WHAT THE GUIDANCE SAYS

Six seconds,
one fact.

By the end of Year 4, the tables up to 12 × 12.

That is what England's national curriculum asks, and an online check each June looks at how quickly children can recall the facts. Department for Education guidance also says which order to learn them in and which patterns to lean on.

12 × 12 by the end of Year 4

Pick a table

A child's hands resting on a kitchen table beside a pencil and a squared-paper notebook filled with neat rows of multiplication facts — AI-generated image, not a photograph of a real person or place.

Learn tables in families
Say each fact aloud
Flip it to halve the work
Recall, not counting

THE SHORT ANSWER

Fast recall,
built on patterns.

The goal is to know the fact, not work it out.
The guidance gives a route to get there.

THE CHECK

25 questions, 6 seconds each

Year 4 pupils take an online check in a 3-week window in June. Each question looks like 7 × 8 = and there is no expected pass mark.

Which tables it uses

THE ORDER

Learn tables in families

DfE guidance suggests 10 then 5, then 2, 4 and 8, then 3, 6 and 9, then 7, then 11 and 12. The connections help facts stick.

How to practise

THE PATTERNS

Flip it to halve the work

3 × 4 and 4 × 3 are the same fact. Using that rule, which an array of counters shows, reduces the number of facts to memorise.

More patterns

INSIDE THE CHECK

How much does
each table count?

Pick a times table to see how many of the 25 questions on one check form can come from it. The bar shows how much weight the check gives that table.

Table check

Choose a times tableThe 10 times tableThe 5 times tableThe 4 times tableThe 7 times tableThe 12 times table

The 10 times table0 to 2 questions

Taught in Year 2 alongside the 2s and 5s. It may not appear at all, because the check leans on the tables taught at key stage 2.

The 5 times table1 to 3 questions

Every form includes at least one. The curriculum links the 5s to the clock face, and the 10s to place value.

The 4 times table1 to 3 questions

A Year 3 table. The curriculum notes that doubling connects the 2, 4 and 8 times tables.

The 7 times table2 to 4 questions

The 6, 7, 8, 9 and 12 tables get extra weight because the framework says they have been found to be the most difficult.

The 12 times table2 to 4 questions

One of the five emphasised tables. The 1 times table is never scored, though it can appear in practice questions.

Source: Standards and Testing Agency, Multiplication tables check assessment framework (updated for 2022), table 1.

Based on the Standards and Testing Agency's multiplication tables check assessment framework. Each form is built within these limits, so two pupils may see different questions.

TWO NUMBERS WORTH KNOWING

Scores are rising,
year on year.

One figure on the average score,
one on how many children got every question right.

21.0 / 25

Mean score in the June 2025 check

Up from 20.6 in 2024. The average has risen every year since 19.8 in 2022, when the check first became statutory.

AVERAGE SCORE · DfE 2025

37%

Pupils scoring 25 out of 25

Full marks was the most common score in 2025, up from 34% in 2024 and 27% in 2022. 96% of eligible pupils took the check.

FULL MARKS · DfE 2025

Figures are from the Department for Education's multiplication tables check attainment statistics for the 2024/25 academic year. Boys averaged 21.2 and girls 20.7.

FOUR HABITS FROM THE GUIDANCE

Little facts,
said out loud.

These come from the Department for Education's teaching guidance for primary maths. None needs an app or special kit.

Say the whole fact
Children remember facts as a sound pattern, such as "nine sevens are sixty-three", so say each one aloud rather than just the answer.
Learn one family at a time
Do the 2s, 4s and 8s one after another, then the 3s, 6s and 9s, so each table builds on the one before.
Turn each fact around
Learn that 28 ÷ 7 = 4 alongside 4 × 7 = 28, at the same time as the table rather than afterwards.
Secure up to 9 × 9 first
If recall is not yet automatic, the guidance says to prioritise facts up to 9 × 9, which written multiplication relies on.

A tablet on a school desk showing a plain on-screen number pad, next to a closed exercise book — AI-generated image, not a photograph of a real person or place.

Rows of wooden counters laid out in a neat rectangular array on a classroom desk, four rows of eight — AI-generated image, not a photograph of a real person or place.

PATTERNS THAT HELP

Every table has
a shape.

The products in a table are its multiples, and neighbouring answers always differ by the table number: 32 and 40 in the 8s are 8 apart. Doubling links the 2s, 4s and 8s.

The check draws on 121 facts, from 2 × 1 to 12 × 12 across the 2 to 12 tables. Because order does not matter, 3 × 8 and 8 × 3 never appear on the same check form.

Questions

Questions people ask

What is the multiplication tables check?

A statutory online check for Year 4 pupils in England, taken in a 3-week window in June. It has 25 questions, each with 6 seconds to answer, and a 3-second pause between questions.

Is there a pass mark?

No. The assessment framework says there is no expected standard threshold. Schools receive each pupil's score out of 25.

Which times tables are tested?

Questions come from the 2 to 12 times tables. The 1 times table is not scored, and the 6, 7, 8, 9 and 12 tables get the most questions because they are the hardest.

Why only 6 seconds?

The Standards and Testing Agency trialled 3 time limits with 1,124 pupils. Six seconds gave time to recall and type an answer, but not enough to work it out.

Can children practise beforehand?

Yes. Pupils and schools can use a practice area before the check window opens, to get used to the format and the on-screen number pad.

Six seconds,
one fact.