Why Traditional MTC Prep Fails SEND Students (And How to Fix It for Next Year)

I want to be honest here. Drill-based times-tables apps work brilliantly for a particular kind of learner. Children who are already confident with numbers, who don't experience test pressure as something physical, who can sit through forty consecutive flashcard-style questions without shutting down. That is a real group of children. It's just not every child.

For a neurodivergent child, or one already carrying maths anxiety into Year 4, a timed drill is not neutral practice. The timer itself becomes the obstacle. When I looked into the research on maths anxiety, what struck me most is how quickly the brain's threat response interferes with working memory. A child who genuinely knows that 7 x 8 = 56 can blank completely under timed pressure. Their recall didn't fail because they hadn't practised enough. It failed because the format of the practice taught their nervous system to associate number recall with stress.

Repeat that association often enough in the weeks before the MTC, and you haven't built fluency. You've reinforced the anxiety.

Schools are in a genuinely useful position right now. The MTC is done for this year, which means there's no immediate pressure and there's time to think clearly. What I keep hearing from the teachers and SENCOs we speak to is that they don't want to repeat the same approach next year and hope for different results. They want something that actually fits how their SEND pupils learn.

That window between mid-June and the autumn term is prime time for making a considered decision about tools. Not a panicked last-minute subscription in April. A thoughtful choice made when you have data in front of you and proper time to pilot something new before the next MTC cycle begins.

As our founder Gal Darrash puts it, *"We built XTables Champions because we kept seeing the same thing: children who understood maths being failed by the way they were being asked to prove it."*

XTables Champions was built specifically around this problem. The approach we use is different in a way that matters: instead of isolating a child with a timer and a score, we put them inside games they already recognise and enjoy, playing alongside others.

That shift is not cosmetic. When a child is focused on the game, the maths becomes the mechanism rather than the subject of scrutiny. The emotional stakes move away from "I might get this wrong" and towards "I want to keep playing." For children with maths anxiety, that difference in framing is significant. For neurodivergent learners who thrive on clear structure, immediate feedback and genuine motivation, multiplayer game mechanics provide all three without the artificial pressure of a countdown clock.

What we see in our early work with schools is that engagement goes up quickly, and with it, the kind of low-stakes repetition that actually builds fluency over time. Not because we forced more practice sessions, but because children wanted to come back.

I think this phrase gets used loosely, so let me be specific about what it means in practice for times-tables software.

First, it means no unnecessary timed pressure outside of contexts the child can control. The MTC itself is timed, which is a reality we have to prepare for, but the preparation doesn't have to replicate that stress format every single session. Building confidence first, then introducing gentle pace challenges, is a more supportive pathway.

Second, it means the interface is calm and uncluttered. Sensory overload is a genuine barrier for many neurodivergent learners. Flashing banners, chaotic sound effects and dense visual layouts can all pull cognitive load away from the actual maths.

Third, it means progress feels achievable. Small, visible wins matter enormously for children who have already decided they are "bad at maths". Game-based formats where you level up, earn something, or visibly improve at the game itself provide that feedback loop in a way that a raw percentage score often doesn't.

XTables Champions was designed with all of this in mind from the start, not retrofitted with an accessibility tab after the fact.

If you're a SENCO or a Year 4 lead reviewing your options right now, here are the questions worth asking of any software you consider.

1. Does the tool offer a non-timed or low-pressure mode for early practice, separate from timed assessment preparation?
2. Is the engagement model intrinsic (the child wants to play) or extrinsic (the teacher assigns sessions)? Both matter, but intrinsic motivation sustains practice between assignments.
3. Has the design been considered for learners with dyscalculia, ADHD or processing differences, or has it just been built for the average learner and labelled inclusive?
4. Can you see individual pupil progress in a way that helps you identify who needs more support, rather than just who got the highest score?

These questions won't produce a perfect answer from every product. But they'll give you a clear picture of whether a tool was genuinely built for your most vulnerable learners or not.

If you're a Year 4 teacher, SENCO or senior leader looking at your MTC results and wondering whether there's a better way to support your SEND pupils next year, I'd genuinely love for you to get in touch with us at XTables Champions.

We're a young company with a specific focus on this exact problem. We're not trying to be everything to everyone. We built our platform for the children that traditional drill apps leave behind, and we're happy to walk you through exactly how it works, answer your SEND-specific questions and help you think through whether it fits your school.

Head to xtableschampions.com and reach out to us directly. The best time to make this decision is now, while the MTC data is fresh and next year still feels like a real opportunity to do things differently.