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Mencap survey highlights Britain's poor spelling
Tuesday 22 May 2012
Ahead of Mencap’s Spellathon Championships this week, the UK’s leading learning disability charity commissioned ICM to conduct a survey testing the nation’s spelling ability. The survey revealed that many Britons failed to spell everyday words such as necessary and separate, despite the fact that over three quarters (76%) of Britons rate themselves to be ‘very good’ or ‘fairly good’ at spelling.
Mencap survey highlights Britain's poor spelling
Overconfident Brits struggle with commonly used words as 65% of people fail to spell ‘necessary’
Access to technology has contributed to an “auto correct generation” with many Britons now failing to spell commonly used words
Ahead of Mencap’s Spellathon Championships this week, the UK’s leading learning disability charity commissioned ICM to conduct a survey testing the nation’s spelling ability. The survey revealed that many Britons failed to spell everyday words such as necessary and separate, despite the fact that over three quarters (76%) of Britons rate themselves to be ‘very good’ or ‘fairly good’ at spelling. Just one fifth (21%) of respondents were able to answer all of the questions in a short spelling test correctly.
KEY FACTS
- Only 1 in 5 respondents correctly spelled all words in a short spelling test
- Majority of Britons rate their spelling abilities to be ‘very good’ or ‘fairly good’
- A third of Britons failed to spell words such as ‘separate’ and ‘definitely’
- 65% of people surveyed failed to spell ‘necessary’
- UK residents rely heavily on spell check and auto correct
- Students fared worse with only 13% getting all 5 questions correct
- One quarter of Londoners ‘always’ rely on spell check - more than any other region in Britain
- Women came out on top in each spelling question, and are more confident about their spelling ability
- Females over 65 are Britain’s best spellers
- Males 18-24 are Britain’s worst spellers
- Oxford is the city with Britain’s best spelling ability
- Hull is the city with Britain’s worst spelling ability
The survey was commissioned to discover the state of the nation’s spelling ability ahead of launching the world’s first ever inclusive digital Spellathon Championships. The competition starts today and ends on Sunday 27th May. The winners from each age category will be presented with the opportunity to compete against Stephen Fry in a reverse spelling challenge.
When asked to spell common words the majority of people surveyed came unstuck. 65% of respondents were unable to spell the word ‘necessary’, with nearly half (48%) of the respondents who considered themselves to be very good at spelling getting it wrong. In addition, nearly one third (33%) of Britons failed to spell everyday words such as ‘definitely’ and ‘separate’.
The survey of more than 2,000 people around the UK also revealed that younger people rely on spell check more than their elders. Only 3% of Britons aged 18-24 and 4% aged 25-34 have never used spell check, compared to 17% aged 65+. Britons who are still studying came out most reliant on spell check, with nearly one third (32%) stating that they always use it when drafting an email or word document.
Despite 96% of Britons indicating they believe that the correct use of spelling is ‘important’ or 'very important’, only 18% wish they were better at spelling compared to everyday tasks, with nearly half (48%) of the respondents preferring to have better IT skills and 37% rating mental arithmetic more highly.
Mark Goldring, Chief Executive, Mencap said “With over two thirds of Britons now having to rely on spell check, we are heading towards an auto correct generation.”
“This survey has highlighted that many Britons have a false impression about their spelling ability. Today’s tough economic climate means that poor spelling on a CV is fatal, as it says that an individual cannot produce work to a given standard, no matter how highly qualified they might be. Language used by a company or person is a reflection of their attitude, capabilities and skill.”
Mark Goldring continues: “At Mencap we understand the importance of spelling as communication is often difficult under the best of circumstances, and poor spelling can compound this problem. Spellathon makes spelling fun and visual, not just for teachers and their pupils, but also for adults who are looking to improve their spelling and literacy skills in a comfortable and friendly environment.”
Stephen Fry, who voices 3D bee character The Professor, added:
"Spellathon is just about the best integration of imagination, education, technology inclusiveness and fun that I've ever encountered.”
Of all the questions in the spelling test, which included homophones and commonly misspelt words, a higher percentage of women spelled the words correctly compared to men, and were more confident about their spelling abilities. Women aged 65 and over are Britain’s best spellers, closely followed by males aged 45-54. Britain’s worst spellers are male aged 18-24.
|
Commonly Misspelt Words |
|||
|
Definitely |
Calendar |
Acceptable |
Connoisseur |
|
Necessary |
Embarrass |
Broccoli |
Particularly |
|
Separate |
Occurrence |
Referred |
Questionnaire |
|
Manoeuvre |
Consensus |
Bureaucracy |
Entrepreneur |
|
Parallel |
A lot |
Conscience |
Supersede |
Contact Details
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James Rickard Damon Middleton
Senior Account Executive Account Director
jamesrickard@tpf-london.com damonmiddelton@tpf-london.com
Tel: 020 7921 1527 Tel: 020 7921 1522
Notes to editor
About Mencap
There are 1.5 million people with a learning disability in the UK. Mencap fights on their behalf, and on behalf of their carers and families, to change laws and improve services and access to education, employment and leisure facilities, supporting thousands of people with a learning disability to live their lives the way they want.
We are also the largest service provider of services, information and advice for people with a learning disability across England, Northern Ireland and Wales. See www.mencap.org.uk for more information.
About learning disability
A learning disability is caused by the way the brain develops before, during or shortly after birth. It is always lifelong and affects someone's intellectual and social development. It used to be called mental handicap but this term is outdated and offensive. Learning disability is NOT a mental illness. The term learning difficulty is often incorrectly used interchangeably with learning disability.
About Digital Giving Ltd
Digital Giving Ltd is a joint venture partnership between Grant Morgan and Jamie Goldblatt.
In June 2010, Grant Morgan (CEO of cause-related marketing agency Louis Kennedy), joined forces with mobile and digital media innovator Jamie Goldblatt to launch Digital Giving Ltd. Goldblatt, a market-leader in his field creating mobile content and campaigns for some of the world’s biggest brands and agencies, is now working in partnership with Grant Morgan and the leading cause-related marketing agency Louis Kennedy (over £130 million raised for charities in the last 13 years), to originate and deliver global fundraising and mass awareness cause-related entertainment concepts centred around creative and engaging digital content.
Spellathon’s Partners
Promethean
Promethean's aim is to unlock the potential of human achievement in education and training at all ages around the world. It does so by creating, developing, supplying and supporting leading-edge, interactive learning technology and by encouraging the growth of the world's largest online teacher community in this field. In these ways, Promethean is helping bring to life the promise of 21st century learning, improving engagement and results for learners and teachers alike. www.prometheanworld.com
We help educators achieve better results with technology products that support student-centred learning. More than 1.6 million SMART Board interactive whiteboards are used by over 40 million people in classrooms and offices around the world. SMART products can be found in every Canadian province, every US state, every local authority in the UK and more than 175 countries worldwide. www.smarttech.com
