Almost one in five UK primary school teachers experiences high or very high maths anxiety. That is the headline finding from a major multi-country study published in March 2026 by the Mathematics Anxiety Research Group at the University of Derby, and honestly, when I read it, I wasn't entirely surprised. But I was struck by quite how stark that number is.
18% of the people we trust to teach our children maths are themselves deeply anxious about the subject. That isn't a criticism of teachers. Not even slightly. It is a structural problem that the education system has been quietly sitting with for years, and this research finally puts hard numbers to something many parents and school staff already sense.
Why This Finding Matters So Much Right Now
The reason this research caught my attention isn't just the statistic itself. It's what happens downstream from it. The study reinforces something researchers have long suspected: maths anxiety is socially transmitted. Children pick up on adult nervousness around numbers. The hesitation before a lesson. The apologetic tone when explaining a method. The subtle message that maths is something to endure rather than something to enjoy.
When I looked into this more carefully, one pattern kept appearing. Teachers with higher maths anxiety tend to avoid open-ended, exploratory tasks. They stick to rote methods because those feel safer and more predictable. Which, ironically, is exactly the kind of teaching that produces the next generation of maths-anxious children.
For parents reading this: the same dynamic plays out at home. If you've ever sat down to help with times tables homework and felt your own stomach tighten, you'll know what I mean. You are not alone, and you are not failing your child. But it is worth understanding what's happening so we can do something about it.
Signs of Maths Anxiety in Primary School Children
Before anything else, it helps to know what maths anxiety actually looks like in a child aged 6 to 11. It doesn't always announce itself dramatically. Often it's quieter than that.
A child who goes blank during a maths lesson, even when they clearly understood the concept at home the night before. A child who says "I'm just bad at maths" so automatically it sounds like a fact rather than a feeling. Physical symptoms before a test, stomach aches, tears, reluctance to go in. Avoidance of anything that might involve numbers, including card games or mental arithmetic at the dinner table.
These behaviours often mirror what anxious adults do around maths too. Which is part of why the new research is so important. If we want to interrupt this cycle, we need to address both ends of it simultaneously.
The Pressure That Falls on Adults Who Already Don't Feel Confident
Here's something I hear a lot in the conversations we have with parents and schools: the expectation that an anxious adult should be the one to calmly, confidently guide a child through their times tables is genuinely unrealistic. For a teacher managing a class of thirty children, some of whom already dislike the subject, delivering maths with warmth and confidence is an enormous ask. For a parent trying to fit homework help between dinner and bath time, often with their own complicated history with school maths, it can feel impossible.
The 2026 findings make this visible in a way that should prompt a real conversation, not about blaming teachers or parents, but about designing the learning experience differently so the anxious adult doesn't have to carry the whole weight of it.
As our founder Gal Darrash puts it, "The adult in the room shouldn't have to be the expert. If the game does the teaching, everyone can just play."
That's exactly the thinking behind XTables Champions. The platform uses games children already love, things like Snap, Bingo, Connect Four, and Guess Who, and builds times tables practice directly into the mechanics. Nobody has to stand at the front of the room and perform confidence they don't feel. The game creates the structure, the repetition, and the engagement, and it does it in a way that's genuinely fun rather than something to white-knuckle through.
What Game-Based Learning Does Differently
When I looked at what the research says about reducing maths anxiety, one theme comes up consistently: psychological safety. Children (and adults) learn better when they don't feel threatened by failure. Timed drills, being put on the spot in front of peers, or the stark visibility of a wrong answer in a workbook, all of these raise the stakes in ways that actually impair learning.
Game-based approaches change that dynamic. A wrong answer in Snap or Battleship is just part of the game. You try again. Nobody marks it in red pen. The repetition is built in without feeling punitive, and because the games are multiplayer, the social experience is enjoyable rather than isolating.
For schools with SENCOs supporting children with dyslexia or ADHD, this matters even more. The XTables Champions platform includes visual breakdowns through the Show Me How feature, and analytics dashboards so teachers and parents can see progress over time without having to rely purely on test scores. It gives everyone, the anxious teacher, the uncertain parent, the struggling child, a bit more to hold onto.
From the schools we've spoken to in our early work, what comes up again and again is that the children who benefit most aren't always the ones who were furthest behind. Sometimes it's the quietly capable child who had simply switched off because the subject had started to feel like something to fear.
This Is a Conversation Worth Having in Every Staffroom
If you're a teacher, a SENCO, or a school administrator reading this, I'd gently encourage you to take the University of Derby findings into your next CPD conversation. Not as a source of guilt, because there is genuinely none warranted here, but as an opening. Eighteen percent of your colleagues may be managing something they've never felt able to name. The research gives it a name and, more usefully, it points toward solutions that reduce reliance on individual teaching confidence and instead build in structural support.
If you're a parent, know that playing a numbers game with your child, even one you find daft or repetitive, is doing something real. You don't have to understand the year group curriculum or know your twelve times table off by heart. You just have to play.
Let's Talk About How XTables Champions Can Support Your School or Child
If this piece has resonated with you, whether you're a teacher who sees themselves in that 18%, a SENCO looking for low-pressure tools for anxious learners, or a parent who has watched their child shut down in front of a maths worksheet, I'd love to hear from you.
XTables Champions is built specifically for this situation. We're a young, founder-led company and we're genuinely interested in hearing what schools and families are experiencing. If you'd like to find out how our platform works, see what games are available, or just have a conversation about supporting anxious learners, get in touch with us at xtableschampions.com. We're approachable, we listen, and we'd be glad to help.