Multiplication Tables Check Practice
Practise in the exact format of the statutory Year 4 Multiplication Tables Check: 25 questions, 6 seconds to answer each one, times tables 2 to 12.
What is the Multiplication Tables Check?
The Multiplication Tables Check (MTC) is a statutory online assessment for Year 4 pupils at state-funded schools in England. It checks whether children can recall their times tables up to 12 × 12 fluently — not work them out, recall them instantly. Schools administer it during a set window in the summer term, usually in early June, over roughly a two to three week period.
The check itself takes about five minutes: 25 questions, 3 practice questions first, then 6 seconds allowed per question, with a short rest between each one. Questions on the 6, 7, 8, 9 and 12 times tables come up more often, since these are the facts pupils typically find hardest to recall quickly.
Is there a pass mark?
No. There's no official pass or fail line, and MTC results aren't published in school performance tables. The check exists so teachers can see, fact by fact, which pupils need more support before moving into Year 5 maths, where quick recall of times tables is assumed.
How this practice mode works
This mode mirrors the real check as closely as a browser game reasonably can: 25 questions, a 6-second timer on each one, and multiplication facts across the 2 to 12 times tables. It won't feel identical to the official on-screen assessment schools use, but the format, timing pressure and question style are the same — which is what actually helps with recall speed and reduces surprise on the day.
Tips for practising at home
- Short, frequent sessions beat one long one — five minutes most days works better than twenty minutes once a week.
- Focus extra practice on 6, 7, 8, 9 and 12 — they come up most often and are usually the last facts to become automatic.
- Don't chase 25/25 every time. A rising personal best over several attempts is a better sign of real progress than any single score.
- If a table is consistently slow, drop back to our Times Tables practice for that table on its own before returning here.
A realistic run-up plan, month by month
Cramming times tables in the two weeks before the check tends to produce short-term recall at best. What actually builds the automatic recall the MTC tests is distributed practice over months, not days — a well-established finding in memory research generally, not something specific to multiplication facts.
| When | What to focus on |
|---|---|
| January–February | Solidify 2×, 5×, 10× and 3× — the tables with clear patterns (see the Times Tables page for what each pattern is). These should need very little dedicated time if already secure from Year 2–3. |
| March–April | Move onto 4×, 6×, 8× — mostly derivable from doubling, but still worth dedicated practice until instant rather than derived. |
| May | Concentrate on 7×, 9×, 11×, 12× — the facts with the least obvious shortcuts and usually the last to become automatic. This is where most families should spend the most practice time. |
| Early June | Switch to full-format practice: all tables mixed, 6-second timer, no working-out time — exactly what this page's game mode does. |
| Check week | Short, confidence-building sessions only. New content or added pressure this week tends to backfire. |
What happens to the score afterwards
Schools use MTC results internally to see, fact by fact, which pupils would benefit from more targeted support heading into Year 5 — not as a headline number reported to parents in isolation. The data also feeds into national statistics the Department for Education publishes each year, and is visible to Ofsted as part of a school's broader performance picture, but it is never published as an individual school league-table metric the way SATs results are.
Understanding a specific score
Recent national data has shown roughly a third of pupils achieving full marks (25/25), with a national average score around 21 out of 25. A score noticeably below that isn't a signal of a wider maths problem on its own — it usually points specifically at times-tables recall speed, which is a narrower, more fixable thing than "struggling with maths" in general. The For Teachers page has a term-by-term plan for closing that gap.
MTC questions parents and teachers ask
What is the Multiplication Tables Check (MTC)?
The MTC is a statutory online assessment taken by Year 4 pupils in state-funded schools in England. It checks fluent recall of times tables up to 12 × 12 using 25 questions, with 6 seconds allowed per question.
Is there a pass mark for the MTC?
No. There is no official pass mark, and results are not published in school performance tables. Schools use the score to see which pupils may need extra support with times tables fluency.
When is the Multiplication Tables Check taken?
Schools administer the MTC to Year 4 pupils during a set window in the summer term, typically in early June, over a two to three week period set by the Standards and Testing Agency.
What is a good MTC score?
There's no pass/fail line, but recent national data has put the average score at around 21 out of 25, with roughly a third of pupils scoring full marks. Use your own previous attempts as the benchmark to beat rather than comparing to a single "good" number.