Arithmetic fluency explained

What is arithmetic fluency?

Arithmetic fluency is doing calculations quickly and accurately: recalling number facts and using efficient methods without working everything out from scratch. It's more than speed. It rests on secure facts, reliable methods and enough understanding to choose and check a method. Fluent calculation frees up attention for the wider maths, such as solving a problem or learning a new idea.

How our test measures it

Our Adding, Subtracting and Multiplying tasks (Addition, Subtraction and Multiplication) ask the pupil to type the answers to written calculations. They're part of the Maths and Dyscalculia screener for pupils aged 7 to 16. All three are timed, so they show fluency as well as accuracy.

Implications (in class and at home)

In class, a pupil who calculates slowly may fall behind in timed work, lose track of a longer problem while working out one step, or understand a new topic but get stuck on the calculations inside it. At home, maths homework can take much longer than expected.

Implications of a low score in our test

A low score in arithmetic fluency suggests the pupil finds quick, accurate calculation harder than most pupils their age. Slower processing can pull these timed tasks down without any difficulty with number, so read them alongside the untimed number tasks and the processing speed task (Numbers). The screener checks this before it reports any signs of dyscalculia. The maths norms are first-generation, from 954 pupils in 15 schools. A screening result is not a diagnosis, and it's one point in time.

What helps

Short, spaced practice and building new facts from ones the pupil already knows usually help more than long worksheets, and the right aid, such as a multiplication square or calculator when calculation isn't the point of the lesson, can keep a pupil learning the wider maths while fluency develops.