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How do I know if my child has really memorised a times table?
Telling whether a fact is memorised or worked out isn't always easy: children can get the right answer either way. But the difference matters, because only memory holds up under MTC conditions.
What the research says
The government’s MTC framework implies a benchmark: a child has to recall a fact and type the answer within 6 seconds in total. Research on automaticity, the point where a fact is memorised rather than worked out, suggests that real recall happens in about 1 second. Anything slower involves at least some calculating or reconstructing.
Dehaene & Cohen’s work on verbal memory supports this: automatic recall of a verbal memory, times tables included, happens without thinking it through. It feels like “I just know it,” not “I worked it out.”
What this means in practice
Speed is the honest test. A child who takes 3 seconds to give the right answer knows how to work it out, but hasn’t memorised it. Both are useful, but only memory will help them in the MTC.
Try this
- Ask a random fact and watch. Under a second: memorised. 1 to 3 seconds: nearly there. More than 3 seconds: still working it out.
- Don’t ask in order: reciting the table can hide the fact that a single answer isn’t remembered yet.
- Repeat this test now and then on “learned” tables too. If the memory has faded, the answers come more slowly.
- To check every table at once, use the blank times tables grid: the squares your child leaves empty, or fills in slowly, are the ones to practise.
Sources
- GOV.UK MTC framework — official guidance
- Dehaene & Cohen (1997) — peer-reviewed study
Last reviewed: 2026-08-01