The UK Department for Education has created an online times tables for year 4 pupils in England, known as the Multiplication Tables Check (MTC). It should become compulsory in 2022 after a 2-year postponement resulting from the coronavirus pandemic.

Anyhow, the MTC is pretty simple, low-stakes and takes a maximum of 2 minutes and 30 seconds to complete.

We've built an emulator - called Soundcheck - to help pupils and teachers prepare for the MTC.

Soundcheck familiarises pupils with the question format of the Check and provides teachers with a good idea of how they will get on, while maintaining the lighthearted and accessible rock twist that pupils love.

When pupils play Soundcheck, they are asked 25 questions, each with a 6-second time limit. The questions are multiplication only and evenly weighted in terms of difficulty each time they play - exactly the same as the MTC.

Players earn 5 coins per correct answer.

Teachers can see the latest 20 scores for each pupil by going to Stats > *Select class name from left hand column* > Soundcheck Results.

Note: Soundcheck scores do not count towards Battle of the Bands or speed and accuracy leaderboards.

If you have the Sessions bolt-on, you can set your pupils the task of playing a certain number of Soundcheck games on a regular basis.

By all means use Soundcheck towards the end of Year 3 and as you see appropriate in Year 4, but do what you can not to utter, "This is to help with the government test", (or words to that effect) in front of pupils or parents.

Tests in themselves don’t cause anxiety: it’s the perceived cost of not doing well. For that reason, we suggest downplaying the Check with the pupils. The only thing that will stress the children is if we repeatedly refer to the MTC in class or at home - even casually in front of them, when we don't realise they're listening.