- 29% of children scored full marks in their Multiplication
Table Check in 2023, up from 27% in 2022
- Overall attainment score for all children increased between
2022 and 2023
- These results follow on from reforms to boost standards in
maths including through curriculum changes and the introduction
of maths hubs
Standards in schools continue to rise as more primary aged
children are learning their times tables and boosting their
future maths skills, new data reveals today (Thursday 23
November).
These results build on this Government’s success in driving up
standards in schools. In its second year, the times table
national data has shown that more children scored full marks in
the check than last year with 29% of eligible pupils in 2023 up
from 27% in 2022. Overall attainment rose among all eligible
children with an average score of 20 out of 25 marks for those
who took the check.
Disadvantaged children also scored higher this year getting on
average 18 out of 25 marks, up by +0.4 points on
2022. Both boys and girls scored higher than last year.
The success in this year’s scores follows on from a culmination
of reforms introduced since 2010 to drive up standards including
changes to the mathematics curriculum, reflecting international
best practice from countries such as Singapore and China, and the
introduction of a network of Maths Hubs to boost the quality of
teaching in schools across the country.
Schools Minister, said:
“Every stage of school is an opportunity to set children up
to succeed and ensure they are learning the skills they need for
life.
“Mastering times tables by age 9 will make sure children can
tackle more complex maths later on in life as well as help them
with everyday adult activities.
“That is why it’s so exciting that these checks show more
children are learning their times tables in primary schools
alongside our phonics screening check which has seen an increase
in results since last year.Together our reforms are driving up
standards in our schools hand in hand with the hard work of
teachers.”
The Multiplication Tables Check was made compulsory in primary
schools from 2022 to help ensure children aged 8 to 9 know their
times tables up to 12 off by heart. Pupils knowing their times
tables will make more complex mathematics in the future like
algebra and long division simpler to process and give children
the platform they need to move on to more advanced mental
arithmetic.
The multiplication table checks results show:
- Of pupils who took the check, the average attainment score
was 20.2
- 25 (full marks) was the most common score (29% of eligible
pupils achieved this score)
- London was the highest performing region, with an average
score of 21.1
- South West was the lowest performing region, with an average
score of 19.7
- Over 620,000 students took the check in the summer
The results from the data published today will provide teachers
with standardised information to help to identify pupils who have
not yet mastered their times tables, so that additional support
can be provided.
The Government is driving improvements in maths across the
education sector from primary school up to post-18. In 2019
primary pupils achieved their highest ever score in the TIMSS
international test, and Ofsted recently found a ‘resounding,
positive shift in [primary] mathematics education.’ The Maths
Hub’s flagship Teaching for Mastery offer was expanded to 75% of
primary schools by 2025, in line with the Government’s wider
strategy on maths. The Mastering Number programme, which aims to
support children in early primary school master the basics of
arithmetic, is also expanding to 8,000 primary schools by 2024.
Last month, the Prime Minister made a huge announcement about the
future of post-16 education in England. In an overhaul of the
system, the launch of the Advanced British Standard will give
young people the skills they need for the future and
revolutionise how maths is taught in our schools. Under the new
plans, every student will for the first time be required to
study some form of maths and English to age 18. This will help
reverse the long-term trend whereby too many students –
particularly the most disadvantaged – leave school without
achieving the minimum standard in literacy and numeracy.
More broadly, standards of education have risen sharply since
this Government entered office in 2010, with 89% of school rated
good or outstanding by Ofsted, up from just 68% in 2010. The
results published today are another small example of how this
Government’s long-term reforms are delivering a brighter future
for the next generations.
