Multiplication tables check attainment
Multiplication tables check attainment by pupil characteristics, school characteristics, region and local authority.
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Background information
This statistical release focuses on the multiplication tables check (MTC) results of pupils at the end of year 4 attending schools in England.
It includes statistics for pupils:
- at national level by characteristic breakdowns such as sex, disadvantage, free school meal eligibility, ethnicity, special educational need status, first language, month of birth, school type, school phase and school religious character;
- at regional and local authority level by characteristic breakdowns such as disadvantage, free school meal eligibility, ethnicity, special educational need status and first language.
The multiplication tables check publication was first released in 2022 when the assessment became statutory for all year 4 pupils registered at state-funded maintained schools, special schools, or academies (including free schools) in England.
All gaps and percentage point differences are calculated from unrounded figures.
Headline facts and figures
Average attainment score
21.0
Up from 20.6 in 2024
National average score
Average MTC score of all pupils who took the check in England
Percentage of eligible pupils scored 25 marks
37%
This is the most common mark (full marks)
These statistics cover the national attainment of pupils who took the multiplication tables check in summer 2025.
- Average attainment score of those who took the check increased 0.3 points (based on unrounded figures) for all pupils since 2024, from 20.6 to 21.0.
- 37% of eligible pupils scored 25 (full marks) in the multiplication tables check, an increase of 3 percentage points compared to 2024 from 34%. This was the most common score achieved.
- Disadvantaged pupils performed less well in the multiplication tables check than non-disadvantaged pupils. The average attainment score of pupils who took the check increased for disadvantaged pupils from 18.9 to 19.3, and for non-disadvantaged pupils from 21.3 to 21.7.
- London is the highest performing region, with an average score of 21.7; the South East and East of England are the lowest performing regions with 20.7. Outside of London, the highest regional average score was 21.2 in the North East and West Midlands.
National attainment
These statistics cover the national attainment of pupils in state funded schools and alternative provision who took the multiplication tables check in summer 2025.
Of eligible year 4 pupils, 96% took the multiplication tables check, the same as in previous years. Among the 4% of pupils who did not take the check, most (3%) of these pupils were working below the level of the assessment. Other reasons for not taking the check include absence, being unable to participate, or having recently arrived from a different education system.
The average attainment score of pupils who took the multiplication tables check in state funded schools and alternative provision increased from 20.6 to 21.0 in 2025. This represents an increase of 0.3 points between 2024 and 2025, based on unrounded figures. The average attainment score has increased steadily each year from 19.8 in 2022 when the multiplication tables check became statutory. 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). The percentage of eligible pupils who achieved this score increased from 34% in 2024 to 37% in 2025. This represents a difference of 3 percentage points. The percentage of pupils achieving full marks has increased steadily each year from 27% in 2022 when the multiplication tables check became statutory.
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 pupil characteristics
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 2025, the average attainment score of pupils who took the multiplication tables check increased by 0.3 points for both girls (from 20.4 to 20.7 ) and boys (from 20.9 to 21.2) compared to 2024, 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 3 percentage points (unrounded) since 2024 for both sexes, from 32% to 35% for girls and from 35% to 39% 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
Definition of disadvantage
Disadvantaged pupils are those known to be eligible for free school meals (FSM) at any point prior to the assessment in year 4 (not including nursery or reception), have been in the care of the local authority for 1 day or more in the last year or have left local authority care in England and Wales through adoption, a special guardianship order, a residence order or a child arrangements order.
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 2024.
In 2025, the average attainment score of disadvantaged pupils who took the multiplication tables check increased by 0.4 points from 18.9 to 19.3, and by 0.3 points from 21.3 to 21.7 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 2.4 points lower than pupils not known to be disadvantaged (reduction of 0.1 points, from 2.5 in 2024). 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 2025, 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 3 percentage points for both groups since 2024, from 25% to 27% for disadvantaged pupils and 37% to 41% for pupils not known to be disadvantaged (differences based on unrounded data).
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), 85% of pupils took the multiplication tables check, representing 95% of those on SEN support and 51% 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 (41% of pupils with EHC plans, compared to 4% of those on SEN support in 2025). 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 1.7 points lower than pupils on SEN support, a slightly wider gap in attainment than in 2024 (1.6 points). The average attainment score for pupils on SEN support increased by 0.6 points from 16.8 in 2024 to 17.4 in 2025; among pupils with Education, Health and Care plans, average attainment increased by 0.4 points from 15.2 in 2024 to 15.6 in 2025.
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 16% to 19%. For pupils with an Education and Health Care plan, this increased by 1 percentage point from 8% to 9% compared to 2024.
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 1.3 points. This gap has narrowed each year, from 1.7 in 2022.
Attainment has increased for both pupils with English as first language and pupils with a first language other than English since 2024. In 2025, the average score of pupils who took the multiplication tables check increased by 0.3 points for both pupils with a first language of English (from 20.4 to 20.7) and a first language other than English (from 21.8 to 22.0, differences based on unrounded data). Pupils that did not complete the check are not included in average attainment scores.
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).
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 3 percentage points for both groups, from 31% to 34% for pupils with a first language of English and from 42% to 45% for pupils with a first language other than English compared to 2024.
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 ethnicity
A smaller proportion of Irish Traveller pupils (84%) and Gypsy pupils (88%) 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 95% to 98%. This is due to a larger proportion of Irish Traveller and Gypsy pupils being recorded as not taking the check due to working below the level of the assessment and being absent.
In 2025, Chinese pupils remain the highest achieving group with an average score of 23.9, followed by Indian pupils with 23.1. Irish Traveller pupils remain the lowest achieving group with an average score of 15.5, followed by Gypsy pupils with 16.1. Pupils that did not complete the check are not included in average attainment scores.
The average score for all ethnic groups has increased between 2024 and 2025.
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 63% achieving 25 marks, followed by Indian pupils with 54%. Irish Traveller pupils were the lowest performing group with 11%, followed by Gypsy pupils with 16%.
Attainment by month of birth
A similar 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 2024 and 2025.
In 2025, the average score of pupils who took the multiplication tables check has increased from 20.0 to 20.4 for August-born pupils and 21.3 to 21.6 for September-born pupils compared to 2024. This is an increase of 0.4 and 0.3 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 29% to 33% for August-born pupils and from 39% to 42% for September-born pupils. Based on unrounded data, this represents an increase of 3 percentage points for both groups compared to 2024.
Attainment by school characteristics
This section looks at the national attainment in the multiplication tables check by school type.
Further information on school characteristic breakdowns including school type, school phase and school religious character is available via the “Explore data and files used in the release”.
Attainment by school type
This section covers the attainment of pupils in state funded mainstream schools who took the multiplication tables check in summer 2025.
In 2025 there were 15,688 state funded mainstream schools with 629,947 pupils that completed the multiplication tables check at the end of year 4. Schools outside of state funded mainstream schools include alternative provision and state-funded special schools.
The average attainment score for all pupils in state funded mainstream schools increased from 20.7 to 21.0 compared to 2024 (0.3 points). Pupils that did not complete the check are not included in average attainment scores.
The average score in academies and free schools increased from 20.8 in 2024 to 21.2 in 2025 (0.4 points). Among academies and free schools, converter academies have a slightly higher average score (21.3) than state funded mainstream schools, while the average score for sponsored academies (20.9) is slightly below the average score for state funded mainstream schools. This is the first year where the average score for sponsored academies (20.9) is higher than that for local authority maintained schools (20.8).
It should be noted that the conversion of schools from one type to another means that the headline figures capture not only change in performance but also change in school type. While the number of free schools has increased from 254 in 2024 to 274 in 2025, free schools make up a very small proportion of state funded mainstream schools (1.7%).
Contact us
If you have a specific enquiry about Multiplication tables check attainment statistics and data:
Primary Attainment Statistics
Email: Primary.ATTAINMENT@education.gov.ukContact name: Phoebe Jones
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