--- title: "Neurodivergent Kids After a Bad MTC | Times Tables Software | XTables Champions" description: "Year 4 MTC results in? Here's how UK schools can support neurodivergent pupils and those with maths anxiety heading into the new term — without the pressure." lang: en json-ld: | [ { "name": "XTables Champions", "@context": "https://schema.org", "@type": "WebSite", "url": "https://xtableschampions.com" }, { "name": "XTables Champions", "logo": "https://qtrypzzcjebvfcihiynt.supabase.co/storage/v1/object/public/base44-prod/public/68cac2c61c34894625d63273/cae3abbca_logo.png", "@context": "https://schema.org", "@type": "Organization", "url": "https://xtableschampions.com" }, { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://math-magicians-academy-25d63273.base44.app/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "support neurodivergent students after disappointing mtc result", "item": "https://math-magicians-academy-25d63273.base44.app/support-neurodivergent-students-after-disappointing-mtc-result" } ] }, { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@type": "FAQPage", "mainEntity": [ { "@type": "Question", "name": "What is the MTC and why do some children find it so stressful?", "acceptedAnswer": { "@type": "Answer", "text": "The Multiplication Tables Check (MTC) is a statutory assessment taken by Year 4 pupils in England each June. It consists of 25 questions with a six-second response window per question. For children with maths anxiety, ADHD, dyslexia or other neurodivergent profiles, that timed, solitary format can trigger a stress response that interferes with retrieval, even when the child understands their times tables in other contexts." } }, { "@type": "Question", "name": "How can I tell if a low MTC score reflects anxiety rather than a knowledge gap?", "acceptedAnswer": { "@type": "Answer", "text": "If a child can recall times tables confidently at home, in conversation, or in a game context, but scored poorly in the MTC itself, anxiety is very likely a factor. Teachers and SENCOs often already have a sense of this. Look at whether the child is generally confident in maths discussions but struggles specifically under test conditions. That pattern is a strong signal." } }, { "@type": "Question", "name": "What does game-based learning actually mean for times tables practice?", "acceptedAnswer": { "@type": "Answer", "text": "Game-based learning means using genuine games, not dressed-up worksheets, to give children repeated exposure to multiplication facts in a context they find motivating. The key is that the child is playing to win or to engage with the game, and the maths is embedded in that process. This repeated, low-stakes exposure builds fluency over time without the pressure of a formal test environment." } }, { "@type": "Question", "name": "Are multiplayer maths games actually suitable for SEND pupils?", "acceptedAnswer": { "@type": "Answer", "text": "Yes, when they are well-designed. Multiplayer formats can be particularly beneficial for neurodivergent learners because they shift the emotional context from \"I am being tested alone\" to \"I am playing with others\". Social reinforcement and shared experience can reduce anxiety and increase time-on-task. The design of the tool still matters though. Sensory overload, cluttered interfaces and complex navigation can all be barriers, so SEND-friendly design needs to be built in from the start." } }, { "@type": "Question", "name": "How do I talk to parents about a poor MTC result without increasing their child's anxiety?", "acceptedAnswer": { "@type": "Answer", "text": "Be honest and reassuring at the same time. Explain that the MTC format is particularly challenging for children who experience maths anxiety, and that a low score does not mean their child cannot learn times tables. Focus the conversation on what comes next and give parents something practical and positive to try at home, ideally something that feels like play rather than extra homework." } }, { "@type": "Question", "name": "Can children realistically improve their times tables recall over the summer holidays?", "acceptedAnswer": { "@type": "Answer", "text": "Yes, but the approach matters enormously. Drilling with flashcards or timed tests is unlikely to help anxious or neurodivergent learners and may actively make things worse. Short, regular sessions using engaging, game-based tools are far more effective for this group. Even ten to fifteen minutes a day in a low-pressure context can build meaningful fluency over six weeks." } }, { "@type": "Question", "name": "What should SENCOs look for in an MTC intervention tool for the autumn term?", "acceptedAnswer": { "@type": "Answer", "text": "Look for tools that use genuinely engaging game formats rather than gamified drills, that include a multiplayer or social element, that have a clean and low-sensory-load interface, and that give teachers useful progress data without excessive setup time. Tools designed specifically with neurodivergent learners in mind will have made these decisions deliberately rather than as afterthoughts." } } ] } ] --- [ XTables Champions Part of the ESSTA Kids family ](/Welcome) [About Us](/About)[Rewards ](/OurRewards) Tips & Tricks [Games](/Games)Login [ XTables Champions Part of the ESSTA Kids family ](/Welcome) [Learn](/levels-and-progression) [Games](/GamesOverview) [All Games](/GamesOverview)[Connect Four](/connect-four)[Guess Who?](/guess-who)[Times Tables Bingo](/times-tables-bingo)[Snap!](/snap)[Play with Friends](/games/play-with-friends)[Play against Champion](/games/play-against-champion) [Every Learner](/times-tables-for-every-learner) [Adaptive Learning](/adaptive-times-tables-learning) [Schools](/ForSchools) [Lunchtime Clubs](/LunchtimeClubs)[SENCO Support](/SchoolSencoInfo)[Homework Setting](/SchoolHomeworkSetting)[Whole-Class Games](/SchoolWholeClassGames)[Level Matching](/SchoolLevelMatching) [Wellbeing](/wellbeing-and-safeguarding) [Pricing](/pricing) Log In / Sign Up [Back to all articles](/Blog) # Neurodivergent Kids After a Bad MTC | Times Tables Software 6 July 2026 If your Year 4 data from the June 2026 Multiplication Tables Check (MTC) is sitting on your desk and you're looking at a cluster of low scores from your SEND and higher-anxiety pupils, here is the honest answer: those results are not a reflection of what those children are capable of. They are a reflection of how poorly timed, pressure-heavy assessments tend to measure the wrong thing for the wrong learners. The question now is what you do with that data before September. Across teaching forums and SENCO networks over recent weeks, I've been reading a very consistent thread: schools are not surprised by the gap, but they are frustrated. They know their neurodivergent pupils understand multiplication at some level. What fell apart was retrieval under pressure, within a timed format, alone at a screen. That is a very specific set of conditions, and it does not have to define what Year 5 looks like for these children. ## Why the MTC Format Is Particularly Hard for Neurodivergent Learners The MTC is six seconds per question, 25 questions, no context, no story, no peers. For a neurotypical child who has drilled their tables in a low-anxiety environment, that can work fine. For a child with ADHD, dyslexia, dyscalculia, or any form of maths anxiety, those six seconds become a kind of freeze response. When I looked into the research on maths anxiety specifically, what stood out was how directly timed assessments activate the brain's threat response. It is not about intelligence or even fluency at that point. It is about working memory being hijacked by stress. The six-second window is not long enough for an anxious child to regulate and retrieve, and the MTC gives them no other route through. **The single biggest thing schools can do this summer is decouple times-tables practice from that timed, solitary, high-stakes format entirely.** That sounds obvious. The harder question is: what do you replace it with? ## Why Rote Learning Does Not Fix Maths Anxiety The instinct after a disappointing MTC is to go back to basics: flashcards, chanting, timed tests at home over summer. I understand it, but in my view it is likely to make things worse for the exact pupils we are talking about. Rote repetition works for children who are already comfortable. For a child who has just experienced a stressful MTC and come away feeling like they "failed maths", returning to the same method is going to reinforce that association. You are asking them to do more of the thing that felt bad, in the same format that felt bad, with the same implied outcome if they get it wrong. What those pupils need is a completely different context for encountering times tables. One that feels low-stakes, social, and genuinely fun. One where multiplication is not the test but the means to something else they already care about. ## Game-Based Learning: What the Evidence Points Towards From the schools we have been speaking to in our early conversations, the common thread in successful SEND interventions is not a different worksheet. It is a different emotional register. Children who had disengaged from maths entirely began re-engaging when the context changed to something playful and multiplayer, something where the maths was almost incidental to whatever they were trying to win or build. Game-based learning gives neurodivergent pupils several things they do not get from drilling: 1. Intrinsic motivation. They are playing because they want to, not because they have been told to revise. 2. Repeated low-stakes exposure. Games require dozens of number interactions per session with no single make-or-break moment. 3. Social reinforcement. Multiplayer formats mean peers are celebrating with them, not watching them struggle alone. 4. Immediate feedback that is not punitive. Getting a question wrong in a game means "try again" not "you failed". As our founder Gal Darrash puts it, \*"The goal was never to make a maths app. It was to make something kids would choose to play, where maths just happened to be in the way."\* That shift in framing matters enormously for pupils who have already had a difficult MTC experience. ## What to Look for in an MTC Intervention Tool for SEND Not all "fun maths" tools are actually designed with neurodivergent learners in mind. Here is what I would look for specifically if I were a SENCO or Year 4 teacher planning an autumn term intervention. First, does the tool use games that children already recognise and want to play? There is a meaningful difference between a game that is thinly wrapped around a worksheet and a platform built around popular game formats that pupils are already motivated by. The engagement has to be genuine or anxious learners will see through it quickly. Second, is there a multiplayer element? The social dimension is not a nice-to-have for SEND pupils, it is actually part of what makes the experience feel safe. Playing alongside peers shifts the dynamic from "I am being tested" to "we are playing together". That is a significant emotional change. Third, is the design clean and low-sensory-load? Cluttered screens, flashing elements and excessive sound effects can be genuinely overwhelming for autistic pupils and those with sensory sensitivities. SEND-friendly design needs to be considered from the ground up, not retrofitted. Fourth, does it give teachers and SENCOs useful data without requiring huge amounts of setup? The best intervention tools work for staff too, not just pupils. ## Practical Steps for September If you are planning your autumn term response to the MTC data right now, here is how I would approach it. Start by identifying which pupils scored low due to anxiety or neurodivergent processing rather than lack of exposure. These are different problems and they need different responses. A child who has not been taught the 7 times table needs direct teaching. A child who knows it at home but froze in the MTC needs a different emotional experience of maths, not more content. For the anxiety and SEND cohort, build in a regular, low-pressure session using game-based tools that pupils actually look forward to. Keep it short, keep it social, and be explicit with the children that this is not a test. Over time, that repeated positive association starts to shift the threat response. Talk to parents too. What we keep hearing is that parents of anxious children feel helpless after a poor MTC result. Giving them a tool their child can use at home, one that feels like gaming rather than homework, changes that dynamic completely. ## Talk to Us About Supporting Your SEND Pupils At XTables Champions, we have built our platform specifically for this. Every design decision, from the multiplayer game formats to the SEND-friendly interface, has been made with children who struggle with maths anxiety in mind. We are a young company, still growing and learning from the schools we work with, but that closeness to our users is exactly what shapes what we build. If you are a Year 4 or Year 5 teacher, a SENCO, or a senior leader looking at your MTC data and thinking about what comes next, I would genuinely love for you to get in touch. You can reach the team at [xtableschampions.com](https://www.xtableschampions.com) to find out more about how XTables Champions works in practice and whether it would be a good fit for your school. No obligation, just a real conversation about your pupils. ## Frequently Asked Questions What is the MTC and why do some children find it so stressful? How can I tell if a low MTC score reflects anxiety rather than a knowledge gap? What does game-based learning actually mean for times tables practice? Are multiplayer maths games actually suitable for SEND pupils? How do I talk to parents about a poor MTC result without increasing their child's anxiety? Can children realistically improve their times tables recall over the summer holidays? What should SENCOs look for in an MTC intervention tool for the autumn term? ## Ready to help your child? Join thousands of families using XTables Champions to make multiplication click. Get Started Free XTables Champions Game-based times tables for children aged 6 to 11. No timers, no tears. For parents, schools and tutors. 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