words ending in -er or -or need not change.
Step 1 of 4
Amy is copying facts from an American website for her project on the coastal path: "The visitor center has a display about the color of the stones."
Two words are American spellings. What should Amy write in her project?
Amy should write: "The visitor centre has a display about the colour of the stones." These are the required UK forms.
The key insight: Check the particular word family: the required UK forms keep the u in colour and use the -re order in centre.
Common mix-up: my favorite football team. Favourite is in the -our family with colour and neighbour. British English keeps the u: favourite.
These are the misconceptions we see most often in british spelling conventions, including the ones our practice questions are specifically designed to catch.
Struggling with british spelling conventions? The real gap is often in one of these earlier topics.
Sitting the SEAG test this November? Read our last-month revision plan, Paper 1 vs Paper 2 and test day guide.
SEAGReady finds the exact step where your child gets stuck, teaches it with worked examples like the one above, and brings it back for review so it sticks.
Free to start · no card needed