PlusyThe Year 4 multiplication tables check: a parent's guide
The multiplication tables check is a short on-screen check for Year 4 pupils in England: 25 times tables questions, 6 seconds for each, taken in June. There is no pass mark. Calm preparation means learning the facts first and adding a clock last.
You may recognise this: a line in the newsletter about "the MTC", a child who says there is a times tables test and you only get six seconds, and a parent at the gate who has heard you need 20 to pass. Suddenly a short check in June feels like an exam. It is not one.
What is the Year 4 multiplication tables check?
The multiplication tables check, or MTC, is an on-screen check taken by Year 4 pupils in England, who are 8 or 9 years old. It has 25 times tables questions, each worth one mark. Its official purpose is "to determine whether year 4 pupils can fluently recall their multiplication tables".
That wording comes from the assessment framework published by the Standards and Testing Agency, a government agency in England. The same document says that the check "will help schools to identify pupils who require additional support" but that "it is not intended as a diagnostic tool".
When does the check happen?
The multiplication tables check takes place in June of Year 4, inside a 3 week window. The exact day for your child's class is the school's to tell you, so ask the class teacher in the spring term if nothing has come home by then.
The Department for Education publishes a short leaflet for families, Multiplication tables check: information for parents, which it last updated on 15 September 2025.
How does the check work on screen?
In the multiplication tables check each question appears on screen, and your child has 6 seconds to answer it. Then there is a 3 second pause before the next question. There are 25 questions, so the questions and pauses together last under four minutes.
| Part of the check | What the framework says |
|---|---|
| Who takes it | Year 4 pupils in England |
| Where | On screen |
| Number of questions | 25, worth one mark each |
| Time to answer | 6 seconds per question |
| Between questions | A 3 second pause |
| Which facts | Drawn from the 121 facts of the 2 to 12 times tables |
| Pass mark | None |
What surprises children is that the check moves on after six seconds whether they have answered or not. A child who knows 6 × 7 but is used to being waited for can lose the mark by starting late.
Why only six seconds per question?
Six seconds per question was chosen so that the check measures recall, not working out. The assessment framework says the limit "allows pupils the time required to demonstrate their recall of multiplication tables, whilst limiting pupils' ability to work out answers". A child who has to count up in sevens will usually run out of time.
It is worth telling your child: "You are not being asked to work it out fast. You are being asked which ones you already know by heart." The job is to move facts from the working-out pile to the know-it pile, a few at a time.
Which times tables come up most?
The multiplication tables check leans on the 6, 7, 8, 9 and 12 times tables. The framework says there is an emphasis on these "because these have been determined to be the most difficult multiplication tables". Each check has 2 to 4 questions from each of them, and no more than 2 from the 2 and 10 times tables.
That tells you where to spend your time. Many of those facts overlap: a child who knows 6 × 8 also knows 8 × 6, so the list of facts that are truly new is shorter than it looks.
Is there a pass mark?
There is no pass mark for the multiplication tables check. The assessment framework says so directly: "There is no expected standard threshold for the MTC." A child cannot pass or fail it. They get a score out of 25, and that is all.
You may hear "you need 20" or "you need 25". Some schools set their own targets for their pupils. A school's target is not a national pass mark.
What do children usually score?
In the 2024/25 school year the average score in the multiplication tables check was 21.0 out of 25, according to the Department for Education's results published on 20 November 2025. The most common score was 25, and 37% of eligible pupils got full marks.
Both figures were up on the year before, when the average was 20.6 and 34% scored full marks. The same release shows that scores vary between groups of children for reasons that have nothing to do with effort:
- Pupils born in September averaged 21.6. Pupils born in August, the youngest in the year, averaged 20.4.
- Disadvantaged pupils averaged 19.3, and other pupils 21.7.
- Pupils on SEN support averaged 17.4.
What counts as a good score for your child depends on where they started. Going from 9 to 17 is a bigger achievement than going from 23 to 25.
What should my child know by the end of Year 4?
England's national curriculum expects pupils to know all the times tables to 12 × 12 by the end of Year 4. Its wording is: "By the end of year 4, pupils should have memorised their multiplication tables up to and including the 12 multiplication table". The check comes at the end of that year for this reason.
| Year | What the national curriculum says |
|---|---|
| Year 2 | "recall and use multiplication and division facts for the 2, 5 and 10 multiplication tables" |
| Year 3 | "recall and use multiplication and division facts for the 3, 4 and 8 multiplication tables" |
| Year 4 | "recall multiplication and division facts for multiplication tables up to 12 × 12" |
The curriculum asks for division facts as well: a child who knows that 7 × 8 = 56 should also be able to say that 56 ÷ 8 = 7. For the wider picture by year group, see maths by grade.
How do we prepare calmly in the weeks before?
Calm preparation for the multiplication tables check means learning the facts first, mixing them second, and adding a clock only at the end. Keep sessions to about ten minutes on four or five days a week, and work on a few facts at a time, not a whole table.
That order follows the guidance on timed practice. A US federal practice guide recommends timed activities for building fluency only when they are brief, cover content the child has already learned, and come after the child can use a strategy for it. England's inspectorate, Ofsted, says pupils benefit from "timed practice of knowledge that should be easily recalled, such as maths facts".
Find out what is already known
Ask each table out of order, with no clock, over two or three evenings. Sort the facts into two piles: answered straight away, and worked out or wrong. Only the second pile needs work.
Ten weeks to six weeks before: learn the slow pile
Take three or four facts a week from the 6, 7, 8, 9 and 12 times tables. Ask them mixed with facts your child already knows. After a wrong answer, say the whole fact, "six sevens are forty-two", and ask it again a couple of questions later.
Six weeks to three weeks before: mix everything
Now ask from all the tables in random order, with division facts as well. Still no clock.
The last three weeks: add a gentle clock
Count "one, two, three, four, five, six" quietly in your head and move on if no answer has come, with no comment. Keep it to two or three minutes, and compare only with your child's own last score.
The last few days: stop adding
No new facts. A short, easy session, an ordinary bedtime, and "you know lots of these now" is the whole plan.
If a table will not stay learned, see why times tables don't stick.
What if my child freezes against a clock?
If your child freezes against a clock, take the clock away, go back to untimed practice of the same facts, and bring timing back later in very small doses. Freezing usually means the facts are not yet secure enough to be timed.
Whether timed tests cause anxiety is argued over, and it is fair to say so. Some educators hold that they do, and the Hechinger Report notes that NCTM, the US council of maths teachers, urges teachers to "avoid" them. The same report says a group of researchers "could find only two experimental studies" testing the idea, and neither concluded that timing causes anxiety. In one later study of 113 pupils in Grades 4 and 5, announcing a time limit made no significant difference to the anxiety they reported, though the sample was small. Harder questions did raise it.
The practical reading is the same either way: make the questions easier before you make them faster. Something to say: "If one goes past, let it go and look at the next one." If the worry is strong, or shows up well beyond times tables, talk to the class teacher. There is more in maths anxiety in children.
What happens with the result?
The result of the multiplication tables check is a score out of 25. The framework says the check will help schools "identify pupils who require additional support", and that it is not a diagnostic tool. With no threshold, nothing is passed or failed. Ask the school how and when it will share your child's score with you.
If the score is lower than you hoped, the useful question for the teacher is: "Which tables should we work on over the summer?" The check is one short sample on one day.
Where Plusy fits
Plusy is a practice app for children 6 to 12, and its Times tables road goes one table at a time up to the 12 times table, each running to × 12.
For the check itself, two things are useful. You can make a list of just the 6, 7, 8, 9 and 12 times tables and mark it as being for a test, which puts a countdown to the day on the list. See get ready for a test. And the Speed run asks as many facts as your child can answer in 60 seconds, only from tables they have already passed, so timing comes after learning.
Plusy is not a copy of the check: there is no six-second limit on a question, and its own tests are not timed. Every road and game is free to play. Start free.
Questions
Is there a pass mark for the Year 4 multiplication tables check?
No. The government's assessment framework says: "There is no expected standard threshold for the MTC." Your child gets a score out of 25. Some schools set their own targets, but that is not a national pass mark.
What is a good score in the multiplication tables check?
In 2024/25 the national average was 21.0 out of 25, the most common score was 25, and 37% of eligible pupils scored full marks. There is no pass mark, so the fairest comparison is with your child's own earlier scores.
How long does the multiplication tables check take?
There are 25 questions with 6 seconds to answer each and a 3 second pause between them, so the questions and pauses last under four minutes. Ask the school how long the whole sitting takes.
Which times tables are in the Year 4 check?
Questions are drawn from the 2 to 12 times tables. The framework puts the emphasis on the 6, 7, 8, 9 and 12 times tables, with 2 to 4 questions from each, and no more than 2 from the 2 and 10 times tables.
When is the multiplication tables check?
It is taken in June of Year 4, within a 3 week window. Ask your child's teacher which day the class will take it.
Should I time my child when practicing times tables at home?
Not at first. Guidance that supports timed practice says it should be brief and should come after the facts have been learned. Practice without a clock until the answers come without counting, then add a gentle six-second count in the last few weeks.