Four in ten Delhi school students take private tuition: Survey

Nearly four out of ten school students in Delhi take private coaching, much higher than the all-India average of one in four, according to the National Sample Survey’s Comprehensive Modular Survey on Education.

Delhi ranked sixth highest in the country on the proportion of students taking coaching. At the top was Tripura, where 78.6 per cent of students reported taking private coaching, followed by West Bengal and Odisha.

The report underlined that Delhi students’ reliance on tuition begins as early as the primary stage and is higher than the national average. This rises sharply at senior levels, with households spending far more than the national average on coaching.

The survey found that 39.1 per cent of students in Delhi were taking or had taken private coaching during the current academic year, against the all-India average of 27 per cent.

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The Comprehensive Modular Survey (CMS) on Education is part of the 80th round of the National Sample Survey (NSS), conducted across India between April and June 2025. It offers nationally representative data on school enrolment, household spending on education, and private coaching trends.

Using Computer-Assisted Personal Interviews, the survey collected information from 52,085 households and 57,742 students, covering both rural and urban areas to support state- and national-level comparisons of educational participation and expenditure.

Girls in the national capital were more likely to be enrolled in coaching than boys, with 42.7 per cent of girls and 36.5 per cent of boys reporting tuition attendance.

At the higher secondary stage, the reliance was the sharpest as an average of 59.2 per cent of Delhi’s students reported being in coaching, with the share touching 61 per cent in urban areas (60.3 per cent boys, 61.8 per cent girls).

In contrast, rural Delhi recorded a lower 31.4 per cent (28.6 per cent boys, 36.3 per cent girls).

The national average at this level stood much lower at 37.9 per cent. At the secondary school level, Delhi’s overall figure was 51.6 per cent (48.1 per cent boys, 54.5 per cent girls), compared to 37.8 per cent nationally. This surge in coaching at the secondary and higher secondary levels coincides with board examinations and competitive entrance tests.

At the primary stage, nearly a third of Delhi’s surveyed students (30.2 per cent) reported attending tuitions, well above the national average of 22.9 per cent. Among them, girls (34.8 per cent) were more likely than boys (27.3 per cent) to go for coaching.

In rural Delhi, 15.0 per cent of primary students reported taking coaching.

At the middle school level, 41.8 per cent of Delhi’s students were enrolled in coaching classes. This was significantly higher than the all-India average of 29.6 per cent. In urban Delhi, boys (43.2 per cent) were slightly ahead of girls (39.3 per cent), whereas at the overall national level boys (30.4 per cent) had only a marginal edge over girls (28.7 per cent).

The picture at the pre-primary level, though based on small samples, also highlighted gaps. In Delhi, 7 per cent of children overall were in coaching at this early stage, compared to the national average of 11.6 per cent.

Within this, 30.2 per cent of rural girls, 9.6 per cent of urban boys and 1.2 per cent of urban girls reported being in tuition.

The study highlighted that Delhi families spend far more than the national average on coaching. Across all levels combined, the average annual household expenditure per student on private coaching in Delhi was Rs 5,643, compared to the all-India figure of Rs 2,409.

The gap widens at higher classes. At the higher secondary stage, Delhi households reported spending Rs 12,891 per student, nearly double the national average of Rs 6,384. At the secondary level, Delhi’s spend was Rs 10,866, compared to Rs 4,183 nationally.

At the middle school stage, the capital’s average spend was Rs 4,992, well above the national figure of Rs 2,189.

Even at the primary level, Delhi students spent more, Rs 2,195 per student, compared to the all-India average of Rs 1,313.

At the pre-primary level, Delhi’s average spend was Rs 295, lower than the national average of Rs 525.

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The survey underlined sharp urban-“rural contrasts. At the secondary level, 51.9 per cent of urban Delhi students reported taking tuitions, against 45.0 per cent in rural areas.

At the middle school stage, 41.8 per cent overall were in coaching, with 40.5 per cent of rural students also enrolled. In expenditure too, the divide was clear: urban Delhi students spent an average of Rs 5,812 annually on coaching, compared to Rs 2,865 in rural Delhi.

The survey also highlighted gender differences. Girls in Delhi not only had a higher share of enrolment in coaching (42.7 per cent against 36.5 per cent boys) but also reported higher average spending.

In urban Delhi, girls spent Rs 6,683 a year on coaching compared to Rs 5,159 for boys, while in rural Delhi, girls spent Rs 3,982 against Rs 2,188 for boys.

Nationally too, boys (Rs 2,572) and girls (Rs 2,227) showed similar gaps in spending.

The findings suggest that Delhi parents are not only more likely to send their children to coaching classes but also spend significantly more on them than households in other parts of the country.