MTC: Multiplication Tables Check
Year 4, Key Stage 2

The MTC: Who and How?

From the 2019/2020 academic year, all children in Year 4 in English state schools (aged 8-9) will sit the new Multiplication Tables Check (MTC).

The test will be taken in June each year.

Children will take the times tables test on a computer or tablet.

The Department for Education published their MTC framework and this site follows their formulas to create practice tests.

The questions are delivered at the same pace as the official MTC.

How to Practise for the Y4 Multiplication Tables Check (MTC)

The best way to practise for a standardised test is to take 'practice tests' that mimic the real thing as closely as possible.

Practise until you're un-phased by the format and can do yourself justice.

The tests on this page are ideal for practice.

BUT if you don't already know your times tables pretty well these practice tests won't help you to learn them.

They will, however, show you which multiplication tables you're shakey on, so that you can practise them separately.

How to Learn your Times Tables (Multiplication Facts)

Before you start practicing for your MTC, it's a good idea to learn your times tables... properly!

There's only one way to learn times tables, and that's by repetition - i.e. practicing!

If you don't use your times tables every day for the maths you're learning in school, you'll need to repeatedly recall your multiplication facts daily or weekly from now until you take the test.

There are many ways to go about learning your times tables, for example using flash cards, youtube songs, multiplication games, or my out-and-out favourite method:

Singing each times table with the absolute minimum of faff.

Using the catchy chants from Talking Times Tables you can recite each times table in less than 15 seconds.

It's fast, it's efficient, and it gets practice over with very quickly so that you can get on with your day!

You can try it for yourself here.

How the MTC Questions are Chosen: The MTC Framework

Each test will have:

• A total of 25 questions.
• No reversals (e.g if 4x3 is on the test, then 3x4 will not be).
• No questions from the 1 times table (e.g. not 1x7 or 7x1).
• Up to 2 questions from each of the 2 and 10 times tables.
• Between 1 and 3 questions from each of the 3, 4, 5 and 11 times tables.
• Between 2 and 4 questions from each of the 6, 7, 8, 9 and 12 times tables.

Children will have:

• 6 seconds to answer each question.
• 3 seconds between each question.

Please note: The MTC Framework considers the first number in the sum to be the times table, and the second number to be the multiple.

i.e. <times table> x <multiple>

So 7x4 comes from the 7 times table (not the 4 times table).

If you recite times tables, you might think of it the other way around: 1x7=7,  2x7=14 etc

The numbers of questions listed above refer to how many times a number can appear as the first number in the sum.

(e.g. "Between 2 and 4 questions from the 7 times table" means there should be between 2 and 4 questions that begin 7x...)

There are more rules, relating to how many KS1 (2, 5 and 10 times tables) level questions can be included overall, and how many times each multiple (the second number) can appear. The practice tests on this site follow all of the rules. You can read the published framework here: Department for Education: Multiplication tables check assessment framework.