Times tables tests back for primary school pupils
CHILDREN will be put through mandatory times tables tests from the age of eight, the new Education Secretary will announce today.
The policy has been resurrected by Damian Hinds after being shelved by Justine Greening, his predecessor, in a sign of a return to a more traditional approach to education.
It marks the first time in 75 years that pupils will be required to sit national multiplication checks, although such tests were previously administered by schools on an ad hoc basis.
More than 7,000 primary school children will be given the tests in a pilot trial this spring, before the exams are introduced nationally next year.
Nick Gibb, the schools minister, told The Daily Telegraph that the tests would mean that a new generation of schoolchildren would be able to recite their times tables “effortlessly”.
He added that the tests formed part
‘These checks form part of a number of reforms to the maths curriculum from primary school to GCSES’
of the Government’s drive to make England a world leader in mathematics, alongside China and Singapore.
Mr Gibb, who has driven through a series of reforms to the exams system, added that the tests would build on the success of phonics, which has led to the highest reading scores among nine and 10-year-olds in a generation.
Since 2010, the teaching of phonics, a reading system which requires pupils to sound out letters and words, has been mandatory in all schools.
During the same period, England has risen by two places to eighth in the international league tables for reading standards.
“The huge prize here is that there will be huge strides forward in other forms of mathematics, such as long form multiplication,” Mr Gibb said. “They will be far better prepared for the secondary school curriculum than previous generations have been.
“We are determined to raise maths standards in our schools, and these checks form part of a number of reforms to the maths curriculum from primary school to GCSES.
“We want to be the best in the world,
and it absolutely right to say that we want to be up there with Shanghai, Singapore and other centres of excellence.”
The checks will be undertaken by Year 4 pupils online and will take approximately five minutes to complete.
Children who need extra support will be given additional help to ensure they are up to standard before moving on to secondary school.
The tests were originally promised in the Conservative Party’s 2015 manifesto, with Nicky Morgan, then the Education Secretary, proposing their introduction as early as last year.
However, sources in the Department for Education said the policy had been kicked into the long grass by Ms Greening, citing resistance from the teaching unions and “general apathy”.
While head teachers and campaigners last night praised the plans, teaching unions claimed the tests were “unnecessary” and “uncosted”.
Addressing their concerns, Mr Gibb said that in order for children to develop their general knowledge, creativity, and inquisitiveness it was “vital that the fundamentals were firmly grasped”.
Welcoming the pilot, Mark Lehain, director of Parents and Teachers for Excellence, said: “These checks are a really worthwhile endeavour. Times tables are a major building block in a child’s mathematical understanding.
“Just as the phonics check has helped us raise standards of literacy, the times tables check will help teachers, parents and governors better understand what makes the difference in this important part of their mathematical basics.”