Is it worth practising times tables over the summer?

Summer is when months of times table progress can quietly disappear. Understanding exactly why — and how little it takes to prevent it — changes the case for summer practice from 'ought to' to 'obviously worth it'.

What the research says

The forgetting curve — established research showing how memories decay without retrieval — applies directly to times tables, which are verbal memories subject to the same mechanisms as any other verbal learning. Without retrieval during the summer months, facts that were solid in June may require significant relearning by September.

Mawson and Kang’s meta-analysis and Rea and Modigliani’s original spacing research both point to the same practical implication: maintenance requires far less practice than initial learning. A small number of retrieval attempts spread across the summer — perhaps five minutes every few days — is sufficient to preserve recall that would otherwise decay.

What this means in practice

Summer consolidation is genuinely low-effort. The goal is not to continue learning — it’s to prevent forgetting what’s already been learned. The asymmetry is significant: a few minutes every few days preserves months of work. Doing nothing risks losing it.

Try this

• Reduce frequency to two or three sessions per week over summer, rather than stopping entirely.
• Focus on the facts your child found hardest during the year — these are most vulnerable to decay.
• Frame it to your child as “keeping what you’ve earned” rather than “still doing school stuff.”

Last reviewed: 2026-08-01