Getting Ready For The Year 4 Multiplication Check

Every June, Year 4 children in England sit the multiplication tables check. If you have a child in Year 3 or Year 4, you have probably heard it mentioned at parents' evening. It can sound like a big deal, but it really doesn't need to be. I have been both the teacher explaining it and the parent wondering what it actually involves, so here is the plain version.

Your child answers three practice questions, then 25 times tables questions on a screen, with 6 seconds for each one. The questions come from the 2 to 12 times tables, and on average the whole thing should take no longer than five minutes. There is no pass mark. Each child gets a score out of 25, the school sees the results, and your child's teacher will share the score with you.

The government's own leaflet for parents says you do not need to do anything extra to prepare, so please do not panic-buy flashcards. Six seconds is short, though, so the check is about recall rather than working out. A child counting up in sevens on their fingers will get there, just not in time. What matters most is that your child feels confident, and that confidence grows from little and often. You can do all of it away from a screen. Which, in my house, saves the screen for when I need twenty minutes to answer emails.

Five low-fuss ways to practise at home:

1. Ten minutes, not an hour. A short burst while the pasta boils does more than a long Sunday session that ends in tears (theirs or mine, depending on the week).
2. One table at a time. Get the 3s solid before moving on, then mix them with tables they already know. The check leans on the 6s, 7s, 8s, 9s and 12s, so give those a little extra time.
3. Say it out loud. Chanting feels old-fashioned, but it works. Try it on the school run, in the bath or in your best robot voice.
4. Use the facts they know. If they know 5 × 8 = 40, then 6 × 8 is just one more 8. Spotting links like this takes the pressure off memory.
5. Make it a game. Flip two playing cards and multiply them. Whoever says the answer first keeps the pair. Picture cards count as 10, and losing on purpose now and then is allowed.

If your child would like a bit more structure, I can build times tables practice into an Inkleaf pack, pitched exactly where they are and on paper, so you can both see the progress at a glance.