Times Tables Rock Stars

Last updated
Times Tables Rock Stars
Times Tables Rock Stars logo.webp
TT Rockstars logo
Developer Bruno Reddy
Publisher Maths Circle Ltd
Release2010
Genre Educational

Times Tables Rock Stars (also known as TT Rockstars) is a Bedford-based educational maths application and website created by Bruno Reddy and Maths Circle Ltd that focuses on GCSE level maths. [1] [2] [3]

Contents

History

Times Tables Rock Stars was created in 2010 by Bruno Reddy, a secondary school maths teacher. Reddy wore a wig, and played rock music while holding a blow-up guitar at the beginning of his lessons, in which he encouraged his pupils to answer quick-fire maths questions. [4] Reddy launched the application to help his pupils’ increase their speed with answering questions about times tables. [5]

Gameplay

Gameplay consists of answering multiplication and division questions as fast as they can in a specific amount of time. [6] [7] Players also make their own rock star names and avatars for use ingame, players earn points for the amount of questions they answer which they can then spend on new clothing items and accessories for their avatar. [3] [8]

Leaderboards are based on every school in a specific area. Two classes in the same school can compete against each other in "Battle of the Bands" competitions where each class tries to answer more questions in total than the other class. [9] The application also hosts several nationwide maths competitions where every school in a certain location competes against each other; Oz Rocks for Australia, [10] Ireland Rocks for the island of Ireland as part of the 20th annual Maths Week Ireland, [6] South Island Rocks for the South Island of New Zealand, North Island Rocks for the North Island of New Zealand, [11] [12] Scotland Rocks for Scotland, [13] England Rocks for England, [14] London Rocks for London, [15] Cardiff Rocks for Cardiff, Wales Rocks for Wales, NSPCC Rocks for all of the UK as part of NSPCC Numbers Day, UAE rocks for the United Arab Emirates, Qatar Rocks for Qatar, [16] Melbourne Rocks for Melbourne [17] and Rest of the World Rocks for the Rest of the World. [18] [19] [20]

Reception

Several schools dressed up in costumes inspired by Times Tables Rock Stars after their school gained access to the application. [21] [22] [23] One primary school in Hambridge declared February 20 as Times Tables Rock Stars and Numbots day. [24] Several schools described the application as world renowned. [19] A The Guardian article stated that the idea seemed counterintuitive, easy to mock and a rather gimmicky approach but also called the idea a success due to the creator's past experience as a former head of maths while being wary of "the way in which various approaches to education can be taken up on a large scale despite schools not necessarily knowing whether they’re actually helping students." [25] The Times stated that "The Tories are proposing that children be allowed to opt out of screen-based learning amid fears devices are being used too much in schools" citing Times Tables Rock Stars, Duolingo, Spelling Shed, Kahoot, Duolingo, Seneca and Quizlet as examples of popular educational technology programs that parents weren't able to opt out of. [26]

When Broadwood Primary School in Denton Burn gained access to the application, the pupils at the school were confused as to why they weren't able to equip cochlear implants on their avatars when there were already hearing aids ingame, when contacted about the issue, the developers added them as an equipable option for their avatars and cited the pupils at Broadwood as the reason for their addition. [3]

Guinness World Records

In 2020 during the COVID-19 lockdown Times Tables Rock Stars and Guinness World Records announced a new title; Highest Score achieved on Times Tables Rock Stars in one minute. Out of the initial 700 official attempts accompanied with video evidence, 10-year-old Nadub Gill from Long Eaton was the fastest at 196 multiplication questions answered in one minute. [1] [2] [27] He held the record until he was beaten by Brooke Cressey from Sittingbourne on the 3rd of December 2021 when she correctly answered 210 questions in one minute. [28]

Awards

AwardYearTitle
BESA awards [29] 2025Team of the Year
Global EdTech Awards [30] 2024Best Primary curriculum resource
BETT Award [31] 2022Company of the Year prize for firms under £3 million
hundrED [32] 2019Inspiring Innovations Of 2019
Edtech 50 2018 [33] 2018Edtech 50
Tutorful [34] 2020Hottest EdTech Tool
Teachertapp [35] 2023Gold Recommendation Award
Digital Education Awards [36] 2023Digital Classroom Aid of the Year
The Queen's Award [37] 2020Enterprise Innovation 2020

See also

References

  1. 1 2 Roffe, Erica (25 June 2020). "10-year-old becomes record breaking Times Tables Rock Star". Bedford Independent . Retrieved 20 Jan 2026.
  2. 1 2 Sherdley, Rebecca (26 Jun 2020). "Incredible video shows ten-year-old answer 196 maths questions in a minute on Times Tables Rock Stars". Nottingham Post . Retrieved 20 Jan 2026.
  3. 1 2 3 Ames, Helen (11 October 2022). "Local children inspire the makers of Times Tables Rock Stars". newcastle.gov.uk. Newcastle City Council. Archived from the original on 11 Oct 2022. Retrieved 20 Jan 2026.
  4. ↑ "About Us". Times Tables Rock Stars. Retrieved 20 Jan 2026.
  5. ↑ George, Martin (21 Jan 2019). "Edtech success: Bruno Reddy of Times Tables Rock Stars". TES . Retrieved 20 Jan 2026.
  6. 1 2 Bain, Mark (27 October 2025). "Belfast student top of the class in maths after beating more than 17,000 kids across the island". Belfast Telegraph. Archived from the original on 27 Oct 2025. Retrieved 20 Jan 2026.
  7. ↑ Bailes, Kathy (30 June 2020). "Upton pupil Cobey is a global Times Tables Rock Star". The Isle of Thanet News. Retrieved 20 Jan 2026.
  8. ↑ Keating, Kate (2 Feb 2024). "Maths lessons rock at Havelock Schools". Northamptonshire Evening Telegraph . Retrieved 20 Jan 2026.
  9. ↑ "Wybunbury Delves pupils excel in Times Tables Rock Stars contest". Nantwich News. 6 March 2018. Retrieved 20 Jan 2026.
  10. ↑ "St David's students 'rock' their times tables". Catholic Education South Australia. 22 April 2021. Retrieved 20 Jan 2026.
  11. ↑ Williams, Elsie (7 August 2025). "'Back in fashion': Times tables make a comeback with modern competition for kids". The Press . Retrieved 20 Jan 2026.
  12. ↑ Burns, Adam (7 August 2025). "15,000 students compete in Times Tables Rock Stars Mathematics competition". RNZ . Retrieved 20 Jan 2026.
  13. ↑ McMorran, Caroline (29 September 2022). "North-west Sutherland pupils are maths rock stars! Schools shine in national competition". The Northern Times. Retrieved 20 Jan 2026.
  14. ↑ Hubbert, Andy (28 Nov 2023). "Sleaford boy in Top 50 in the country for Times Table Rockstar maths challenge". lincolnshireworld.com. Retrieved 20 Jan 2026.
  15. ↑ Mitchell, Chris (4 July 2022). "Pinner Wood School in Harrow WINS national times table competition". Harrow Online. Retrieved 20 Jan 2026.
  16. ↑ "Events". Times Tables Rock Stars. Retrieved 20 Jan 2026.
  17. ↑ "Melbourne Rocks". Times Tables Rock Stars. Retrieved 20 Jan 2026.
  18. ↑ "The 'Rest of the World Rocks' Maths Competition - Outstanding Success!". Rushall National School. 18 March 2024.
  19. 1 2 Hartnett, Alan (29 March 2023). "Clever Laois primary school students claim second place in international maths competition". Laois Today. Retrieved 20 Jan 2026.
  20. ↑ Ganly, Conor (30 March 2023). "Laois school's out of the world performance in international contest". Leinster Express . Retrieved 20 Jan 2026.
  21. ↑ Carter, William (11 November 2022). "Ringstead Church of England Primary School launches Times Tables Rock Stars with funky fancy dress". Northamptonshire Evening Telegraph . Retrieved 20 Jan 2026.
  22. ↑ "Louth pupils 'rock' at their times tables!". Lincolnshire World. 28 Feb 2020. Retrieved 20 Jan 2026.
  23. ↑ Clarke, Lewis (19 November 2025). "Pupils go full rock star to launch new maths game at Tiverton school". Devon Live . Retrieved 20 Jan 2026.
  24. ↑ Manuschka, Jacob (27 February 2024). "Hambridge primary school dresses up for maths activities day". Somerset County Gazette . Retrieved 20 Jan 2026.
  25. ↑ "Secret Teacher: education should be driven by evidence, not political whims". The Guardian. 27 Jan 2018. Retrieved 20 Jan 2026.
  26. ↑ Eccles, Louise (7 September 2025). "Bring back pen and paper! Calls to scrap 'screen-based homework'". The Times. Archived from the original on 11 Sep 2025. Retrieved 20 Jan 2026.
  27. ↑ Suggitt, Connie (6 July 2020). "This 10-year-old can answer 196 maths questions correctly in one minute". Guinness World Records . Retrieved 20 Jan 2026.
  28. ↑ "The eight-year-old maths genius who can do three sums in a second". ITV. 28 Jan 2022. Retrieved 20 Jan 2026.
  29. ↑ "Winners 2025". Best Primary curriculum resource: British Educational Suppliers Association. Retrieved 20 Jan 2026.
  30. ↑ "Winners 2024". Global EdTech. Retrieved 20 Jan 2026.
  31. ↑ "WINNERS 2022". BETT awards. Retrieved 20 Jan 2026.
  32. ↑ "HundrED Yearbook 2019 Selected Innovations" (PDF). pg. 53: hundrED. Retrieved 20 Jan 2026.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: location (link)
  33. ↑ "The EdTech 50 2018" (PDF).
  34. ↑ Bell, Adam (22 June 2020). "The 101 Hottest EdTech Tools According to Education Experts". Tutorful. Retrieved 20 Jan 2026.
  35. ↑ "The Brands That Rule The Classroom: What We Learned From Brand Tracker 2023" (PDF). pg. 14: teachertapp. Retrieved 20 Jan 2026.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: location (link)
  36. ↑ "2023 WINNERS". pg. 7: Digital Education Awards. Retrieved 20 Jan 2026.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: location (link)
  37. ↑ "Queen's Award for Times Tables Rock Stars". SHINE trust. 21 April 2020. Retrieved 20 Jan 2026.
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