About iChem Academy
Islam Daoud
"Too many students work hard without ever being shown how to turn that effort into marks. That's the gap iChem Academy exists to close."
Why did you build iChem Academy?
8 years teaching Chemistry in London schools, watching hard-working students come out of exams with grades that didn't match the work they'd put in. The knowledge was there. The marks weren't.
What did the classroom teach you?
Marking hundreds of papers made the pattern obvious. Students lose marks on how they answer, not on what they know. Examiners reward one particular way of thinking, so I built a system that trains it deliberately.
What are your qualifications?
A BSc in Chemistry and an MSc in Process Systems Engineering, and I am a qualified Science teacher with 8 years in UK classrooms. I work across AQA, OCR A and Edexcel, and I have taught International Edexcel and Cambridge International extensively.
Are you still teaching in a school?
Yes — I teach Chemistry and Science at an Ofsted-Outstanding London secondary school and sixth form, alongside running iChem Academy. That matters more than it sounds. I see the live specifications every week: how schools sequence the content, what the mocks actually look like, and where a whole cohort loses the same marks. Specifications change, and a tutor who left the classroom years ago is working from a version of the course your child is not sitting.
Are you DBS checked?
Yes. I hold a current enhanced DBS certificate, and I am the only person who teaches iChem Academy students — no associates and no subcontracting. Should that ever change, any tutor teaching here will hold an enhanced DBS certificate without exception. Lessons are online, a parent or guardian is welcome to sit in on any session, and safeguarding concerns are handled in line with statutory guidance.
The iChem philosophy?
Fix the foundations, then train exam thinking. That's it. Over 100 students have been through it, and plenty have jumped two grades or more.