Year 2 maths · Key Stage 1 · Number – multiplication and division

Year 2 times tables: the 2, 5 and 10 tables explained

Year 2 is when children first learn multiplication and division facts by heart. They become fluent in the 2, 5 and 10 times tables, learn to write number sentences using the × and ÷ signs, recognise odd and even numbers, and solve problems about equal groups and sharing using counters, drawings and arrays.

The 2, 5 and 10 times tables, explained

Multiplication starts as equal groups. “Four bags with five apples in each” is 4 × 5, which is the same as 5 + 5 + 5 + 5. Children count in steps of 2, 5 and 10, forwards and backwards, and use objects, drawings and repeated addition to see where each fact comes from. After a while the answers are expected to be known, so that 6 × 5 = 30 comes straight away rather than being counted up.

The three tables each have a pattern that makes them a gentle start. Every number in the 10 times table ends in 0, which connects to place value: 6 × 10 means six tens, or 60. Numbers in the 5 times table end in 0 or 5, and they match the five-minute steps around a clock face. Everything in the 2 times table is a double, and every answer is an even number. Children also learn to recognise odd and even numbers: an even number can be split into two equal groups or into pairs with none left over, and its last digit is 0, 2, 4, 6 or 8.

Division is taught as sharing and as grouping, side by side with multiplication. Sharing 20 sweets between 5 children gives 4 each. Grouping asks how many bags of 5 you could fill from 20 sweets, which is also 4. Children learn to write these as number sentences with the division sign, such as 20 ÷ 5 = 4, and to see that they belong to the same family as 4 × 5 = 20 and 5 × 4 = 20. This is why a child who knows a multiplication fact should be able to find the matching division fact.

Two properties are introduced through arrays, which are rows and columns of objects. Turning an array on its side shows that multiplication can be done in either order: 3 rows of 5 is the same as 5 rows of 3, so 3 × 5 = 5 × 3. Division can’t be turned around in this way, because 10 ÷ 2 = 5 but 2 ÷ 10 is not 5. Children also begin to link these facts with fractions and measures: 40 ÷ 2 = 20, which means 20 is half of 40.

These three tables are the first part of the full set up to 12 × 12 that children are expected to know by the end of Year 4. Schools differ in the order they teach other tables, but secure knowledge of the 2s, 5s and 10s now makes the 3, 4 and 8 times tables in Year 3 much easier. The 4s are double the 2s, and the 8s are double the 4s.

Words your child will hear

Multiply: Find the total of equal groups. 4 groups of 5 is 4 × 5 = 20.
Divide: Share a total equally or find how many equal groups fit. 20 ÷ 5 = 4.
Array: Objects arranged in equal rows and columns, such as 3 rows of 5 counters.
Repeated addition: Adding the same number again and again: 5 + 5 + 5 = 15.
Odd and even: Even numbers can be shared into two equal groups with none left over; odd numbers always leave one.
Multiple: A number in a times table. 15 is a multiple of 5.
Commutative: The order doesn’t change the answer. 3 × 5 = 5 × 3, but division is not commutative.

What the National Curriculum says

In Year 2, pupils should be taught to:

Recall and use multiplication and division facts for the 2, 5 and 10 multiplication tables, including recognising odd and even numbers
Calculate mathematical statements for multiplication and division within the multiplication tables and write them using the multiplication (×), division (÷) and equals (=) signs
Show that multiplication of 2 numbers can be done in any order (commutative) and division of 1 number by another cannot
Solve problems involving multiplication and division, using materials, arrays, repeated addition, mental methods, and multiplication and division facts, including problems in contexts

Objectives from the National Curriculum in England, © Crown copyright, used under the Open Government Licence v3.0.

A worked example

Maya has 6 packets of stickers with 5 stickers in each packet. How many stickers does she have? Write a multiplication and a division fact for it.

Draw or build the problem as an array: 6 rows with 5 stickers in each row.
```
* * * * *
* * * * *
* * * * *
* * * * *
* * * * *
* * * * *
```
Find the total by repeated addition, or by counting in fives: 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30.
```
5 + 5 + 5 + 5 + 5 + 5 = 30
```
Write it as a multiplication sentence: 6 groups of 5 is 6 × 5 = 30.
Turn the array on its side. Now there are 5 rows of 6, which is 5 × 6 = 30. Multiplication works in either order, so we only have to learn one fact for both.
Write the division fact that goes with it. Grouping 30 stickers into packets of 5 fills 6 packets, so 30 ÷ 5 = 6.

Maya has 30 stickers. 6 × 5 = 30 and 30 ÷ 5 = 6.

Common mistakes and how to help

Adding instead of multiplying: 3 × 5 = 8

Children have used + for a long time, and the × sign looks similar. Reading “3 × 5” as “3 and 5” leads to adding the two numbers.

What helps: Read it every time as “3 groups of 5” and draw it. Ask for a picture of the problem before the calculation, such as three plates with five grapes on each.

Thinking division works in either order, like multiplication

Because 2 × 10 and 10 × 2 are the same, a child assumes 10 ÷ 2 and 2 ÷ 10 must be the same too.

What helps: Use a real situation. Sharing 10 sweets between 2 people gives 5 each. Sharing 2 sweets between 10 people is a very different problem.

Deciding whether a number is odd or even by its first digit

Children read numbers from the left, so 38 looks odd because it starts with 3, and 27 looks even because it starts with 2.

What helps: Share the number of counters between two people and see whether one is left. Show that tens can always be shared into two equal groups, so only the ones digit decides.

Learning 3 × 5 and 5 × 3 as two completely separate facts

A child who has only met the facts as chanted lists doesn’t see that they are linked, so they feel they have twice as much to learn.

What helps: Make an array of counters and turn it through a quarter turn. The same counters now show the other fact. Ask: “Which would you rather count in, 3s or 5s?”

How to help at home

Count in 2s, 5s and 10s in daily life. Count socks or shoes in twos, fingers on a hand in fives, and 10p coins in tens. Count forwards and backwards, and stop sometimes to ask “How many have we got?”
Make arrays with food or buttons. Lay out 4 rows of 5 raisins or buttons and ask for the total. Then turn the tray and ask what you see now. Ask for the sharing question too: “Can you share them equally between two of us?”
Odd or even? Pick a house number, page number or a score and ask whether it is odd or even, and how your child knows. Check by sharing a handful of small objects between two plates.
Use the clock. Point to the 3 on an analogue clock and ask how many minutes past the hour that is. Counting round in fives makes a good link to the 5 times table.
Ask the matching division. Whenever your child knows a fact, ask for the other half of the family: “If 7 × 2 is 14, how many 2s are in 14?”

Builds on

Year 1: Grouping, sharing and doubling

Leads on to

Year 3: The 3, 4 and 8 times tables

Everything in Year 2 maths

Updated 20 October 2026.