PhysicsWallah Offering New Teachers Up To ₹15 Lakh To Poach Students: Report

Edtech company PhysicsWallah is reportedly offering newly recruited teachers rewards of up to ₹15 lakh if students referred by them secure top ranks in competitive entrance examinations, as the company accelerates the expansion of its offline coaching business.

The incentive scheme applies to students enrolling in PhysicsWallah's 2027 classroom batches, Moneycontrol reported the development citing an internal policy document and people familiar with the matter.

Under the policy, faculty members and Talent Nurture Team (TNT) personnel can receive rewards ranging from ₹2 lakh to ₹15 lakh based on their referred students' performance in JEE Main, JEE Advanced and NEET examinations.

The faculty component is largely aimed at newly hired teachers, encouraging them to bring students from their previous coaching institutes. While rewarding TNT personnel for recruiting academically strong students is common across the coaching industry, extending similar incentives to faculty members marks a significant shift, the report said.

PhysicsWallah maintained that the programme is not new. "Employee rewards programme is not a new exercise at PhysicsWallah. The company periodically reviews and updates such policies," a company spokesperson said, as per Moneycontrol.

"If such a student chooses to enrol in a classroom programme through an employee referral, engages with the relevant subject classes, and subsequently achieves a qualifying rank, referring employees become eligible for rewards under the policy," the spokesperson added.

"One of the components of our rewards policy is intended to recognise employees (faculty members and academic support staff like talent nurture teams), whose referred students go on to enrol with PhysicsWallah and achieve strong results in competitive examinations such as JEE/NEET," the company clarified.

Industry Practice and Expansion Strategy

The highest payout of ₹15 lakh is reserved for students securing All India Rank 1, followed by ₹12 lakh for ranks two and three, ₹9 lakh for ranks four to 10, ₹7.5 lakh for ranks 11 to 100, ₹4 lakh for ranks 101 to 500, and ₹2 lakh for ranks between 501 and 1,000. Students must enrol before the specified deadline and attend at least two subject classes for the reward to qualify, as per the report.

"The criteria for rewards is not merely enrolment but long-term academic outcome on course completion," the company said, adding that "participation or non participation in any reward programme is voluntary and has no impact on the salary structure of employees."

One person familiar with the matter described the inclusion of teachers in the rewards programme as unusual, while another called it a "perverse incentive" that could encourage students to shift coaching institutes alongside faculty, as per Moneycontrol.

The report said the initiative comes as PhysicsWallah's offline business has become a major contributor to its revenue. In FY26, the company's offline segment generated ₹1,774 crore, compared with ₹1,954 crore from its online business.

PhysicsWallah expanded its classroom network to 353 centres across India and the UAE during the year, up from 198 centres previously, while offline enrolments increased to 467,500. The company has also earmarked ₹460 crore from its proposed IPO proceeds to strengthen its offline classroom network.