Why PhysicsWallah is betting on schools to fix what coaching can’t

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. NEW DELHI: PhysicsWallah built its business by fixing what India’s school system often does not, helping students crack high-stakes entrance exams such as JEE and NEET. Now, in a counter-intuitive next phase of growth, the edtech company is betting that the only durable way to improve coaching outcomes is to go back and fix school education itself.

On its earnings call on Friday, the Noida-based firm laid out plans to push deeper into the K-12 segment, arguing that earlier intervention in a student’s learning journey will translate into stronger academic outcomes. While K-12 currently contributes less than 1% of revenue, top executives said they believe school education could eventually overtake the company’s core test-preparation vertical, which today accounts for 97% of revenue. “For now, the K-12 push is unlikely to move the needle on revenues," said Prateek Boob, co-founder of recently listed PhysicsWallah.

“But in the longer run, this will become a meaningful contributor to Ebitda. Five years from now, K-12 will be a larger business than test preparation." Management argued that coaching often begins too late to fundamentally change outcomes. “By the time students enter Class 11, the damage is already done," Boob said, pointing to structural gaps in school-level preparation for engineering and medical entrance exams.

Edtech players, most notably Byju’s, had previously tried to monetize K–12 students through after-school education. That model ran into trouble, leaving Byju’s largely inactive today. PhysicsWallah initially entered K-12 through smaller online offerings and its early-learning brand Curious Junior in 2023, but is now making a deeper push into mainstream school