Year 4Ages 8 to 9

Year 4: the times tables year

Written by A Dagdelen · Reviewed

Year 4 is the middle of primary school and the year of the times tables check. Children are reading to learn now, and maths asks them to recall facts quickly so their thinking can go to harder problems.

Photo: Richard Bell on Unsplash

  • 25questions in the Multiplication Tables Check
  • 12 × 12the tables the check covers
  • Junewhen schools run the check
  • No pass markteachers use the score to see who needs help

What this year is for

  1. The check is short. Children answer 25 times table questions on a computer or tablet. There is no pass mark. Teachers share the score and decide whether a child needs extra help.
  2. Fluency has two halves. Knowing a fact such as 7 × 8 is one half. Knowing its family, 8 × 7, 56 ÷ 7 and 56 ÷ 8, is the other. Tables a child knows both ways come back faster.
  3. Reading changes. Children meet longer chapter books, information texts and the first real inference questions, such as how we know a character was worried.
  4. Writing gets more precise. Many schools introduce fronted adverbials, paragraphs and more careful punctuation this year, and your child's marking comments will mention them.

What to do at home

Little and often

Five minutes a day in mixed order works better than a long weekend drill.

Practise both ways round

Ask 6 × 7, then 7 × 6, then 42 ÷ 6. The facts connect.

Read beyond school books

Comics, football reports, recipes and chapter books all count. Ask what they would do differently in the story.

Celebrate improvement, not scores

Compare today's time with last week's. A rising line is more motivating than a number out of 25.

Practise and explore on Quizo School

Questions parents ask

Does the check affect secondary school?

No. Secondary places follow each school's admission rules, and the only entrance test is the 11+ for selective grammar schools. The Year 4 check helps your school spot gaps.

My child knows the tables at home but freezes on the screen.

Practise on a screen with a gentle timer, a few questions at a time. Familiar surroundings take much of the fear away.

Which tables are the hardest?

Most children find the 6, 7, 8 and 9 tables hardest. Give the 7s and 8s extra short sessions.

Year 4

Multiplication Tables Check

What the Year 4 Multiplication Tables Check is, when it happens, what it means for your child and how to help at home.

Read the guide
Years 1–6

Times tables practice: ten quick questions and a map of what they know

Ten questions on a number pad, five seconds each (eight in Years 1 and 2), and a map of every fact from 1 × 1 to 12 × 12. How it prepares for the Year 4 check.

Read the guide
Years 1–6

How maths is taught at school: a guide for parents

Column methods, the bus stop, the grid method, bar models and number lines: what each is called, when it usually appears and how to help without confusing your child.

Read the guide