Here is my honest takeaway, right at the top: if a child is struggling with maths anxiety, sitting them in front of another solo drill app is very likely making things worse, not better. And the latest thinking in educational research is starting to catch up with what many teachers and SENCOs have been saying for years.
When I looked into this more carefully recently, I came across a growing body of work from gamification researchers and EdTech journals that makes a compelling case: multiplayer, social game-based learning measurably reduces stress responses in children who find maths frightening, particularly those who are neurodivergent. That is not a small finding. It matters enormously for how we think about maths tools in primary schools.
The Problem With Solo Drill Apps
Let me be honest about what a lot of maths apps actually look like in practice. A child with maths anxiety or ADHD sits alone, staring at a timer counting down, a sequence of questions appearing one after another, and a score waiting to judge them at the end. Even if the branding is friendly and colourful, the underlying experience replicates almost exactly the thing that created the anxiety in the first place: the timed test.
Research into stress physiology consistently links timed, high-stakes recall tasks with elevated cortisol responses in children, and neurodivergent children appear particularly sensitive to this. The pressure of performing alone, with no social buffer, no shared stakes, and no sense of play, puts many of these children right back into a fight-or-flight state. Their brains, quite literally, stop being able to access mathematical thinking at that point.
What I keep hearing from the schools and SENCOs we speak to is a version of the same story: "We tried an app, the child refused to open it after the first week." That is not a willpower problem. That is a design problem.
What Multiplayer Changes (And Why)
This is where the research becomes genuinely exciting. When maths practice is embedded in a social, multiplayer game context, several things shift. The child's attention moves from "Am I getting this right?" to "Are we winning?". The social element creates a shared emotional experience that dilutes individual performance anxiety. Playing alongside or against peers, within a game world the child already loves and finds engaging, changes the emotional register of the whole activity.
Studies in gamification and educational psychology point to lower cortisol responses and higher task persistence in group game-based learning compared to individual drill formats. For children with ADHD, the fast-moving, interactive nature of multiplayer games also plays to their strengths rather than punishing their differences. The engagement is intrinsic. They are not tolerating maths in order to get to a reward. The maths is woven into the game itself.
As our founder Gal Darrash puts it, *"We built this around games children actually want to play. The times tables come along for the ride."*
That philosophy is not just a nice idea. It is increasingly what the research supports.
Why This Matters Right Now for UK Primary Schools
Year 4 in England means the Multiplication Tables Check. Every child sitting that check who has maths anxiety faces a genuinely difficult few months of preparation, and teachers face the challenge of building fluency without deepening fear. For neurodivergent children, that tension is even sharper.
What I find striking, looking at what is being discussed in EdTech circles right now, is that the conversation is finally moving beyond "how do we make drill more engaging" toward a more fundamental question: "Should it be drill at all?" The evidence is starting to suggest the answer is no, at least not in the isolated, timed, solitary form that most apps default to.
SENCOs in particular are under pressure to find tools that are inclusive by design, not inclusive as an afterthought. A tool built around social play, popular game formats, and low-stakes repetition is simply a different category of thing to a traditional maths app with a shiny new coat of paint.
What We Are Building at XTables Champions
XTables Champions was built specifically for this gap. We are a young company, and I will not pretend we have decades of data behind us, but the thinking that shapes every design decision here comes directly from what the research is pointing toward. Our app puts children inside multiplayer game environments that they recognise and enjoy, and times-tables practice happens as part of the game, not as a gate before the game.
The SEND-friendly design is not a feature we added later. It is the starting point. Low pressure, social play, formats that work for neurodivergent learners, and a focus on engagement over performance scores. In the early conversations we have had with Year 4 to 6 teachers and SENCOs, the consistent reaction is that this approach feels different to what they have tried before, in a way that matters for their most anxious learners.
That is genuinely what we are here to do.
Talk to Us About Supporting Your Pupils With Maths Anxiety
If you are a SENCO, a Year 4 to 6 teacher, or a senior leader thinking about how to support neurodivergent children and those with maths anxiety through times-tables fluency, I would love for you to get in touch with us directly.
We are at a stage where we want to have real conversations with schools. Not a sales call. A proper conversation about what your pupils need, what you have already tried, and whether XTables Champions could be the right fit for your setting. You can reach us through xtableschampions.com and we will get back to you personally.
If you are a parent reading this because your child is struggling, the same applies. We want to hear from you. The more we understand about what children with maths anxiety are actually experiencing, the better we can make this.