Year 4: age, curriculum and assessments
Year 4 is the second year of Key Stage 2, and the year of the multiplication tables check.
The answer
Children in Year 4 are 8 or 9 years old. Year 4 is in Key Stage 2, and every child turns 9 during the year.
Year 4 at a glance
Year 4 is in Key Stage 2, in what schools call lower Key Stage 2. Key Stage 2 is Years 3 to 6, ages 7 to 11. The big change in Year 4 is fluency. By the end of the year children are expected to know every times table up to 12 × 12, and in June they take the multiplication tables check.
- Age
- 8 to 9
- Key stage
- Key Stage 2
- Where
- Primary school
- National assessments
- Multiplication tables check
What children learn in Year 4
Taken from the national curriculum in England (2014), Year 4 programme of study for mathematics, the Years 3 and 4 programme of study for English, and English Appendix 2.
Maths in Year 4
- Recall multiplication and division facts for every times table up to 12 × 12.
- Count in 6s, 7s, 9s, 25s and 1,000s, and count back through 0 into negative numbers.
- Know the place value of each digit in a four-digit number, and round any number to the nearest 10, 100 or 1,000.
- Add and subtract numbers with up to four digits in columns, and multiply two-digit and three-digit numbers by a one-digit number using a written method.
- Recognise families of equivalent fractions, count in hundredths, add and subtract fractions with the same denominator, and write tenths and hundredths as decimals.
- Read Roman numerals to 100 (I to C).
- Find area by counting squares, and convert between analogue clocks and 12-hour and 24-hour digital clocks.
- Plot coordinates in the first quadrant, and sort triangles and quadrilaterals by their properties.
English in Year 4
- Use fronted adverbials, with a comma after them: Later that day, I heard the bad news.
- Punctuate speech fully, including the comma after the reporting clause: The conductor shouted, “Sit down!”
- Use apostrophes for plural possession (the girls’ names), and know the difference between a plural s and a possessive s.
- Expand noun phrases with adjectives, nouns and preposition phrases: the strict maths teacher with curly hair.
- Use Standard English verb forms, such as we were rather than we was.
- Organise paragraphs around a theme, and choose nouns or pronouns to avoid repeating words.
- Finish the statutory Years 3 and 4 spelling list, and read a wide range of books, including myths and legends.
Tests and assessments in Year 4
- Multiplication tables check
- In June, in a two-week window
- 25 questions on a screen from the 2 to 12 times tables, with 6 seconds to answer each one. Most children finish in under 5 minutes. There is no pass mark, and the school must tell you your child’s score by the end of the summer term.
Where the 11+ fits in Year 4
In most selective areas the 11+ is sat in September of Year 6, so by the summer of Year 4 a child is about 15 months away from it.
Year 4 is a good time to find out whether your area has grammar schools and which test they use. Formal practice can wait: secure times tables, wide reading and confident arithmetic are the best start.
Many families begin light, regular 11+ preparation in the summer of Year 4 or at the start of Year 5.
Practise the times tables check
Try a practice round at the real pace: 25 questions, 6 seconds each. It is our own practice, not the official check.
An interactive example loads here in your browser.
Is your child in Year 4?
Enter a date of birth to see the year group today, and the dates that matter from Reception to Year 7.
A school year finder loads here in your browser: enter a date of birth to see the year group.
How to help at home in Year 4
- Ten minutes of mixed times tables a day beats one long session. Give extra time to the 6, 7, 8, 9 and 12 times tables.
- Ask the division facts too: if 7 × 8 = 56, then 56 ÷ 8 = 7.
- Use money for decimals: £1.25 is 1 pound and 25 hundredths of a pound.
- Keep reading together, and spot fronted adverbials and speech punctuation in the books you share.
Read next
Other year groups
Questions parents ask
What age is Year 4?
Children in Year 4 are 8 or 9 years old. Children in the same year group are born between 1 September in one year and 31 August the next, so each child turns 9 at some point during Year 4.
What key stage is Year 4?
Year 4 is in Key Stage 2, in what schools call lower Key Stage 2. Key Stage 2 is Years 3 to 6, ages 7 to 11.
When is the Year 4 times tables check?
In June of Year 4, during a two-week window set by the Standards and Testing Agency. Your child’s school chooses the day.
Is there a pass mark for the multiplication tables check?
No. Your child gets a score out of 25, and the school uses it to see who needs more support with times tables.
Should my Year 4 child start 11+ preparation?
Light preparation can start in the summer of Year 4. Until then, times tables, wide reading and confident arithmetic matter more than practice papers.
Is your Year 4 child on track for Year 5?
The free diagnostic checks maths, English and both kinds of reasoning at the level the 11+ expects, and shows what to practise next. No card is required.