Year 3 maths · Key Stage 2 · Number – multiplication and division

Year 3 times tables: the 3, 4 and 8 tables and written methods

In Year 3 children learn the 3, 4 and 8 times tables and the division facts that go with them, then use those facts to multiply and divide larger numbers, including a two-digit number by a one-digit number. They move from mental strategies towards written methods, and meet problems about scaling and about matching groups of things, such as how many outfits can be made from 3 hats and 4 coats.

The 3, 4 and 8 times tables, explained

Knowing a times table means answering 4 × 7 or 24 ÷ 3 straight away, without counting up from the beginning. The new tables in Year 3 are 3, 4 and 8, building on the 2, 5 and 10 tables from Year 2. Children practise them in order and out of order, and learn to use every fact in both directions: 4 × 7 = 28 means 7 × 4 = 28, 28 ÷ 4 = 7 and 28 ÷ 7 = 4. These facts will be needed again in the Multiplication Tables Check in Year 4.

The three tables are connected, which makes them easier to learn. Four times a number is double the two times table, and eight times a number is double the four times table. So 8 × 6 can be found by doubling 2 × 6 = 12 to get 4 × 6 = 24, then doubling again to get 48. The 3s have no doubling shortcut, but the answers alternate between odd and even (3, 6, 9, 12, 15…), which helps children notice a slip. Because multiplication can be done in either order, 8 × 3 is the same fact as 3 × 8, so there are fewer facts to learn than it first seems.

Once the facts are secure, children use them for bigger numbers. They derive related facts, so knowing 3 × 4 = 12 tells them that 30 × 4 = 120. Mentally, they may change the order of a calculation to make it easier: 4 × 12 × 5 is simpler as 4 × 5 = 20, then 20 × 12 = 240. On paper, they start with a two-digit number times a one-digit number by splitting the two-digit number into tens and ones, multiplying each part and adding. Schools choose how to lay this out, with a grid or an expanded column both common. The curriculum expects children to progress towards the compact written method, short multiplication: many schools introduce it later in Year 3, and it becomes the expected method in Year 4.

Division is taught as sharing equally (20 sweets shared between 4 children) and as grouping (how many 4s fit into 32?), using counters, drawings and number lines, and children use the tables backwards to answer it. With two-digit numbers they can split the number into parts that divide exactly: 48 ÷ 4 is 40 ÷ 4 plus 8 ÷ 4, which is 10 + 2 = 12. Some schools begin the compact written layout for division, short division, towards the end of Year 3, while others leave it until Year 4.

Problem solving is a big part of the year. Children find missing numbers (□ × 8 = 56 or 36 ÷ □ = 4), solve scaling problems such as “a ribbon is 4 times as long as one that measures 8 cm”, and tackle correspondence problems, where each of n things is linked with each of m things. Three hats and four coats make 3 × 4 = 12 different outfits. Drawing a picture or listing the pairings shows children why the answer comes from multiplying.

Words your child will hear

Multiple: A number in a times table. 24 is a multiple of 3, of 4 and of 8.
Product: The answer to a multiplication. The product of 4 and 8 is 32.
Double: Multiply by 2. Doubling the 4s gives the 8s.
Inverse: The opposite operation. Division undoes multiplication, so 32 ÷ 8 = 4.
Partition: Split a number into parts, such as 23 = 20 + 3, to make calculating easier.
Scaling: Making something a number of times as big or as long, such as 3 times as long as 5 cm.
Correspondence problem: A problem where each of one group is matched with each of another, such as 3 hats and 4 coats.

What the National Curriculum says

In Year 3, pupils should be taught to:

Recall and use multiplication and division facts for the 3, 4 and 8 multiplication tables
Write and calculate mathematical statements for multiplication and division using the multiplication tables that they know, including for two-digit numbers times one-digit numbers, using mental and progressing to formal written methods
Solve problems, including missing number problems, involving multiplication and division, including positive integer scaling problems and correspondence problems in which n objects are connected to m objects

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

A worked example

Work out 23 × 4, then check the answer a different way.

Estimate first. 23 is close to 20 and 20 × 4 = 80, so the answer should be a little more than 80.
Partition 23 into 20 and 3. Multiply each part by 4, starting with the ones: 3 × 4 = 12. Then 2 tens × 4 = 8 tens, which is 80.

Write the two results in an expanded column and add them: 12 + 80 = 92.

      2 3
    ×   4
  -------
    1 2   (3 × 4)
  + 8 0   (20 × 4)
  -------
    9 2

Check another way by doubling twice, since multiplying by 4 is the same as doubling twice: 23 × 2 = 46 and 46 × 2 = 92. The two methods agree, and 92 is a little more than the estimate of 80.

23 × 4 = 92

Common mistakes and how to help

Only being able to say a table from the very beginning

Children who learned the 8s as a chant (8, 16, 24, 32…) often reach 8 × 7 by counting up on their fingers, and one slip gives a wrong answer such as 54.

What helps: Ask facts out of order and use the links between tables: 8 × 7 is double 4 × 7, and 4 × 7 is double 2 × 7. Follow each one with the division, for example “56 ÷ 8?”.

Adding instead of multiplying in a matching problem

Given 3 hats and 4 coats, a child answers 7 outfits, because there are two numbers and adding feels like the usual thing to do.

What helps: Lay out real items or draw them and pair every hat with every coat. Children see 4 coats for the first hat, 4 for the second and 4 for the third, which is 3 groups of 4.

Reading “4 times as long” as “4 more”

In everyday speech “more” and “times” get mixed up, so a ribbon 4 times as long as 8 cm becomes 12 cm.

What helps: Draw a bar of 8 cm and then four of the same bar side by side. “Times as long” means that many equal lengths, so it is 4 × 8 = 32 cm.

Getting 20 × 4 = 8 in a written method

The child multiplies 2 × 4 correctly but forgets that the 2 stands for 2 tens, so that part of the answer is 10 times too small and the total comes out as 12 + 8 = 20.

What helps: Say the value out loud: “2 tens times 4 is 8 tens, which is 80.” Estimating first shows straight away that 20 can’t be the answer to 23 × 4, which must be more than 80.

How to help at home

Double and double again. Pick a number such as 6. Ask for double it (the 2s), double again (the 4s) and double once more (the 8s). Each answer is a fact from a different table, found in seconds.
Count real groups. Cars have 4 wheels, spiders have 8 legs, trikes have 3 wheels. “How many legs on 6 spiders?” gives a quick, memorable question you can ask anywhere.
Make a wardrobe of outfits. Choose 3 tops and 4 pairs of trousers (or 3 flavours and 4 toppings) and ask how many combinations there are before listing them. Then check by actually writing them all down.
Ask the question both ways round. After “4 × 8?”, ask “what is 32 divided by 4?” and “what times 8 makes 32?” Moving between these questions is what makes the facts useful rather than just memorised.
Little and often. A few minutes of mixed questions in the car or while cooking beats a long session. Concentrate on the two or three facts your child still hesitates over, and stop while it’s still enjoyable.

Builds on

Year 2: The 2, 5 and 10 times tables

Leads on to

Year 4: Times tables to 12 × 12

Everything in Year 3 maths

Updated 20 October 2026.