New times tables check to be trialled in primary schools

A new multiplication tables check has been designed to help ensure primary-school children know their times tables up to 12 off by heart.

Schools will be able to sign up to and access the online system from today, allowing them to register pupils, familiarise themselves with the digital platform and let pupils try the check ahead of the national pilot in the summer.

The new check, which schools will be required to administer to year 4 pupils from June 2020, will consist of 25 questions based on the 2 to 12 times tables and will be conducted using laptops, computers or tablets in class.

This familiarisation period coms ahead of a national pilot between 10 and 28 June. Pupils will have 6 seconds to answer each question. In most cases, pupils will spend less than 5 minutes completing the check and teachers will be able to administer it to individual pupils, groups of pupils or whole classes at the same time. The check can be taken at any time during the school day within the 3-week window.

The system has been carefully produced in partnership with schools and has been developed to minimise any unnecessary burdens on school staff and pupils.

It features accessibility arrangements that have been developed for pupils with special educational needs and disabilities. Feedback from the pilot will be used to shape the final version of the check.

Mark Lehain, Director of Parents and Teachers for Excellence, said: "In providing a standard, quick and simple check of children’s grasp of the times tables, the multiplication tables check will be invaluable for everyone in education. Its careful development and implementation, done in partnership with experts from the profession, is an example of how such things should be done more often.

"Being able to get familiar with the set-up now means that when schools comes to administer the check for real it should run smoothly. This will give heads, teachers, families and pupils reassurance that it providing an accurate picture of how fluently children know their tables.

"This consolidation of basic mathematical knowledge is in line with the principle of the maths ‘mastery’ teaching, which is successfully practised by world leaders in mathematics, Shanghai and Singapore, and is now being introduced to schools in England."