What started with just eight students in Glanmire in the middle of Covid has grown into an online maths tuition business helping students across Ireland….
Breakthrough Maths was founded by TJ Hegarty in 2020 and was initially a very small operation, with Hegarty himself teaching a handful of students in Cork.
Six years later, the business has expanded significantly, with students from across the country taking part in its live online classes.
“I started Breakthrough Maths in 2020, right in the middle of Covid, with just 8 students in Glanmire in Cork,” Hegarty explained. “It was literally just me teaching a handful of students at the start. We started in Cork and now we teach students right across the country, which is fairly mad when you think back to those first 8.”
Like many businesses, Covid forced Breakthrough Maths online sooner than originally planned. However, Hegarty quickly realised that online learning could offer significant benefits for families.
“Covid pushed us online quicker than we probably ever would have gone ourselves, but then we realised it was actually way handier for families. No driving to grinds, no sitting in traffic. If you can put a really good teacher on the other side of the screen and bring a bit of life to the class, it works really well.”
The business now operates entirely online, with students attending live group classes from home. For Hegarty, the idea behind Breakthrough Maths came from a frustration with the way maths is often perceived by students.
“I was always fascinated by the stereotype around maths. You hear it all the time. ‘I hate maths’, ‘I’m not a maths person’, ‘maths is boring’. There’s a real fear factor around the subject for some students too.”
Having experienced that feeling himself as a student, he wanted to create an environment where maths could feel more engaging.
“I was bored myself in plenty of maths classes and I knew how quickly you could switch off. I just thought, why does maths have to be like that? Get a good teacher in front of a student, someone with a bit of enthusiasm who actually wants them to get it, and it can completely change things.”
The name Breakthrough Maths reflects what Hegarty sees as the key moment in a student’s learning – when something that previously seemed difficult suddenly makes sense.
“That’s really where Breakthrough Maths came from. You’re trying to get that little breakthrough where something finally clicks and a student goes, ‘Oh, I actually can do this.’ That’s still the whole idea behind it today.”
Breakthrough Maths isn’t just aimed at Leaving Cert students. The programme caters for students from 4th Class right through to 6th Year, with Hegarty revealing that some of the most popular years are actually 2nd and 3rd Year.
“People nearly assume Leaving Cert will be our biggest group, but surprisingly 2nd and 3rd Year are two of our most popular years. Loads of our students are in 3rd Year.”
Hegarty believes that getting students comfortable with maths before they reach the senior cycle can make a significant difference.
“I think that’s actually a great time to get on top of maths. There’s no point waiting until 6th Year if a student has been struggling since 2nd or 3rd Year. Get the basics right earlier, keep them practising and it makes a massive difference.”
Students receive access to four live classes every week, with the flexibility to choose which sessions they attend. That means students aren’t tied to one particular evening every week.
“If football is on Tuesday, grand, come Wednesday. If they have a test coming up and want more practice, come to all four.”
The main plan costs €149 per month, giving students the opportunity to attend up to 16 live classes each month. That works out at just over €9 per class.
“I think that’s brilliant value, but the other big thing for parents is that it’s just handy. They’re at home, open the laptop and away they go.”
While the classes are designed to be energetic and engaging, Hegarty says one of the biggest focuses behind the scenes is testing.
“You can yap all day about how good a class was, but the question for us is simple. Is the student actually improving? Every week we’re checking how students are getting on and every Sunday parents get a text showing them their child’s progress. That’s probably the engine behind Breakthrough Maths now.”
For Hegarty, this provides parents with something particularly important: evidence that their child’s maths is improving.
“We have the craic, we’ve great teachers, there’s a good buzz around the classes and we’re big on social media. That’s all part of it because maths shouldn’t feel miserable. But behind all of that is the testing. Teach them, test them, see what they know, see what they don’t know and go again. Ultimately, parents want to know their child is actually getting better at maths,” TJ told Wexford Weekly.
Perhaps the biggest lesson Hegarty has taken from building Breakthrough Maths is that struggling with maths doesn’t necessarily mean a student is “bad at maths”.
“The biggest thing I’ve learned since starting with those 8 students is that a lot of children have convinced themselves they’re bad at maths when they’re really not. Sometimes they’ve missed a topic, sometimes they’ve fallen behind or sometimes nobody has explained something in a way that clicks with them yet.”
The solution, he says, can be surprisingly simple: good teaching, consistent practice and allowing students to see their own progress.
“Get a good teacher in front of them, bring a bit of energy to the lesson, practise consistently and let them see that they’re improving. Once they start getting those little wins, their whole attitude towards maths can change.”
And the original goal remains the same, despite the huge growth of the business.
“That’s still what we’re trying to do now, just on a much bigger scale than the 8 students in Glanmire we started with.”
Breakthrough Maths is now available to students across Ireland, including those in County Wexford. As a special offer, anyone who signs up can receive one week of free grinds – four live classes – with no obligation to continue.
For parents or students in Wexford interested in finding out more, visit https://breakthroughmaths.ie.
Jason Redmond
From Gorey, Jason is the owner of Wexford Weekly. He is also a post-primary English and History teacher.
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