Year 4 Math Practice Questions and Topics

Year 4 (ages 8–9) is where multiplication and division of larger numbers take over as the main focus, alongside completing the times tables up to 12 × 12 — a genuine milestone, since every UK primary school checks this specific fact recall in a national test at the end of this year. Children multiply and divide two-digit numbers by a single digit, extend addition and subtraction to four-digit numbers, and go further with fractions, including finding fractions of quantities and starting to compare and order them. Money and time problems become multi-step rather than single calculations, and decimals are introduced for the first time, in a simple tenths form.

By the end of Year 4, a child should recall all times tables up to 12 × 12 with genuine speed (not working them out each time), multiply a two-digit number by a one-digit number reliably, and understand a decimal like 0.7 as "seven tenths," connecting it back to the fraction they already know.

The most common difficulty is the multiplication tables themselves — not understanding what multiplication means, which most children have by now, but pure recall speed under the time pressure of the national check. Children who understand the concept perfectly can still score poorly simply because 7 × 8 isn't yet automatic. The second frequent snag is connecting fractions and decimals: a child can usually say "0.5 is a half" when asked directly, but struggles to see that 0.5 and 5/10 are the same amount when the two appear in the same problem, because they were taught somewhat separately.

This year's times-table fluency is the single biggest predictor of how comfortable Year 5 feels, since Year 5 assumes instant recall and moves straight into more complex fraction and decimal arithmetic that leans on it constantly.

At home, short, frequent, low-pressure times-table practice — a minute or two most days rather than one long session — is worth more than almost anything else a parent can do this year, precisely because speed is what's being built, not understanding. Real money (working out change, splitting a bill) is a natural way to practise decimals in a context that already makes sense.