Home Tuition Fees: How Much to Charge per Month, Class by Class, with a Fee Structure Template

What families actually spend on tuition: the official numbers

The best public data on tuition spending in India comes from the National Statistics Office. Its Comprehensive Modular Survey on Education was part of the 80th round of the National Sample Survey and ran from April to June 2025. It asked 52,085 households about 57,742 students what they spent on school and on private coaching during the current academic year. The results were released on 26 August 2025.

Three things in this data matter when you set a fee.

• Spending rises with each level of school. Nationally it goes from ₹525 a year at pre-primary to ₹6,384 at higher secondary. Parents expect to pay more for class 11 and 12 than for class 3, and your fee ladder should follow that.
• Urban families spend more than rural families at every level, and the gap grows in the higher classes. A fee that works in a city may empty your batch in a village.
• These are averages across a very large and mixed group: a few months of tuition, group classes, one-to-one teaching, and students who stopped midway. Do not read them as a price. One-to-one home tuition for a full year usually sits well above an average like this, because the tutor gives all their time to one child.

The same survey shows how much schooling itself costs families. Average household spending per student on school education was ₹2,863 in government schools and ₹25,002 in non-government schools during the year. So the family of a child in a private school is already paying a large school bill, and the family of a child in a government school may have a much smaller education budget. Both can be your students. Your fee structure can serve both with a group option and a one-to-one option, as shown below.

What decides home tuition charges

Before you pick a number, list what you are actually selling. Parents compare fees, but they are really comparing what they get for the fee. These are the factors that move home tuition charges up or down.

Use the table honestly. If you teach class 2 in a group of eight at your own home, you cannot charge what a tutor gets for daily one-to-one class 12 physics at the student's home. If you do offer something more, such as weekly tests and a written progress note, put it in your fee structure in plain words, so the parent can see what the extra money pays for.

Step 1: Work out your floor price from your costs and hours

Most tutors start by copying a neighbour's fee. That is the wrong first step. Start with your own numbers, so you know the lowest fee that is worth your time. Then check the market. You need four figures.

1. How much you want to earn from tuition in a month, after costs.
2. Your monthly costs: travel, printouts and photocopies, test papers, mobile data, a whiteboard or books, and a share of rent and electricity if students come to you.
3. How many hours a month you can really teach. Count only teaching hours, not travel or preparation.
4. How many students sit in each class: one for one-to-one, or the batch size for a group.

Your floor price per teaching hour is (target earning + monthly costs) divided by teaching hours. The fee for one student per month is that hourly figure, multiplied by the hours that student gets, divided by the number of students in the class.

Worked example

The numbers in this example are made up to show the method. They are not market rates. Put in your own figures.

Say you want to earn ₹15,000 a month from tuition. Your costs are about ₹2,000 a month for travel, printouts and data. You can teach four hours a day on 22 days a month, which is 88 teaching hours.

• Floor price per hour: (₹15,000 + ₹2,000) ÷ 88 hours = about ₹193. Round it to ₹195.
• One-to-one, one hour a day, 22 days a month: 22 × ₹195 = ₹4,290 a month. Add the cost of travel to that home if it is far.
• Group batch of six, one hour a day, 22 days a month: ₹4,290 ÷ 6 = ₹715 a month per student.
• Group batch of six, three days a week (about 12 classes a month): 12 × ₹195 ÷ 6 = ₹390 a month per student.

This shows why a group fee can be much lower than a one-to-one fee and still pay you the same for each hour. It also shows the real limit on your income: hours. If all 88 hours are one-to-one, you need twenty-two families paying that fee. If some hours are groups of six, fewer hours give you the same earning, and you have time for preparation.

If the floor price is far above what families near you can pay, change one input instead of cutting the fee blindly: a bigger batch, fewer travel days, or students coming to you.

Step 2: Check local fees the right way

Now compare your floor price with what families near you pay. Websites that list tutor rates by city show their own ranges, and they rarely say how they got them. The fees that matter are the ones in your area, for your class and format. Here is how to find them without guessing.

• Ask five or six parents you know, in the same area and with children in the same classes, what they pay, for how many days a week, and whether it is one-to-one or a group.
• Call two or three coaching centres near you as a parent would, and ask the fee for one class and subject, the days and hours, and the batch size.
• Note the format with every figure. A fee without the hours and the batch size cannot be compared.
• Write it down in one table: class, subject, format, days a week, batch size, monthly fee. Work out the fee per hour for each line. That is the number to compare with your floor price.

If your floor price is below the local fee per hour, you have room to charge the local rate or a little less while you build a name. If it is above, either your plan needs a change, or you need to offer something clearly better and say so in your fee structure.

Step 3: Choose how to charge: per month, per hour, per subject or per course

The way you charge matters as much as the amount. Each method suits a different kind of tuition.

For most home tutors, a monthly fee per subject (or for all subjects in the junior classes) is the clearest choice, with a per-hour rate for extra classes before exams. Whatever you choose, use one method per class level, so parents do not have to do sums to understand your fees.

Step 4: Build a class-wise fee ladder

People search for tuition fees for class 1 to 5 per month, or tuition fees for class 10, because they want to know the right figure for one stage. The survey shows that spending rises with each level, and the work for the tutor rises too: longer syllabus, harder subjects, board exams. So set your fees as a ladder. Fix one base fee, then set the higher classes as steps above it.

The size of each step is your choice. A simple way is to give each stage more hours and more checking, and let the fee rise with the hours using your hourly floor price from Step 1. Then the ladder is not a guess: a class 10 student who gets more hours and weekly tests pays more because they get more.

Tuition fees for class 1 to 5 per month

Junior classes are where most families start, and where they are most price-careful. Small groups work well here, because young children learn from each other, and the lower fee per child brings in more families. Keep the session to a length young children can sit through, set a fixed homework time, and send a short note to parents each month. One clear all-subject monthly fee is easier for parents than separate subject fees at this age.

Tuition fees for class 10 and class 12

Board years carry the highest fees, and parents ask the most questions. Price per subject. Say how many classes a week, how many tests a month, and whether sample papers and revision before the board exams are included or charged separately. A parent who knows exactly what the fee covers is far less likely to argue later.

Step 5: Write your fee structure for tuition classes (template)

A written fee structure saves arguments. It tells parents, before they join, what they pay, when, and what happens if something changes. For a centre with more than 50 students, the Ministry of Education's 2024 guidelines go further and ask for a prospectus that lists courses, duration, number of classes, fees, an easy exit policy and the refund rule, also displayed at the centre. Even a small home tutor gains from the same habit. Copy this template and fill in the blanks.

Fee structure, [Your name or tuition centre], session [year to year]. Classes: [classes and subjects]. Format: [one-to-one at home / group of up to __ at my place / online]. Days and time: [days], [time], [hours per class]. Monthly fee: Class 1 to 5, all subjects ₹____; Class 6 to 8 ₹____; Class 9 and 10 per subject ₹____; Class 11 and 12 per subject ₹____. Two or more subjects: ₹____ less per subject. Siblings: [your rule]. Admission or registration charge: [none / ₹____, one time]. Included: [notes, weekly tests, monthly progress note]. Not included: [printed books, extra classes before exams at ₹____ per hour]. Due date: fee for the month by the [__]th, by cash, UPI or bank transfer. Receipt: given for every payment. Missed classes: [made up within the month if told a day before / not refunded]. Holidays: [months with a full or reduced fee]. Leaving midway: [your refund rule]. Fee changes: [the fee stays the same for the whole session]. Contact: [phone number].

Keep it to one page. Share it on WhatsApp before the demo class and give a printed copy at admission. Our WhatsApp messages for tuition classes include admission and polite fee reminder messages that fit with it, and our tuition fee receipt format gives you the receipt to hand over for every payment.

Decisions to make before you fill it in

• Holiday months. Many tutors charge a full fee in short breaks and a reduced fee, or none, in long summer holidays when classes stop. Pick one rule and write it.
• Missed classes. If the student misses, the fee usually stays the same. If you cancel, give a make-up class. Write both.
• Advance payment. Taking three months together is fine, but a written refund rule must come with it.
• Late fee. A late fee often costs more goodwill than it brings in. A friendly reminder on the due date usually works better.

Refunds and fee increases: what the 2024 guidelines say

On 16 January 2024 the Ministry of Education sent Guidelines for Regulation of Coaching Center to all States and Union Territories. The letter says coaching centres are best regulated by the states through their own legal framework, so the guidelines are a model for state rules, not a law on their own. Check what your state has notified.

The guidelines define coaching as tuition or guidance given to more than 50 students. So a tutor teaching ten children at home is outside that definition. But the fee rules are good practice for anyone, and parents increasingly know them.

The guidelines also ask that coaching is not more than 5 hours a day, with a weekly off for students and tutors, and that a coaching centre does not enrol students below 16 years of age, or enrols them only after the secondary school examination. For a breach of registration conditions, they suggest a penalty of ₹25,000 for a first offence, ₹1,00,000 for a second, and cancellation of registration after that. How these apply to you depends on your state's own rules and on the size of your centre.

A simple refund rule you can copy

"If you have paid for more than one month and the student leaves, tell us in writing. We will refund the fee for the full months not yet started, within 10 days." It is easy to understand and close to the pro-rata idea in the guidelines. If you sell a short crash course, say clearly whether any part is refundable once classes begin.

GST on tuition fees: when it applies

Many tutors believe all education is free of GST. It is not. The CBIC guide on GST on education services says that only an "educational institution" gets the exemption: one giving pre-school and school education up to higher secondary, education for a qualification recognised by law, or an approved vocational course. It says plainly that private coaching centres and other unrecognised institutions are not treated as educational institutions under GST, even if they call themselves one, and cannot use the exemption. The same guide lists commercial training and coaching services under service code 999293 and says education services that are not exempt are taxed at the standard rate of 18%. Check the current rate on the CBIC website before you register, because rates are changed by notification.

That does not mean every tutor must charge GST. The CBIC guide on registration says a business supplying services need not register while its all-India aggregate turnover stays below ₹20 lakh in a year, or ₹10 lakh in Manipur, Mizoram, Nagaland and Tripura. A business below the limit may still register voluntarily.

• Below the limit and not registered: quote your fee as it is. Do not add GST and do not print a GST number.
• Registered: decide whether your fees include GST or have GST added on top, and say so in your fee structure. Parents should never find a surprise on the receipt.
• Close to the limit: plan for it. If your fees will cross the limit this year, work out now whether your fee will include GST or not, so you do not have to raise fees in the middle of a course.

Our tuition fee receipt format guide explains what a GST tax invoice must show. For your own case, ask a chartered accountant or tax practitioner.

How to talk to parents about fees

The fee talk is where many good tutors lose students or money. A few habits make it easier.

• Say the fee first, then what it includes. "The fee for class 7 maths and science is ₹____ a month, for five classes a week, a test every Saturday and a progress note at the end of the month."
• Offer a demo class before you talk money. A parent who has seen you teach argues less about the fee. Our guide on how to get students for tuition has more ways to let parents try you.
• Keep discounts to written rules: siblings, two or more subjects, a full term paid in advance. A discount you give one family will be asked for by the next.
• For a family that truly cannot pay, a group option at a lower fee is better than a secret cut. It is fair to everyone and keeps your hourly rate.
• Never use pressure. The Central Consumer Protection Authority's 2024 guidelines on coaching ads treat false claims about fees or refund policy, and a false sense of urgency or scarcity, as misleading. "Only two seats left" must be true if you say it.

Raising your fee next session

Raise fees only at the start of a session, never mid-course. Tell parents a month before, in writing, with the new fee and the date it starts. Give one short reason, such as more classes or added tests. Keep the old fee for current students until their course ends, if you can.

Common mistakes with tuition fees, and how to avoid them

When this guide is not for you

• If you teach in a school, check your school's and state's service rules on private tuition before you take any paid students. Many schools and states restrict it.
• If you run a large coaching institute with many teachers, this guide is a start, but you also need your state's coaching rules, registration and proper accounts. Our guide on how to start a coaching centre covers registration and setup.
• If you sell recorded courses online to students anywhere in India, pricing works differently, because one recording reaches many students. The cost-per-hour method here is for live teaching.

Run your tuition fees on Sikhami

Sikhami is a social network for every kind of learning in India, and coaching institutes and tuition centres get a free LMS on it: classroom batches, attendance, fees and receipts, and video courses with tests and certificates. Put each student on a fee plan in monthly instalments, record payments made in cash, by UPI or by bank transfer, and hand over a numbered receipt for each one. The fee book shows who has paid, who is due and who is overdue, so the end-of-month sums disappear. Our page on free fee management software shows each step.

Fees your students pay you for batches never pass through Sikhami, so Sikhami takes nothing from them. Your institute also gets a free page that learners can find. See everything institutes get on the Sikhami for institutes page.