Learn a table properly first, hiding it a few numbers at a time until you can say the whole thing from memory. Then test yourself against the clock.
Answers check as you type, and a wrong one can always be retried.
A good order runs 2, 10, 5, then 11, 4, 3, 6, 8, 9, 12 and 7 last.
Not needed for the 11+ or SATs. Worth a go once 2 to 12 feel easy.
Well done
Paused
Which numbers shall we hide?
Pick up to four. Read the trick, then fill them back in from memory.
Test history
Learning times tables properly, and why chanting fails
Most children can chant a times table and still not know it. Chanting builds a sequence, so 7 × 6 is only reachable by running up from 7 × 1. What an exam needs is instant recall from any starting point, and that is a different thing built a different way.
Recall, not recitation
This tool hides the answer and asks for it cold, in random order. That is deliberate. Recognising an answer when you see it and producing it from nothing are separate skills, and only the second one is any use under exam pressure.
The test for whether a table is genuinely known is simple: ask a fact from the middle, out of order, with no run up. If your child has to count, it is not learned yet, however confidently they can chant it.
The order that works
Do not go 2, 3, 4, 5 and onwards. Learn them by difficulty and by how much they unlock:
| Stage | Tables | Why here |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2, 5, 10 | Pattern based, quick wins, build confidence |
| 2 | 3, 4 | Doubling from the 2s, small step |
| 3 | 6, 8 | Doubling from the 3s and 4s |
| 4 | 9 | Has its own pattern, easier than it looks |
| 5 | 7 | The genuinely hard one, and much smaller once the others are known |
| 6 | 11, 12 | Mostly already covered by commutativity |
By the time you reach the 7s, only a handful of facts are actually new. 7 × 2, 7 × 5 and 7 × 10 came free. 7 × 3, 7 × 4, 7 × 6 and 7 × 8 were learned from the other side. That leaves 7 × 7 and 7 × 9. Telling a struggling child that the hardest table is really two facts changes how it feels.
Why this still matters at GCSE
Times tables are not a primary school topic that gets left behind. They sit underneath fractions, ratio, factorising, surds, percentages and every non-calculator question at GCSE.
A Year 10 who is shaky on tables is not slow at algebra because algebra is hard. They are slow at algebra because every line of working contains a small multiplication that costs them a few seconds and some of their attention. Across a ninety minute paper, that adds up to real marks.
Signs it is working
Look for the pause disappearing rather than the score rising. A child who answers correctly after two seconds of visible calculation has not learned the fact yet. When the answer arrives without a gap, it is in.
Expect three to six weeks of short daily sessions for a table that was genuinely missing. Longer than most parents hope, much shorter than most children fear.
Questions parents ask
My child knows them but is slow. Is that a problem?
Yes, and it is the most common version of this problem. Slow recall and no recall have the same effect on a long question, because both consume the working memory the question needed.
The fix is the same either way: short, frequent, random-order retrieval.
Should we use songs and chants?
They are useful for getting a table into a child's head initially, especially for younger children. They are not enough on their own, because they build the sequence rather than the individual facts.
Use them to introduce, then switch to random order recall to consolidate.
How do we know which table to work on?
Test a spread of facts from every table, out of order, and time the answers rather than just marking them. The table with the longest pauses is the one to work on, which is often not the one the child says they find hardest.
Our guide to mastering times tables sets out the full method.