News

Six seconds a question: Year 4 pupils face quick-fire multiplication test

The new multiplication tables check is to be introduced in year 4 and will see pupils answering 25 times tables questions in two-and-a-half minutes.

Schools minister Nick Gibb unveiled the test last month and invited schools to sign up ahead of plans for a national pilot this summer. The check itself is to become a requirement from June 2020.

However, responding to the announcement, the National Association of Head Teachers (NAHT) has said that schools already teach and assess times tables and that the new check would be “unnecessary”.

The test – like the government’s phonics check – is not a school accountability measure but is designed to ensure that children know their times tables up to 12 by heart by the time they reach year 6.

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