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I am Dr. Ilyas Shakenov
I’ve been teaching math for over 20 years and hold a PhD in Mathematics. I’ve loved math since childhood — it shapes how I think, work, and live. Find out more about my story below.
  • First Steps

    I believe my journey began in childhood, watching my father — a professor of mathematics — and dreaming of becoming a mathematician myself. By the fifth grade, I was already teaching my classmates and could fill the blackboard with chalk in no time.
    In high school, I studied for three years at a physics and math school, where my abilities truly started to unfold. Right after graduation, my classmates began asking me to help their relatives prepare for final exams — and that’s how my tutoring journey began, alongside my studies at the Faculty of Mathematics.
  • Choosing a profession

    While studying at university, I never thought teaching would become my main profession — it started more as a hobby. I once considered pursuing a career in actuarial science. But near the end of my bachelor’s degree in pure math, a student asked me to help her prepare for the GMAT exam. That’s how I discovered the world of international math exams: SAT, GRE, A-Level, IB, and many others.
    I became so engaged that I rented an office and started teaching full-time. It was a conscious choice — I was doing something I truly enjoyed and could do endlessly. In my office, I helped students prepare for university admission, ran summer schools, and taught one-on-one. Those were active, memorable years filled with energy and growth.
  • University Teaching

    In 2017, I defended my PhD dissertation titled “Inverse Problems for Parabolic Equations on Unlimited Time Intervals.” Soon after, in 2018, I began teaching at Kazakh-British Technical University as an Assistant Professor. I taught courses such as AP Calculus, AP Statistics, Introduction to Mathematical Statistics, Optimization Theory, and Asset Pricing and Capital Markets. It was an invaluable experience!
    After six years at the university, I decided to focus fully on international online tutoring.
  • International tutoring

    I teach online from Almaty, Kazakhstan, working with students across Europe, Asia, the Middle East, and North America. Many of my students stay with me for years, and it’s a wonderful feeling to see them grow — when yesterday’s school student becomes a university freshman. Time really does fly.
    I also have a daughter of my own, and we study together regularly. Every night before bed, she asks me to give her a new math problem! So I truly understand what parents feel when they care deeply about their children’s education.
  • My Goals

    Today, my goal is to teach internationally — to connect with students from around the world and explore new teaching programs, both in math and beyond. I have also taught Physics, C++ programming, and Financial Mathematics.
    What truly drives me is helping people reach their goals and seeing their joy after earning well-deserved high scores. It’s inspiring! It makes me feel like I’m part of something meaningful and important. After all, it all started long ago in my childhood, when I sincerely fell in love with math.
My Achievements
  • 12
    countries represented by my students
  • 1000+
    students taught so far
  • 9
    major international programs and exams, including A-Level, IB and AMC
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