How to learn times tables: a year-by-year guide for parents

Children learn their times tables best in the order school teaches them, one table at a time, with short and frequent practice that moves from understanding to quick recall. In England, the national curriculum expects the 2, 5 and 10 times tables in Year 2, the 3, 4 and 8 times tables in Year 3, and every table up to 12 × 12 by the end of Year 4, when pupils take the multiplication tables check.

This guide sets out what is expected in each year, how to teach a table from scratch, the links that make tables easier, what the check involves and how to help a child who is stuck.

What times tables should my child know, and when?

The mathematics programme of study for primary schools sets out the steps:

The curriculum’s own summary for lower key stage 2 is clear: by the end of Year 4, pupils should have memorised their multiplication tables up to and including the 12 times table. Division facts come alongside each table, so 35 ÷ 7 belongs with 7 × 5.

Your child’s school may teach the tables in a slightly different order within a year. Follow the order on the homework: practising the table the class is working on this week is what helps most.

How do I teach my child a new times table?

A table is easier to learn once your child understands what it means. Four steps work for most tables:

1. Show it. Make groups with pasta, coins or Lego: three groups of four. Line them up in rows to make an array, and turn it round to show that three fours and four threes are the same.
2. Count in steps. Count up in fours out loud, 4, 8, 12, 16, pointing to each group. The Year 1 curriculum starts here, with counting in twos, fives and tens.
3. Learn the facts in small sets. Take three or four facts at a time, starting with the easy ones (× 1, × 2, × 10), then the rest.
4. Practise recall. Ask the facts out of order until the answer comes without counting. This is the step that takes the longest, and it is where short daily practice counts.

Tricks that make times tables easier

Fewer facts are really new than it seems, because the tables are linked. The curriculum points out one of the links itself: in Year 3, children connect the 2, 4 and 8 times tables through doubling.

• Turn it round. 7 × 6 is the same as 6 × 7. Once your child knows this, every new table has fewer new facts.
• Double it. The 4 times table is double the 2 times table, and the 8 times table is double the 4. The 6 times table is double the 3.
• Halve the tens. The 5 times table is half of the 10 times table: 5 × 8 is half of 10 × 8.
• Take one group away. The 9 times table is the 10 times table minus one group: 9 × 7 = 70 − 7 = 63.
• Split the 12s. 12 × 6 is 10 × 6 plus 2 × 6: 60 + 12 = 72.
• Learn the square numbers. 6 × 6, 7 × 7 and 8 × 8 are good anchors to work out the facts next to them.

Once the 2, 5 and 10 times tables are secure, and with facts turned round, most of what is left to learn sits in the 6, 7, 8, 9 and 12 times tables.

What is the multiplication tables check?

The multiplication tables check (MTC) is a statutory check for Year 4 pupils in England, run by the Standards and Testing Agency. Its purpose is to see whether children can recall their times tables up to 12 fluently, and to help schools spot who needs more support. The key facts:

• It happens at school in June, within a three-week window. The school chooses the day.
• It is on screen: 3 practice questions, then 25 questions, with 6 seconds to answer each. On average it takes no more than 5 minutes.
• The questions come from the 2 to 12 times tables, with more weight on the 6, 7, 8, 9 and 12 times tables, which the assessment framework describes as the most difficult. The check asks multiplication questions only.
• There is no pass mark. Your child’s teacher will share the score out of 25 with you.
• From April, schools have a ‘try it out’ area so children can get used to the format.

The Standards and Testing Agency’s information for parents also says you don’t need to do anything extra to prepare your child: teachers may simply ask you to practise times tables at home. For more on the format and a calm way to practise it, see our multiplication tables check page.

Should times tables practice be timed?

Speed matters in the end, because the check gives 6 seconds a question, and quick recall frees up attention for harder maths. But speed comes last. A child who is timed before they know the facts learns to guess, or learns to dread tables.

A good order is untimed practice until the answers are right, then untimed practice until they come without counting, and only then a little timing, if your child enjoys it. Timed games suit some children and upset others; you know which yours is.

How to help a child who is struggling with times tables

• Find out which facts are missing. Write out the table, ask each fact once, and tick what comes easily. Usually only a few facts are the problem, not the whole table.
• Go back to understanding. If a fact won’t stick, build it again with objects or an array, then link it to one they know: 7 × 8 is 7 × 4 doubled.
• One table at a time. Mixing tables too early makes every fact harder.
• Keep sessions short. Five minutes most days works better than a long session at the weekend, and it keeps practice from turning into a battle.
• Talk to the teacher if nothing seems to stick after a few weeks. They can tell you how your child manages in class and what the school is doing.

A ten-minute routine for the week

• Monday: build this week’s table with objects or an array, then count up in steps together.
• Tuesday and Wednesday: ask the facts out of order, turning them round (6 × 4 and 4 × 6). Note the ones that are slow.
• Thursday: mix in the facts from last week’s table, and the slow ones from this week.
• Friday: a quick check, then something else. The table that is still shaky comes back next week.

Where Kamelo fits in

Kamelo turns the table set this week into about ten minutes of practice. You photograph the homework diary, check the tables Kamelo read (about thirty seconds), and your child answers one fact at a time on a big number pad. A missed fact comes back a few questions later, there are no leaderboards, and there is no timer by default. For Year 4, a parent can switch on a practice mode in the check’s format, 25 questions with 6 seconds each, on the tables your child is learning. It is not the official check. Kamelo is planned for the UK in January 2027; the times tables page shows how it works.