Important: These changes are rolling out to schools from 17th November to 1st December 2026. The main contact at your school has been sent an email with the date on which your settings will change. If you are unsure, please email support@mathscircle.com
In August, we added new digital wellbeing settings to TT Rock Stars and NumBots and brought them together with the existing settings which were already in place.
The response from schools has been really positive, and more than 4,600 schools now have one or both of these settings in place!
Many schools have also asked whether we could set some sensible defaults, so teachers don't have to. We'd rather not add another job to anyone's day, so we'll be doing exactly that.
Can I change the defaults after they've been set?
Absolutely. And there is no need to wait. You can change any of these settings at any time by logging in and going to Online Games > Digital Wellbeing.
The new defaults will only be applied to schools that have not yet used the digital wellbeing settings, so any settings you have already put in place (e.g. a curfew) will be unchanged.
What's changing - Times Tables Rock Stars
1) Curfew
Students will be able to log in between 07:00 and 20:00.
If you’ve already set a curfew, we won’t change it.
2) Out-of-school daily play limit
Students will be limited to 20 minutes of games per day outside school hours, including before and after school, at weekends and during school holidays.
There's no play limit during school hours.
If a student has a homework Session due, their daily play limit is automatically extended so they can finish it. The curfew still applies.
If you’ve already set a daily play limit, we won’t change it.
3) Class and school leaderboards
Turned off.
Does not affect Battle of the Bands or Top of the Rocks tournaments, which have their own leaderboards.
What's changing - NumBots
1) Curfew
Students will be able to log in between 07:00 and 20:00.
If you’ve already set a curfew, we won’t change it.
2) Class and school leaderboards
Turned off for any schools that currently have them turned on.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why are these changes being made?
Why are these changes being made?
Many teachers have asked us to set sensible defaults for our Digital Wellbeing settings, so they don’t have to set them up themselves.
Most children use TT Rock Stars and NumBots in short, healthy bursts. The curfew, and in TTRS the daily play limit, are safeguards for the occasional time when a child needs help taking a break. They give you and parents peace of mind without anyone needing to check activity logs.
Leaderboards were once one of the main ways children could see their achievements recognised. Both programmes now have other ways for children to see their own progress: Rock Status, the heatmap and the Gone Green Award in TTRS, and stars, trophies and badges in NumBots. Leaderboards are a fun addition for some children but can be off-putting for others. Our aim is for every child to feel they’re good at maths, so we think leaderboards work best as something a school chooses to switch on, rather than something every child sees by default.
As with all these settings, you can change them to suit your school at any time.
Do I need to do anything?
Do I need to do anything?
No. The new settings will switch on automatically. For TTRS, please check that your school hours and term dates are correct in Admin > School settings, because the daily play limit only applies outside school hours.
On TTRS, will the play limit affect students playing in lessons?
On TTRS, will the play limit affect students playing in lessons?
No. Play during school hours doesn’t count towards the daily limit, and the curfew only applies before 07:00 and after 20:00.
On TTRS, what happens when a student reaches their daily play limit?
On TTRS, what happens when a student reaches their daily play limit?
When a student is one minute away from their limit, Baz lets them know the next game will be their last. We never stop a student partway through a game. Once they reach the limit, Baz explains it’s time to stop, and the Play button is replaced with a message until the next day. Students can still see their stats and visit other non-game areas of TTRS.
On TTRS, what if I’ve set homework?
On TTRS, what if I’ve set homework?
If a student has a homework Session due that day, their daily play limit is extended automatically, just long enough for them to finish it, so you don’t need to change the limit when you set homework. The curfew isn’t extended, so students need to complete their Session before 20:00, or before your school’s curfew time if you’ve changed it.
On TTRS - Why 20 minutes?
On TTRS - Why 20 minutes?
Our advice is little and often: around three minutes, four or five times a week. Most students use TTRS far less than 20 minutes a day. In September, a typical student played on three days in the month, for around six minutes each time. The limit is a safeguard for the occasional day when a student needs help taking a break. It isn’t a target.
Why 20:00?
Why 20:00?
It leaves time between the end of play and typical primary bedtimes, in line with advice to avoid screens in the hour before bed. You can set an earlier or later time to suit your school.
How do I let parents know?
How do I let parents know?
We’ll be sharing a letter template shortly via email. You can also check back for the letter template.