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

In its earnings call on Friday, the Noida-based firm laid out plans to further deepen its K-12 segment, arguing that early intervention in a student’s learning journey will translate into stronger academic outcomes.

Although K-12 currently contributes less than 1% of revenue, top executives said they believe schooling could eventually overtake the company’s core test-prep vertical, which accounts for 97% of revenue today.

“For now, the K-12 move is unlikely to move the needle on revenues,” said Prateek Boob, co-founder of recently listed PhysicsWallah. “But in the long run, this will be a meaningful addition to Ebitda. Five years from now, K-12 will be a bigger business than test prep.”

Why schools now?

Management argued that coaching often began too late to fundamentally change results. “By the time students enter Grade 11, the damage has already been done,” Boob said, pointing to structural gaps in school-level preparation for engineering and medical entrance exams.

Edtech players, especially Byjus, have previously tried to make money from K-12 students through after-school education. This model ran into trouble and left Byju largely inactive today.

PhysicsWallah first entered K-12 in 2023 through smaller online offerings and early learning brand Curious Junior, but is now moving deeper into mainstream school education through physical schools.

Boob added on the earnings call that comparable models in markets like China suggest K-12 education may ultimately generate higher revenue than test prep.

A deeper push into K-12 is one of the company’s four key focus areas, along with offline expansion, acquisitions and artificial intelligence. PhysicWallah allocated ₹400 crore to build out the K–12 platform through Pen Pencil, the school management arm that houses school partnerships and owned school initiatives.

“We separated ₹400 crore so far for the construction of the K-12 platform, the company’s chief financial officer Amit Sachdeva told analysts. “Once we get through our planning cycle for next year, we will review where we are and have a fresh perspective on increasing that allocation.”

The school strategy covers multiple models: partnerships with existing schools within a network integration programme, greenfield and brownfield school projects, and full management control in selected cases, such as the Tender Hearts School partnership.

This momentum comes with increasing interest in the education segment, with major education players such as ALLEN Career Institute expanding into schools and higher education. Mint reported last year.

Private equity firms are also increasing bets on school chains. Mint In December, it reported that K-12 Techno Services, which operates Orchids International Schools, was in talks with Vitruvian Partners and others for a financing round of more than $150 million.

Today, many students go to school in the morning and attend coaching classes later in the day; This is the double workload that parents increasingly want to avoid. “Parents want an integrated setup,” Boob said.

PhysicsWallah says his experience of running technology-enabled coaching centers through the Vidyapeeth network has given him the “right to win” in schools.

“If we can create value for Grade 8, 9 or 10 students at Vidyapeeth, we can create similar value in the school environment,” said co-founder Boob, describing the strategy as building a “test prep branded school” supported by standardized curriculum, pedagogy and data-driven systems.

The K-12 expansion is part of PhysicsWallah’s broader initiative to evolve from a test prep specialist into a full-service educational platform.

In the December (3FY26) quarter, revenue from operations increased by 34% year-on-year. ₹1,082 crore while net profit is ₹102 crore, or a margin of 9%, despite one-time expenses related to labor law changes and IPO costs.

In the first nine months of FY26, revenue increased by 31% year-on-year. ₹2,980 crore surpassed its revenue in the entire FY25 ₹2,886 crore. Online education accounted for approximately 51% of revenue during the period, while the contribution of the offline segment was 46%.