http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-31079515

Good grief! It was the norm to know your times tables when you left primary school, sixty years ago. All the messing about with the education system, by all political parties, seems to have resulted in retrograde steps.

As decimalisation came in 1971, I can't see why they need to go further than 10 x 10 though.

Thing is, I think they now have to teach the teachers their times table first. The NUT doesn't believe in education just brainwashing and looking after their members. If they are not then they are giving the wrong impression. All schools should be taken up to the level that grammars used to have, not dumb everybody down to the lowest level. The kids are getting a raw deal, they're capable of anything asked of them if given the chance. Remember the old days when girls were taught that they were only capable of ironing, cooking and sewing and were "educated" to that level. On top of this their education should really begin in the home, basics, manners, being aware of other people and their feelings, common decency, call it what you will.

I see your point but not everything comes in bundles of ten.

We had to know up to 12 X tables by the time we were 8.

By 11 we had to be able to divide £31-11-4d
by £2-13-8d or similar but I don't think I could
do it now without blowing the last few brain cells.

Decimalization came too late for me.

I used to HATE mental arithmetic, which we had to do for an hour every morning at school - and then the same of English. It worked, though! I can still remember my tables and quite a bit of English grammar, both of which come in useful from time to time.

We had uproar, and stormed the Headmaster's office, in the childrens school when they stopped teaching the x tables. That was not in the Merseyside area and approx. 1990. The head was adamant that they would no longer be needed.

Like others, we knew all ours, 'parrot fashion' by the age of 8/9 yrs. Something never to be forgotten, and still used regularly.

Not everything does come in 10's but tables might come in handy when buying 11 tins of peas at 32 p each. I can do that is seconds....how about the pupils of today.

I always use the 10 times table for something like above
10 x 32 = 320
1 x32 = 32

320 +32 = 352

I would agree that tables DO still get used as derek says, i used to find the 8 and 9 ones the hardiest to remember..
I remember it was a'ritual' after the register.

Please no more of those sums my head's hurting now (wasn't by mental arithmetic though - on a sheet of paper)

Can someone check the answer for me if they've got 5 or 10 minutes spare?
11.7486 remainder 16

Good gracious and to think I would have just reeled that answer off years ago.Now, I can't even begin to imagine how to do it.So I cheated and converted them both into simple numbers, £1=240d etc and I got the answer as 11.763975.

Decimals are very much easier but we just knew the old sterling and avoirdupois without many difficulties.

Unfortunately the answer should be in £:s:d

That's not cheating; it's the correct way to do it and I agree with your answer. (Oh, and it's a simple division and the answer has no units. On the other hand, if you are asked to divide £45-17s.-8d. by 21, then the answer will need units).

Break it down to the lowest common denominator,
12 pennies =1shilling 20 shillings =1 pound 240 pennies =1 pound

£31-11-4 ÷£2-13-8 = (31x240)+(11x12)+4÷(2x240)+(13x12)+8

=(7440+132+4)÷(480+156+8)

=(7576)÷(644)=(11.763971552795)=

you can divide 31 pounds 11 shillings and 4 pence by 2 pounds 13 shillings and 8 pence 11¾ times approximately

11x644=7084+492=7576

Argh, make the dancing numbers stop! Too much like old times...

"and the answer has no units." - You are right of course -
my brain has clearly failed already.