A school fee is planned. A college fund is prepared. But there is a third cost of education in India which most have not accounted for. This is one that often arrives quietly, grows steadily, and ends up deciding far more than families expect.
Yes, we are talking about coaching. For many, this is a stepping stone to what they chose as a profession later on in life.
Coaching begins as a support system; a few extra classes, a test series, a weekend batch…but slowly it ends up shaping how students prepare, compete, and even succeed.
Yet, for most families, it remains the least planned part of the education “corpus”.
Take this senior journalist as an example. “I thought I had my son’s future mapped out perfectly, his international school fees, after-school tutoring, college funds, even a small cushion if he wanted to start something of his own.”
But what no one tells you is that planning for education isn’t the same as planning for access to it.
“What I hadn’t accounted for was the cost of getting him there… Rs 2 lakh upfront for SAT coaching, another Rs 2.5 lakh due soon (in May), extra for study materials, and Rs 20,000 for every attempt,” she adds.
Somewhere along the way, parents have planned for schools and colleges, but forgot to account for the booming coaching industry in between. And that invisible layer is quietly becoming the most expensive part of the journey.
THE COACHING INVESTMENT NO ONE TALKS ABOUT
A recent government study, the Comprehensive Modular Survey: Education, 2025, released by the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation, shows how deeply this shift has taken root. Nearly 27% of students in India are now taking private coaching, with the number rising to over 30% in urban areas.
The spending, at first glance, seems manageable. On average, urban households spend about Rs 3,988 per student annually on coaching, compared to Rs 1,793 in rural areas. But the numbers climb sharply with age, touching nearly Rs 9,950 a year at the higher secondary level in cities.
These are averages, for lakhs of students preparing for competitive exams, the actual cost runs far higher, often stretching into several lakhs over the years. More tellingly, 95% of education expenses are paid directly by families, with little external support.
That is the reality behind the numbers: a parallel system of “shadow education” that families are funding almost entirely on their own.
This is where Hello Bachhonthe OTT series on accessible learning, begins to feel less like fiction and more like a mirror of the goings-on in society. Because outside the screen, the question is no longer just about good teaching. It opens into a deeper question about access: who can afford the extra push, and who gets left behind.
And that is where the real question begins: If coaching is becoming a near-universal investmentare families truly prepared for what it demands: financially, emotionally, and academically?
And if coaching is no longer optional, has it quietly become the real cost of education in India?
WHEN SCHOOL ISN’T ENOUGH FOR PREPARATION
For Shivansh Sharma, a JEE Main aspirant who scored 98 percentile in JEE Main Session 1, 2026, coaching became a way to bring order into a demanding exam.
He joined coaching in Class 11 after years of relying primarily on school and self-study. The decision wasn’t driven by panic, but by a need for structure, deeper conceptual clarity, regular mock tests, a disciplined schedule, and practice that closely reflected real exam conditions.
“Coaching is not strictly necessary,” he says, “but it makes preparation more organised and focused.”
That is the quiet appeal of coaching. It does not just teach content. It gives rhythm. For a student preparing for an exam like JEE, that rhythm can feel like safety.
Shivansh also says the competitive environment helped him take preparation more seriously. But that same environment brings pressure. Weekly tests, rankings and constant comparison can affect confidence.
“The pressure is productive,” he says, “because it pushes me to revise regularly and stay consistent.” The sentence captures the contradiction at the heart of coaching: it can sharpen effort while also narrowing peace of mind.
WHEN IT BECOMES A BURDEN FOR FAMILIES
The money usually starts smaller than the fear. Shivansh says he knows coaching fees are high, and that his parents pay in a single instalment. That awareness itself becomes a form of pressure.
“Knowing that my parents are investing a significant amount in my preparation makes me feel responsible,” he says. “I feel I should use every class, test and study material properly.” His mother, Pallavi Sharma, says the family decided on coaching in Class 11 because JEE preparation felt too difficult to manage with school alone.
They had a rough idea of the cost, but the actual expense was higher than expected. The family spends around Rs 70,000 a year on weekend classes and online sessions, which makes the load manageable compared with full-time coaching.
Even then, the fee has changed the household budget. They have had to watch their monthly spending more closely and reduce savings for a while.
That is what makes coaching such a tricky expense. It is not always a single big payment. It is a slow financial squeeze.
The official fee pages show how wide the range can be. Aakash says its regular one-year NEET course costs Rs 1,36,526, while a crash course costs Rs 32,804. ALLEN’s page lists the Nurture 1st Year fee at Rs 1,57,000 for its 2026–27 NEET programme.
FIITJEE’s Delhi NCR page lists a one-year Class XII JEE Main programme at Rs 90,000 + GST. Physics Wallah markets itself as more affordable, with online JEE and NEET courses starting from Rs 2,999, while offline seat booking for JEE or NEET is listed at Rs 5,000 + GST. Even within the same market, the spread is huge.
The point is not that every family pays the same amount. The point is that coaching has turned into a budgeting decision with long-term consequences.
WHEN COACHING BECOMES A BET MORE THAN AN INVESTMENT
For Shreya Dixit, a NEET aspirant, coaching was not optional at all. She joined after Class 12 and says that for students in regular schools, coaching becomes necessary much earlier, sometimes from Class 9 onwards.
In her view, school teaching often stays at the surface, while entrance exams demand a deeper understanding.
“For students like me, who want to go into medical colleges, coaching is a prerequisite,” she says. “Without coaching, it is quite next to impossible to get into the college you want.”
Shreya’s experience also shows that the cost of coaching changes with the format. Her online coaching costs Rs 5000 monthly, but she says offline coaching, plus tuition, hostel and other expenses, could have pushed the total to Rs 4 lakh or more annually.
That is the hidden jump that many families do not fully see at the start. A simple tuition fee can grow into a much larger ecosystem of living costs, test series, travel and repeat preparation.
What coaching gives, Shreya says, is better teaching. “Teachers in most coaching are top-notch,” she says. “They are experienced and patient, and that helps students understand topics more clearly.”
But she is also clear about the emotional cost. Students who enter the race early, she says, can lose the carefree parts of school life. The burden is not only academic. It is personal.
THE PRESSURE IS ALWAYS ON
This is where Preetha Ajit, a career counsellor, gives the story its widest angle.
She says there is a noticeable shift towards early coaching entry. Many students now begin as early as Grade 6, though the majority still start around Grade 9. Some are focused on preparation only in Grades 11 and 12.
A growing pattern, she says, is the “drop year”, when students spend an extra year solely on coaching. But not all such decisions work out. Some students struggle with the intensity of full-time coaching and move to online learning or even withdraw.
Her reading is sharp: the problem is often not effort, but clarity and preparedness.
Preetha also says that many families now see coaching as a safety net, something that keeps options open. That mindset comes from uncertainty, peer influence and social expectation.
But she sees a counter-trend too: a growing number of parents are questioning whether the default rush into coaching is really necessary. Some are choosing to reduce pressure and give children more time to explore. In her view, those families are often making more thoughtful decisions.
On outcomes, she is equally direct. Coaching, she says, can provide structure, discipline and a guided strategy, especially for students who lack study routines.
But it does not guarantee success. Results depend on aptitude, interest, emotional resilience and consistency. Some students thrive in coaching environments; others do not.
Her warning on money is just as important.
Coaching fees, she says, often do not match the outcomes they promise. Families may spend heavily in the hope of getting into a top institution, but even reputed institutions cannot guarantee results. That makes an informed choice essential.
And the emotional toll is real.
She sees rising burnout and anxiety among both students and parents, fear of failure, guilt over poor marks and stress from sudden exposure to demanding routines.
IS THERE A LOAN ANGLE?
If coaching is such a big expense, why not finance it the way families finance college? Because banks usually do not see it that way. Nirbhay Nigam, who works in the loan department of a bank, says there is no specific loan scheme for coaching fees.
His explanation is blunt: coaching does not guarantee a job, so banks do not treat it like higher education. Education loans are tied to a clearer repayment logic; coaching is not.
He does not support a special coaching-fee loan scheme either. In his view, it would add emotional and financial stress without guaranteeing results.
That position may sound hard, but it reflects the broader reality. Coaching is now expensive enough to matter, but not structured enough to be financed like formal education.
So families pay from savings, current income or careful compromise, making it the hidden cost of a successful education.
The real question is not whether coaching is good or bad. It is whether a family is making the choice because the child needs it, or because everyone else seems to be doing it. The coaching economy will not disappear soon. The numbers suggest it is becoming more common, more urban, more competitive and more expensive.
Preetha Ajit’s advice is simple: the decision should be based on the student’s aptitude, emotional readiness, career clarity and awareness of other pathways. In other words, not on panic, pressure or herd mentality.
That is the cleanest takeaway from the whole coaching story.
Families should plan for coaching early, the way they plan for school and college. They should compare online, weekend and classroom options.
They should ask whether the child actually needs structure or simply needs confidence. And they should remember that coaching can support a goal, but it cannot replace the student’s own ability, interest and resilience.
Hello Bachhon reminds viewers that education can be made accessible with the right intent. But the reality outside is more layered. Coaching can empower. It can also overwhelm. It can open doors, but at a cost that many families only fully realise halfway through the journey.
The dream of success is still the same. What has changed is the price of keeping up.
– Ends
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