English medium schools and coaching in Dhaka: a 2026 market analysis

How big Dhaka's English medium sector really is, what families pay, why Cambridge entries keep rising, how the coaching and home-tutor market works around it, and what that means for parents and tutors.

By Tutors Hub team, 2026-11-13

English medium education in Bangladesh used to be a small, mostly Dhaka-based niche. In 2026 it is a fast-growing market with its own exam calendar, its own fee structures and a large tutoring economy around it. We match families with home and online tutors every day, so we see the demand side first-hand. This analysis brings together the public numbers, explains how the market works, and ends with practical advice for guardians and tutors.

How big is the sector?

Nobody agrees on one number, because many English medium schools are not registered with the education ministry. Here is what each source says:

Sources: BANBEIS, The Business Standard, 11 March 2026, Daily Sun.

The gap between 137 and 300 schools is the unregistered sector: neighbourhood English medium schools that teach toward Cambridge or Edexcel exams without formal registration. Whatever the exact figure, every source agrees on direction: exam candidates roughly doubled in a decade, and about three in four English medium schools are in Dhaka.

Cambridge and Edexcel: the exam calendar that shapes the market

Two boards dominate. Cambridge International (O Level, IGCSE, AS and A Level) sits exams in May/June and October/November. Pearson Edexcel (International GCSE and International A Level) adds a January series. Cambridge's June 2026 series in Bangladesh had more than 43,500 entries, up 8% on 2025: over 25,000 at O Level and IGCSE (up 10%) and over 18,000 at AS and A Level (up 5%), as reported by The Business Standard in August 2026 and summarised by Tutopiya. Pearson does not publish Bangladesh figures; its January sitting and modular International A Levels are its main draw.

The most-entered subjects tell you where tutoring demand sits: English Language, Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry and Bengali at O Level and IGCSE; Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry, Biology and Business at A Level.

What families pay

School fees vary more than in almost any other market:

• Monthly tuition at English medium schools typically runs from Tk15,000 to Tk70,000 or more, before admission fees, books, activities and exam registration (The Business Standard).
• At the top end, an all-in year at a premium school can approach Tk10 lakh. The Aga Khan School, Dhaka, for example, lists a one-time admission fee of BDT 3,50,000 and annual tuition from BDT 6,54,340 to BDT 18,28,880 for 2026/27 (doris.school).
• At the other end, smaller neighbourhood schools charge a few thousand taka a month in the early years.

Then come exam fees, paid per subject to the board through the British Council or the school, and, for most families, private tutoring on top.

The tutoring and coaching market around English medium

Private tutoring is not an extra in Bangladesh; it is part of the system. The national Education Household Survey found that about 29% of all household education spending goes on coaching and house tutors, the single largest item, rising to 33% in urban households (Dhaka Tribune). Research on Bureau of Statistics data found the share of urban households paying for private tuition rose from 48% in 2000 to 67% in 2010, and a 2023 study found more than three in four secondary students used tutors or coaching (The Business Standard). One educationist has put the coaching sector at around BDT 50,000 crore; it is an estimate, but it shows the scale.

For English medium students the market splits into five channels:

1. One-to-one home tutors. The largest channel by number. Usually university students or recent graduates from DU, BUET, NSU, BRAC and IUT, or experienced teachers, teaching two to five days a week at home. Flexible and personal, but quality and safety vary widely, which is the problem agencies like Tutors Hub exist to solve.
2. Teacher-led batches. Well-known subject teachers running groups of 10 to 30 students, often in rented rooms in Dhanmondi, Gulshan, Banani, Uttara and Bashundhara. Strong results, but less individual attention.
3. Branded coaching centres. Mostly built around admission tests, IELTS and SAT rather than the O and A Level syllabus itself.
4. Online classes. Live classes and recorded courses, which grew during the pandemic and stayed. They suit families outside Dhaka and students who want a specific teacher.
5. Hybrid programmes. The newest model: one teacher running the same batch in a room and live online at once, with recordings, timed mocks and a student portal. ZNF.Math in Uttara, which we profile in our interview with its founder, is one example.

Demand follows the exam calendar. It builds from January to April ahead of the May/June series and from August to September ahead of October/November, and results days (August and January) bring a second wave of students planning retakes.

Five trends to watch

• Trust is shifting. Parents cite curriculum changes and exam controversies in the national system as reasons to switch; a Dhaka University education researcher told The Business Standard that falling confidence in the mainstream system is what drives families to look elsewhere.
• Costs keep rising. Secondary education costs jumped 51% in early 2023 in the study cited above, which pushes families toward fewer subjects and shorter, exam-focused support.
• Verification matters more. With hundreds of tutor groups on Facebook, families want proof: checked ID, certificates and a demo class before a tutor enters the home.
• Mathematics and the sciences lead, judging by exam entries, followed by English Language and, at A Level, Business.
• Reach beyond Dhaka. Online tutoring lets families in Chattogram, Sylhet and Rajshahi learn from Dhaka's tutors.

What this means for guardians

• Budget for the full year, not just the monthly fee: admission, exam registration per subject and tutoring.
• Use tutoring where it pays off most: a subject where the student is below grade B, or exam-technique support in the six months before the exams.
• Ask for a trial class and a written plan (topics, past papers, mock dates) before committing.
• Check the tutor, not just the university name. At Tutors Hub every listed tutor's ID, certificates and a recorded demo class are checked, and a TOE follows up after the tuition starts. Request a tutor and we shortlist within your budget, free for guardians.

What this means for tutors

• Specialise by board and paper. "O Level Mathematics D (4024), Paper 1 and 2" wins more tuitions than "Math tutor".
• Show results and method: past-paper practice, timed mocks and regular reports to parents.
• Plan around the calendar: register before January and August, when demand builds. See open tuition jobs or become a tutor with Tutors Hub.

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