Over-reliance on technology is undermining spelling skills The survey - commissioned to mark Mencap's Spellathon Championships, which take place this week - presented adults across Britain with a list of common words It found that just 69 per cent picked out the correct spelling of "definitely," with more than a quarter substituting the second "i" for an "a." A similar proportion struggled with "separate," with the most common wrong spelling being "seperate." Around two-thirds picked a wrong spelling for "necessary" from a list that did not include the correct spelling. While many adults struggled to spell these common words, the poll also found that three-quarters of those questioned believed they were good at spelling. Females aged over 65 were officially the best spellers, while men aged 18 to 24 were the worst, the study found. The conclusions come amid growing concerns over standards of literacy in schools. Under new Government plans, pupils face losing more than one in 10 marks in their GCSEs for poor spelling and grammar in an attempt to raise standards. Teenagers taking GCSEs in English language and literature this summer will be the first to be penalised by as much as 12 per cent for writing errors. History and geography papers will face the same scrutiny a year later before the policy is extended to other subjects such as science, maths and foreign languages. Nick Gibb, the Schools Minister, said: "The failure to test spelling - as well as grammar and punctuation - in exams over the past decade has been a costly one. That is why we will award marks in these key disciplines in GCSEs from September. This summer we are also trialling a grammar, punctuation and spelling test for 11-year-olds and will roll it out nationally next year. Employers expect people with high grades to be able to communicate and write effectively, so it's right to restore specific assessment of these vital skills.