Top five most commonly misspelt words in the UK revealed according to global technology company Texthelp
Monday 24 October 2022
The top five most commonly misspelt words in the UK are:
- Harass
- Vicious
- Separate
- Misspelt
- Accommodation
Over a third of UK adults (36%) thought ‘Mispelt’ is correct (correct spelling ‘Misspelt),
3 in 5 (61%) thinking ‘Harrass’ was the correct spelling (correct spelling ‘’Harass’).
Spelling and literacy challenges are affecting everyday lives with over one in five finding it difficult to understand important paperwork and contracts.
The data showed that UK adults struggle to identify the correct spelling of certain common words. Ironically over a third (36%) thought ‘Mispelt’ is correct (correct spelling ‘Misspelt) and just over 3 in 5 (61%) thinking ‘Harrass’ was the correct spelling (correct spelling ‘’Harass’).
Among the findings, it was also revealed that almost 2 in 5 (38%) Brits surveyed said ‘Seperate' is spelt correctly, a third (33%) believed ‘Accomodation’ was spelt correctly and 40% thought ‘Viscous’ was the correct spelling (correct spelling “Vicious”).
Grammar is the topic Brits found most challenging whilst at
school, with 1 in 5 (20%) admitting to having found this difficult; 19% said
they experienced difficulties with homework, and 18% said they found spelling
hard.
The survey explored how these literacy challenges are affecting the everyday
lives of many, with at least one in five (22%) people finding it difficult to
understand important paperwork and contracts critical to daily life, whilst 9% of people did not feel confident helping children with
their homework.
Literacy challenges can have an impact on how people feel about carrying out
everyday tasks. A quarter (25%) of people surveyed who experience difficulties
reading books aloud to pre-school children admitted to feeling embarrassed,
whilst just over 2 in 5 (41%) who experienced difficulties feel frustrated when
having difficulties reading and filling out lengthy forms (e.g., a medical,
insurance or travel forms).
Martin McKay, Founder and CEO at Texthelp said:
“By carrying out this research, we have found out more about how adults in the UK feel about literacy challenges. We have learned how these barriers impact people every day. We are continuing to provide new products in education and will ensure words won’t hold people back. We are helping in both education and in the workplace. We are committed to helping everyone understand and be understood by providing a suite of literacy and numeracy tools to more people across the globe.”
British TV actor and ‘Derry Girls’ star, Dylan Llewellyn has dyslexia and says that some everyday tasks can be difficult for him. Dylan said:
“Being severely dyslexic meant I found school challenging and was often behind with my classwork. I struggled at mainstream school but as soon as I went to a specialist school it did help me grow in confidence and develop learning techniques.”
There are a number of reasons that have stopped UK adults from seeking help with their reading, writing, grammar, comprehension and spelling difficulties and these include, 20% of those fearing that other people would think that they were not smart enough.
Many people surveyed felt technology could have helped during their education, for example a third (33%) of those who found their education challenging or needed assistance, said a spell checker which would identify and highlight misspellings would have been beneficial during their education.
The survey concluded by identifying that nearly 2 in 5 (36%) said they did not feel there were enough resources and technology to support their reading, writing, and comprehension needs during education.
The report forms part of a broader campaign titled “Words Can’t Hold Us Back”, which has been launched to raise awareness of the scale of literacy challenges in the UK, while highlighting the solutions available for Brits to overcome these barriers.
The Censuswide Survey questioned 2,081 nationally representative respondents between 26.08.22 - 30.08.22. The survey was carried out online. Censuswide abides by and employs members of the Market Research Society which is based on the ESOMAR principles.