I say, old bean! We spell nothing like you chaps in the US (except you say tomato but we say tomato).
Of course a pupil in a hurry who doesn’t proof-read might spell like nothing on Earth…
Agreed - I’m English and have never seen it spelt that way … it’s either nothing, nowt or nuffink. 
Now spelt I could understand …
Here’s a coincidence…
I’ve just read a Rex Stout book (surprisingly not in the Nero Wolfe series), in which a criminal is traced because his typed blackmail note has the following two phrases:
’ biscuits and tea’
‘honour’
So he must be English!