NSW Premier's Spelling Bee
The Premier's Spelling Bee is an engaging way for NSW public primary school students to expand their vocabularies and improve their spelling. Designed for Stage 2 and 3, Stage 1 students are welcome to participate.
The program includes activities that encourage students to become more confident users of language through broadening their vocabulary, and promotes improved literacy skills in conjunction with the NSW English K to 10 syllabus.
The program, wordlists and password are only available through participating public primary schools.
About the Bee
The Bee is open to students in NSW Public, Community and Central Schools in two categories.
- Junior Spelling Bee – Years 3 and 4 (Stage 1 are welcome)
- Senior Spelling Bee – Years 5 and 6
Please note – one Junior and one Senior student represent their school at regional finals. 2024 regional finals will be held using video connections. One senior and one junior speller from each regional will then go on to State finals.
Enrolments
School enrolments and regional finalists registrations have now closed.
Teachers will be provided with the wordlists password upon school enrolment.
There are no entry fees for the bee.
Download the participation certificate for the 2024 Premier's Spelling Bee (PDF 1.5 MB)
2024 key dates
| Stage | Dates | Term/Week |
|---|---|---|
| Enrolment opens | Monday 11 March | Term 1 Week 7 |
| Regional finalists registrations open | Monday 13 May | Term 2 Week 3 |
| Enrolment closes | Friday 21 June | Term 2 Week 8 |
| Regional names deadline | Friday 5 July | Term 2 Week 10 |
| Regional Finals (online) | Monday 12 to Friday 23 August | Term 3 Weeks 4 and 5 |
| State Finals Q Theatre Penrith | Friday 1 November | Term 4 Week 4 |
Enquiries
On this page
Word lists
The program, wordlists and password are only available through participating public primary schools.
The 2024 word lists will be available on enrolment, via the confirmation email you will receive. Please read all copyright conditions carefully, so you may distribute the lists according to licence agreements.
There is a straightforward vocabulary word list and an annotated list supplying pronunciation, word group, meaning and example sentences. The lists may be useful in classroom practice as well as a resource for keen spellers.
Juniors – Years 3 and 4
- 2024 junior wordlist – category vocabulary list (PDF 324.98 KB)
- 2024 junior vocabulary wordlist (PDF 277.93 KB)
- 2024 junior annotated wordlist (PDF 902.12 KB)
Seniors – Years 5 and 6
- 2024 senior wordlist – category vocabulary list (PDF 328.09 KB)
- 2024 senior vocabulary wordlist (PDF 279.9 KB)
- 2024 senior annotated wordlist (PDF 886.95 KB)
All lists are password-protected.
The password for the lists has been changed. Schools may receive the new password by emailing the spellingbee@det.nsw.edu.au
Copyright notice
The NSW Premier’s Spelling Bee 2024 junior and senior word lists are for your personal use only. No part of this word list covered by copyright may be reproduced, copied, shared or made available on the internet, via email, on an intranet, or by any other means without written permission of the publisher.
Copyright © Macquarie Dictionary Publishers 2024 | macquariedictionary.com.au
Poster
This year's artwork is 'The Realistic Bee', by Year 3 student Benjamin Ma, and is his Year 3 entry to 2023 Operation Art.
Resources
The spelling bee resource page contains a wide variety of resources available for use in the preparation of students for the Premier's Spelling Bee.
There are also a range of school resources available below to support the organisation of a spelling bee.
The 2024 NSW Premier’s Spelling Bee is proudly supported by Supporters, Primary English Teaching Association Australia, ABC Radio Sydney and ACCO Brands Australia, and Word List Partner Macquarie Dictionary.
All Arts Unit programs are inclusive. If support is required to participate in the NSW Premier's Spelling Bee, please email spellingbee@det.nsw.edu.au so that we can assist.
