GCSE Student Stories: Emily Eckhardt | GCSE Maths Review

Emily never had the time and attention she needed in school to achieve the Maths grade she needed, however, she soon discovered that online learning was exactly what she needed. Find out more about her experience studying a GCSE Maths course with us! 

I joined ICS Learn for the GCSE 1-9 Mathematics course. All through my fundamental learning stages from Primary up to my Honours degree, I've had a bad relationship with maths. Although the reason for this was it was never taught to me correctly due to primary and secondary teachers not having enough time to look at pupils' strengths individually.

This meant for pupils such as myself who needed more time on certain topics quickly became lost in a lot of math subjects. In primary maths I wasn’t engaged and in secondary, due to my expected grade, I was put with pupils who spent more time messing around than focusing on the learning.

I found this extremely difficult as I have always wanted to learn although just needed more time to get to grips with topics within Mathematics, but this wasn’t an option as teachers persisted to move on and I fell very behind.

In my GCSEs I managed to get a grade although this wasn’t a good enough grade for my future prospects. I didn’t look at doing my maths again until it came to passing my Honours degree in Musical Theatre and I decided I wanted to become a Primary School Teacher.

To be able to pursue my long-term career I knew I needed to get my GCSE in mathematics. I set myself a target to pass the Summer exams in 2021 to begin my PGCE in September 2021.

I began my search by looking endlessly on Google for online math courses. The reason for choosing an online maths course is so I could learn at my own pace as I work well to my own targets and deadlines.

After speaking with many different providers, none of them were ticking all the boxes, however, this is when I found ICS Learn. They had amazing trust pilot reviews from real students, great course content providing worksheets, mock tests, end-of-unit tests, and the initial course layout I thought was brilliant.

Furthermore, you have constant support from not only your dedicated tutor but you have discussion rooms that connect you to the head tutor. You can also connect with other pupils on the course for any support or guidance.

I never had any negative thoughts about taking on an online course as I know I'm a dedicated student which will put the hours in and complete whatever is necessary to get to where I need to.

As well as these points, I knew with this I could work to my own timeline, set personal targets for when I finish a topic (move onto a new topic when I’m ready to if needing more time I can decide to do so) and finally, be in the comfort of my own study area.

I found the course very well put together, the site was easy to understand, tutor support was brilliant, live and pre-recorded sessions were extremely helpful and the external worksheet links to other work connecting to the topic were extremely handy.

All the way through my time with ICS Learn I felt supported and confident with what I was to do.

With ICS Learn, I successfully came out with a 5 in mathematics, a grade I never thought id be able to say I’d achieve. ICS Learn made maths understandable, easy to follow, and offered such a supportive community.

Getting this grade has meant I could pursue my dream career of becoming a primary school teacher and go to university to achieve my Masters and QTS. I couldn’t be happier!

ICS Learn has made me believe in myself which will mean I will go ahead and teach children maths confidently and creatively. If you come out of education hating maths, ICS Learn will change that, as it sure did for me. Couldn’t recommend a better course platform. 

Inspired by Emily's story? Get your GCSE course guide and start your own learning journey today.