Times Tables Rock Stars
Rocking out with maths
The big idea
To make learning times tables fun for maths students.
Why it’s needed
Passionate secondary maths teacher Bruno Reddy found that many children were entering his school without a solid grasp of basic maths – and, more concerningly, with low confidence in their own mathematical ability. Their biggest struggle was multiplicative reasoning, a critical skill that underpins GCSE maths.
How it works
The idea was born in Bruno’s classroom, where – armed with a blow-up guitar and a rock-star wig – he turned his lessons into into high-energy sessions. Bruno played rock music at the start of each maths class and challenged students to rapid-fire times tables drills. This “little and often” approach, delivered in a fun and engaging way, quickly started yielding results.
The idea evolved into an online platform which retained the original elements of fun, rock music and competition, in a platform and app that can be used by children at home and in the classroom, anywhere in the world.
Schools can subscribe to TTRS, giving them the resources to encourage and inspire their students to not only learn the basics of the maths curriculum, but to enjoy it.
Children compete against their classmates and Bruno has created ways of celebrating the greatest achievers, including regular Rock Wrangle competitions bringing together hundreds of students from different schools.
SHINE’s involvement
Determined to extend the impact of TT Rock Stars beyond his own classroom, Bruno secured funding from Let Teachers SHINE in 2014 to develop an online platform. Recognising the idea’s potential from the start, the SHINE team backed him enthusiastically. In the years that followed, Bruno received continued investment and support as he scaled up his vision.
The impact
Times Tables Rock Stars continues to grow its reach and influence.
- It is now used by 1 million children a week, from 17,000 schools around the world..
- More than 15,700 primary and secondary schools in England were subscribed in April 2025, including 4,700 in the North.
- An estimated 1.5 million disadvantaged children are currently benefitting from TT Rock Stars in England.
- The most recent speed data on more than 900,000 children shows that on average, students are 56% faster at answering times tables questions after using TTRS than when they started using it, dropping from an average of 9 seconds per question to 4 seconds per question.
Bruno continues to be a passionate advocate for education, supporting many thousands of children to learn and succeed. He also maintains a close, ongoing involvement with the SHINE network.