This section looks at the national attainment in the multiplication tables check in state-funded schools by pupils characteristics including sex, disadvantage, special educational need (SEN) provision, first language, ethnicity and month of birth. This section only includes pupils that are in state-funded schools and does not include those that are in alternative provision.
Further information on pupil characteristic breakdowns including attainment by free school meal eligibility and SEN primary type of need is available via the “Explore data and files used in the release”.
Attainment by sex
A slightly larger proportion of girls completed the multiplication tables check than boys (97% and 95% respectively). This is due to a larger proportion of boys being recorded as not taking the check due to working below the level of the assessment.
In 2024, the average attainment score of pupils who took the multiplication tables check increased by 0.5 points for both girls (from 19.9 to 20.4 ) and boys (from 20.4 to 20.9) compared to 2023, with the gap between groups remaining at 0.5. Pupils that did not complete the check are not included in average attainment scores.
The most common score in the multiplication tables check is 25 (full marks) for both girls and boys. The percentage of eligible pupils who achieved this score increased by 4 percentage points since 2023 for both sexes, from 28% to 32% for girls and 31% to 35% for boys.
Proportions in the chart and table below are calculated out of all eligible pupils, including those who did not take the check, however the "did not take the check" category is not shown on the chart.
Attainment by disadvantage status
Disadvantaged pupils continue to perform less well in the multiplication tables check than other pupils, though attainment has increased for both disadvantaged pupils and all other pupils since 2023.
In 2024, the average attainment score of disadvantaged pupils who took the multiplication tables check increased by 0.6 points from 18.3 to 18.9, and by 0.5 points from 20.9 to 21.3 for pupils not known to be disadvantaged (differences based on unrounded data). The gap in average attainment between the groups has remained similar, with disadvantaged pupils scoring 2.5 points lower than pupils not known to be disadvantaged (reduction of 0.1 points, from 2.6, since 2023). Pupils that did not complete the check are not included in average attainment scores.
A smaller proportion of disadvantaged pupils took the multiplication tables check than pupils not known to be disadvantaged (94% and 97% respectively). This is mainly due to a larger proportion of disadvantaged pupils being recorded as not taking the check due to working below the level of the assessment.
In 2024, the most common score in the multiplication tables check is 25 (full marks) for both disadvantaged pupils and pupils not known to be disadvantaged. The percentage of eligible pupils who achieved this score increased by 4 percentage points for both groups since 2023, from 21% to 25% for disadvantaged pupils and 33% to 37% for pupils not known to be disadvantaged.
Proportions in the chart and table below are calculated out of all eligible pupils, including those who did not take the check, however the "did not take the check" category is not shown on the chart.
Attainment by Special Educational Need (SEN) status
Among all pupils with special educational needs (SEN), 84% of pupils took the multiplication tables check, representing 94% of those on SEN support and 49% of those with an Education, Health and Care (EHC) plan. Differences are mainly due to a larger proportion of pupils with EHC plans being recorded as not taking the check due to working below the level of the assessment (43% of pupils with EHC plans, compared to 4% of those on SEN support in 2024). The large proportion of pupils not taking the check should be noted when considering attainment by SEN status. Pupils that did not complete the check are not included in average attainment scores.
Pupils with EHC plans had an average score 1.6 points lower than pupils on SEN support, a slightly wider gap in attainment than in 2023 (1.3 points). The average attainment score for pupils on SEN support increased by 0.8 points from 16.0 in 2023 to 16.8 in 2024; among pupils with Education, Health and Care plans, average attainment increased by 0.5 points from 14.7 to 15.2.
The most common score in the multiplication tables check is 25 (full marks) for both pupils on SEN support and EHC plans.
The percentage of eligible pupils who achieved 25 marks increased by 3 percentage points for pupils with SEN support from 13% to 16%. For pupils with an Education and Health Care plan, this increased by 1 percentage point from 7% to 8% compared to 2023.
Proportions in the chart and table below are calculated out of all eligible pupils, including those who did not take the check, however the "did not take the check" category is not shown on the chart.
Attainment by first language
Pupils with a first language of English performed less well in the multiplication tables check than pupils with a first language other than English, with a difference of 1.4 points. This remains similar to 2023 where the gap was 1.5 points. Attainment has increased for both pupils with English as first language and pupils with a first language other than English since 2023.
A similar proportion of pupils with a first language of English and a first language other than English took the multiplication tables check (96% and 97% respectively).
In 2024, the average score of pupils who took the multiplication tables check with a first language of English has increased by 0.5 points from 19.9 to 20.4 and pupils with a first language other than English has increased by 0.4 points from 21.4 to 21.8 compared to 2023. Pupils that did not complete the check are not included in average attainment scores.
The most common score in the multiplication tables check is 25 (full marks) for both pupils with first language of English and a first language other than English. The percentage of eligible pupils who achieved this score increased by 4 percentage points for both groups, from 27% to 31% for pupils with a first language of English and from 38% to 42% for pupils with a first language other than English compared to 2023.
Proportions in the chart and table below are calculated out of all eligible pupils, including those who did not take the check, however the "did not take the check" category is not shown on the chart.
Attainment by month of birth
A slightly larger proportion of older pupils took the multiplication tables check compared to younger pupils (97% of September-born pupils took the multiplication tables check, compared to 96% of August-born pupils).
Pupils born later in the academic year (younger pupils) performed less well in the multiplication tables check compared to pupils born earlier in the academic year.
The attainment for pupils across all birth months has increased between 2023 and 2024.
In 2024, the average score of pupils who took the multiplication tables check has increased from 19.4 to 20.0 for August-born pupils and 20.9 to 21.3 for September-born pupils compared to 2023. This is an increase of 0.6 and 0.4 points respectively. Pupils that did not complete the check are not included in average attainment scores.
The most common score in the multiplication tables check is 25 (full marks) for pupils of all birth months. The percentage of eligible pupils who achieved this score increased from 25% to 29% for August-born pupils and from 34% to 39% for September-born pupils. Based on unrounded data, this represents an increase of 4 percentage points for both groups compared to 2023.
Attainment by ethnicity
A smaller proportion of Traveller of Irish heritage pupils (83%) and Gypsy/Roma pupils (86%) took the multiplication tables check than any other ethnic groups. For other ethnic groups the percentage of eligible pupils that took the multiplication tables check ranges from 93% to 99%. This is due to a larger proportion of Traveller of Irish heritage and Gypsy/Roma pupils being recorded as not taking the check due to working below the level of the assessment and being absent.
In 2024, Chinese pupils remain the highest achieving group with an average score of 23.7, followed by Indian pupils with 22.9. Traveller of Irish heritage pupils remain the lowest achieving group with an average score of 15.0, followed by Gypsy/Roma pupils with 15.4. Pupils that did not complete the check are not included in average attainment scores.
The most common score in the multiplication tables check is 25 (full marks) for all ethnic groups. In this metric, Chinese pupils were also the highest achieving group with 60% achieving 25 marks, followed by Indian pupils with 51%. Traveller of Irish heritage pupils were the lowest performing group with 11%, followed by Gypsy/Roma pupils with 13%.
The attainment for all major ethnic groups has increased between 2023 and 2024.