Smart Starters · Ages 8 to 10
MTC Style 25 Question Drill
Twenty-five mixed multiplication questions in Multiplication Tables Check proportions. Five levels with answer keys.
The learning journey
Every activity is one step. Here is where this one fits.
- PlayLearn the idea in a game
- Practise(you are here)Lock it in on paper
- ReviewCome back and keep it sharp
- MasterTake on a harder challenge
- AchieveEarn a certificate
About MTC Style 25 Question Drill
The Multiplication Tables Check gives a child twenty-five questions with six seconds each, and the tables it asks about are not evenly spread — it deliberately over-samples the sixes, sevens, eights, nines and twelves, because those are the ones that decide whether a child is fluent. A practice sheet that drew its questions uniformly would therefore be poor preparation however many questions it had, so the draw on this worksheet is weighted to match the real proportions. Twenty-five questions sit in a five by five grid with an answer space beside each, laid out so a child can work down it at speed rather than hunting for the next one. No fact repeats within a page. The early levels stay inside the tables a Year 3 child has usually met, and the weighting towards the harder tables arrives from the middle level onward, so the sheet works as build-up as well as final preparation. The answer key follows the grid order exactly, left to right and top to bottom, which matters when you are marking twenty-five answers against the clock. Each level prints as a clean A4 sheet in black and white with its own separate answer key. Its on-screen twin is MTC Six Second Sprint.
Common questions
- Why is the mix of tables uneven?
- Because the real check is. It over-samples the 6s, 7s, 8s, 9s and 12s, so a uniform sheet would be poor preparation.
- How many questions are on a page?
- Twenty-five, in a five by five grid, matching the real check.
- Can a fact repeat on one page?
- No. Every question on a page is different.
- Does the answer key follow the grid order?
- Yes, exactly — left to right and top to bottom, which matters when marking against the clock.
A hand for grown-ups
- Before you start
- Think of it as groups: "4 × 3" is four groups of three. Have something you can arrange into equal groups.
- While they work
- Skip-counting (3, 6, 9, 12…) is a solid way in before facts are memorised. Let them use it — speed comes later.
- Afterwards
- Spot arrays in real life together — eggs in a box, tiles on a floor. Rows-and-columns is multiplication you can see.
- Watch out for
- Treating it as harder addition and losing track. Grouping objects physically keeps the "equal groups" idea in view.
- Away from the screen
- Lay out objects in rows and columns and count them two ways. Cooking with doubled recipes is multiplication too.
Where to go next
Chosen by the skills this activity practises.