The schedules side by side
The table below uses each country's own year names. Remember that the year numbers are offset: Year labels differ between systems. In the age bands used here, UK Year 3 corresponds to Australian Year 2 and US Grade 2; check local entry cut-offs when comparing individual children.
| Typical age | England | Australia | United States | New Zealand |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6 to 7 | Year 2: 2, 5 and 10 times tables | Year 1: counting in 2s, 5s and 10s | Grade 1: counting in 2s, 5s and 10s | Year 2: skip counting |
| 7 to 8 | Year 3: 3, 4 and 8 times tables | Year 2: 2 times table and doubling | Grade 2: arrays and repeated addition | Year 3: 2, 3, 4, 5, 8 and 10 facts |
| 8 to 9 | Year 4: all tables to 12 x 12, Multiplication Tables Check in June | Year 3: 3, 4, 5 and 10 times tables | Grade 3: all facts to 10 x 10 from memory | Year 4: all facts from 2 to 10 |
| 9 to 10 | Year 5: use tables for long multiplication and factors | Year 4: all facts to 10 x 10 | Grade 4: use tables for multi-digit multiplication | Year 5: apply multiplication and division facts |
| 10 to 11 | Year 6: fluent, used for fractions, ratio and algebra | Year 5: fluent, extended to 12s and beyond | Grade 5: fluent, used for fractions and decimals | Year 6: fluent, extended to related division facts |
Typical age is the age most children are during that school year. Curricula change, so check your own school's plan for anything time-critical.
England: 2, 5, 10, then 3, 4, 8, then everything by Year 4
The national curriculum for England is the most prescriptive. Year 2 children learn the 2, 5 and 10 times tables. Year 3 adds the 3, 4 and 8 times tables (the 4 and 8 chosen because they double the 2 and 4). Year 4 covers every table up to 12 x 12, and since 2022 every Year 4 child sits the Multiplication Tables Check, an online test of 25 questions with six seconds each, in June.
The check is the reason English schools push tables so hard in Years 3 and 4. It is not a pass or fail test and results are not published per child, but schools use it to spot children who need more practice before Year 5, where long multiplication depends on it.
Australia: 2s in Year 2, 3, 4, 5 and 10 in Year 3, all to 10 by 10 in Year 4
The Australian Curriculum (version 9) spreads the tables over three years. Year 2 builds fluency with the 2 times facts and uses doubling and halving for the related division facts. Year 3 adds the 3, 4, 5 and 10 times tables with their division facts. Year 4 expects fluency with every multiplication fact up to 10 x 10 and the related division facts, with children able to explain the patterns in them.
That is about a year later than England for the full set, and there is no national tables test. Individual states and schools often go faster, and many teach the 11 and 12 times tables in Year 4 or 5 even though the curriculum stops at 10.
United States: arrays in Grade 2, all facts to 10 by 10 in Grade 3
The Common Core standards, used or adapted by most states, introduce multiplication in Grade 2 through arrays and repeated addition, without expecting recall. Grade 3 is the big year: the standard 3.OA.C.7 expects children to multiply and divide within 100 fluently and to know every product of two one-digit numbers from memory by the end of the year. Grade 4 uses those facts for multi-digit multiplication and for factors and multiples.
American schools usually teach the facts to 10 x 10 or 12 x 12 depending on the district, and there is no national test. States that have replaced Common Core keep a very similar schedule.
New Zealand: 2, 3, 4, 5, 8 and 10 in Year 3; all 2 to 10 in Year 4
The New Zealand Mathematics and Statistics curriculum in force from January 2026 gives teaching sequences within each phase by year. Ministry of Education guidance for Year 3 includes multiplication and division facts for 2, 3, 4, 5, 8 and 10. Year 4 includes knowing the 2 to 10 times tables and using those facts in multiplication and division. Year 5 builds on this fluency; it is not the first year for the full set.
Why the ages differ, and why it does not matter much
The differences are choices about pace, not about ability. England front-loads tables to free up Years 5 and 6 for long multiplication, fractions and the Key Stage 2 tests. Australia and New Zealand also build understanding through arrays, doubling and patterns alongside recall. Their year numbers should not be treated as interchangeable age labels. By age ten, children in all four systems are expected to know the same facts.
What does matter is the order within each schedule. Every curriculum starts with 2s, 5s and 10s because they are the easiest and cover the most ground, and every curriculum leaves 6s, 7s, 8s and 9s to last because they are the hardest. If your child is between milestones, practise in that order regardless of the country.
What to practise before each milestone
- Before the 2, 5 and 10 tables: skip counting in 2s, 5s and 10s out loud, and doubling numbers to 10.
- Before the 3 and 4 tables: the 2 times table from memory, then doubling it for the 4s and counting in 3s.
- Before the full set: the 6, 7, 8 and 9 tables, which contain the only ten genuinely new facts once the rest are known.
- Before an English Year 4 tables check: mixed questions with a six-second limit, so speed under time is familiar.
- After the milestone: the related division facts, which every curriculum expects alongside the tables.