Over the years, we have found that each situation while starting a school presents unique opportunities and challenges. During the Initial stage, Our International School Consultants will help clients to validate the idea, identify key issues to be addressed, gather information through market survey to understand competition, parent preferences, education programs, positioning, marketing, statutory approvals, boards, perform SWOT analysis to determine the key criteria for the school to be successful and arrive at sustainable school concepts along with draft timelines and draft budget.
A detailed School Project Report covering all aspects of the approved school concept, budget is prepared by our school consultants. The report is prepared in close consultation with the promoters to ensure that its final version is a document that promoters and school consultant agree upon. The report covers the following aspects of the new school setup.
Turnkey Services to Start a School in India
Starting a new school in India can be overwhelming even for the most resolute of entrepreneurs. If not managed resourcefully, details of the project can ruin the big plan and unanswered questions can cause confusion.
It is important to appreciate the target market, create a strong foundation for school, facilitate age-appropriate learning programs, provision relevant learning spaces, recruit best teachers and competent staff, establish institutional policies, procedures to track student progress and ensure efficient use of technology and high-quality school supplies. All these organizational goals need to be accomplished within the time frame and budget.
Collaborative Experience
Our school consultants engage with individuals, entrepreneurs, trusts, and corporates who possess financial resources to start a school in India and operate it. School Serv’s experience covers school setups built on various scales, curriculums, no of grades, different boards of affiliation including IB, Cambridge, CBSE, ICSE. Our network of partners, school consultants and team, operating in close collaboration, create immense value by reducing implementation time thereby delivering speedy outcomes.
‘Concept to Launch’ Assistance for Starting a School in India
Our school consultants have considerable experience navigating all the distinct steps involved in setting up a new school including drafting sustainable school concept as well as a detailed project report. Our school consultants understand the intricacy of details and level of planning required to launch a new school. Hence we have developed skills and cultivated resources to create access to right talent, plan school facilities, draft master plan, decide upon suitable architecture and design for schools building and interiors, establish curriculum, create policies to ultimately deliver a world-class educational experience.
To proceed with an initial idea all the way to opening a new school requires thorough preparation, comprehensive planning, commitment and dedicated resources. Our school consultants and academicians provide the necessary guidance, strategic advisory on all aspects concerning the new school which includes, but is not limited to, infrastructure planning, curriculum/academic program, training, fees structuring, policies, procedures, brand promotion, marketing, maximizing admissions, school supplies & materials, statutory compliance, affiliation, budgeting, and finance.
Budget Calculator for New School ProjectsEstablishing a New School
The establishment of a new school may take 3 months to 2 years or more based on the type of school. Project team is identified,recruited and placed on site by the promoters. Our program manager(s) work with the inhouse school consultants, promoters, site team, school architects, designers, academicians, third- party consultants/agencys and complete necessary activities to ensure that school is completely prepared by the launch date.
While we have found that fast tracking the implementation is possible in certain environments, we have also seen that, unduly accelerated timelines may result in serious compromises and can lower the quality of the outcome. We strongly advise our clients to invest dedicated time and resources at the front-end of any new school project to ensure best results. School Serv project and home office teams assists school promoters to establish the new school -
- School Consultant: Assign a lead consultant for the project
- Program Management: assign a program manager to manage the school establishment process.
- Vendor Selection: Identify and Faciliate selection of service providers and agencys
- Organization Structure: guidance required to structure the operational and infrastructure entity's
- Statutory Approvals: provide guidance, review necessary documentation for seeking approvals from local authorities, education department, state government.
- Infrastructure & Facilities: Prepare the campus development requirements, faciliate selection of Architect, review and advise on master plan, architecture, services and learning environment designs.
- Academic / Beyond Academic programs: develop and prepare the academic eco-system, guidance to implement 21st century learning programs.
- Recruit Teachers & Staff: teaching, non-teaching and administrative.
- Human Resource Operations: Joining thru exit
- Put in place Policies, prepare policys and implement standard operations procedures.
- Education Resources: Assist in purchase of school supplies, software & materials like classroom furniture, uniforms, smart boards, education aid, etc..
- Recommend use of technology in school.
- School Transportation: Plan route for school buses, child safety and security policies, transportation operations procedures and train drivers/assistants.
- School Branding: create vision and positioning strategy, identify branding agencys and coordinate identity design, creation of website and establish brand campaign to educate, engage and influence parents and students.
- School Marketing: identify marketing agencys, coordinate development of content and design marketing collateral, establish promotion strategy.
- Coordinate skill development & training.
- Implement admissions process: training counsellors, coordinate enrolments.
- Affiliation and Accreditation: provide guidance for CBSE, ICSE, IB and Cambridge curricula
- Launch new school: plan launch event and soft launch of school.
Manage a New School
On Start of the School, focus remains on enrolling students, achieving the learning outcomes and effective operations within budget. This can be cumbersome, when management is unable to dedicate the desired time to manage operations, market the school wisely, channel skills and materials on-time. We have had the privilege of building, managing schools and delivering the learning outcomes.
Based on the school setting and operational needs, our school consultants will come up with team structure comprising School Serv onsite & home office staff, School staff and organizations that provide relevant services. The principal/school head will supervise and to day school operations. The school head is backed by a pool of resources from staff and mangement from our home office to ensure smooth School operations.
- Annual Budget: Prepare yearly operations budget and enrolment plan.
- School Consultancy: Provide guidance, strategic advisory on the agreed operational goals and milestones for the School.
- Academics / Curriculum Support: Continuous guidance from our home office to Management, Principal, Teachers and staff, Teaching-Learning and Curriculum Handholding.
- Affiliation Assistance: Preparation of application forms and technical report for affiliation, prepare for inspection(s), Assist in compliance with requirements leading to affiliation.
- Learning Transformation: Periodic academic audits, Reviews by senior management.
- Skill Development / Teacher Training: Training to fix skill gaps identified during audits, pedagogy.
- Recruitment of Teachers and Staff: Find and recruit the best educators and staff from our pool of one lakh candidates.
- Human Resource Management: new joinees, exit and policies
- School Management Systems and Procedures: Assist in implementation of operations policies practices, procedures, technology, reporting and communication systems.
- Infrastructure Development: provide guidance for for renovation/upgradation of existing educational facilities.
- Branding Support: Re-calibrate brand strategy to cater to changing market needs
- Marketing Support: drive marketing initiatives
- Website Maintenance: oversee school website
- Admissions Suport: Admissions strategy & implementation
- Professional Development: Coordinate professional development
Our Work
In our decade long existence, we have successfully navigated through every major shift in the K-12 education scenario. We assisted clients from every region of India to establish landmark institutions, while digitally empowering lakhs of others in the K-12 school sector. Our partner schools approach education with a global outlook to accomplish the empowerment of the local communities.
Frequently Asked Questions
In most cases, new school start-up enthusiasts jump to construction stage of the new school building without assessing what kind of school will sustain, planning budget, not considering any statutory requirements. The decision to jump stages is purely based on individual perception, a lot of money would have gone into the new school setup and operations - It may take several years to understand if the approach is delivering the desired results or not.
To avoid ambiguity, endless run time issues and to ensure you are making the right investment, we suggest a data driven approach to determine a sustainable school concept. Some questions you need to have valid answers for before you begin or make any investment -
- Is there a need for school in proposed location?
- What is your target market and how are you positioning your school?
- What are the risks involved in the proposed school project?
- Under what conditions will be proposed school be successful?
- How much does it cost to setup a school and run it?
- How long does it take to setup a school?
DPR is a comprehensive school development plan prepared in consultation with the school promoters, an important start up guide for those who wish to start a new school. Further it acts as an implementation guide for promoters and can be used obtain loans for the proposed school project. DPR addresses all major issues concerning the project, namely –
- Vision & philosophy
- Organization structure
- Academic & beyond academic programs
- Staffing & Skill development
- Master plan & interiors
- Branding & positioning
- Statutory & legal issues
- Financial feasibility covering 15 years cash flows.
- Market pricing
- Admissions
- Documentation for staff and students
- Technology infrastructure
- Project schedule
Many options are available; you may consider any one or combination of these familiar options -
- State Board : State Government Recognized Board
- CBSE : Central Board of Secondary Education
- CBSE-I : CBSE-International
- ICSE : Council for the Indian School Certificate Examinations (CISCE)
- IB : International Baccalaureate
- IGCSE : International General Certificate of Secondary Education / Cambridge University
- Early Learning Schools & Child Care Centers : custom concepts based on the Theory of Multiple Intelligences, Reggio Emilia, Waldorf (Steiner), Montessori and early year foundation stages (EYFS).
There is no single answer to this question, Cost of setting up a school is dependent on several factors, listing few factors -
- Target market
- Capacity planned
- Value of land (varies by location and size)
- Cost of infrastructure design and build
- Facilities you wish to offer
- Academic and beyond academic programs you wish to offer
- Cost of educational supplies, staffing and other services
- How do you plan to brand and position your school in the target market
Minimum requirement is 500 – 8000 Square meters. However land required depends on specific location you wish to open the proposed school, facilities you propose to provide to students, state board and other affiliations (CBSE, ICSE, etc) you are planning to seek for your new school.
Approximately Rs. 2000 – Rs. 7500 a square feet, varies by location, board of education, quality of construction and own/contractor build
Depends on the pace at which you are able to establish brand awareness and enroll students. For a moderately financed venture, the operational break even should be within 2 – 5 years from the launch date.
Sometimes operational break-even may not happen as predicted, you still need to support operations and maintain the brand position. It is suggested that you plan the necessary cash flows well in advance.
This is highly dependent on the capital invested and the overall success of the school. In a normal case, the ROI should be within 5 – 15 years from the launch date (not considering gains thru land value appreciation/depreciation)
Principal, coordinators, Teachers, Lab Assistants, Maids, Administrator, Accounts Staff, Gardner’s, Nurse, Drivers, etc.
You should meet the pre-requisite criteria indicated by the state board and other boards (CBSE, ICSE, IB, etc) you are planning to seek affiliation from.
We recommend planning these based on the academics and beyond academic programs, your school would offer, nature of learning environment you wish you provide to students.
Age appropriate facilities are necessary for all-round child development. There is no end to the facilities and amenities you can provide. Figure out what is adding to the cost and not adding to the enrolments and make sure they are used to optimum. Some of them include:
- Technology enabled classrooms
- Language Labs
- Science Labs
- Maths Labs
- Music Room
- Dance Hall
- Art & Craft studio
- Indoor / Outdoor sports facilities
- Transport
- Multipurpose Halls
Over the years, we have found that each new school project presents unique challenges and opportunities. Deliverables for each new school setup are also unique.
Fee is calculated based on the nature of the project, tenure, specific deliverables and effort involved. We offer flexible charging models for the convenience of people aspiring to open new schools –
- Per consulting day (6 hrs)
- A Monthly fixed fee for the project duration
- Revenue share
- or a combination one or more models described above
You may visit our office to discuss project requirements with our school consultants, finalize scope of work and understand the fee applicable.
YES, Team School Serv is equipped to deliver services to prospective clients across India. School Serv team has experience in delivering services globally. Language, State are not any barriers for new school setup. Collaborations are a vital part of what we do.
No. you can start a school by getting necessary permissions from the state education department. After the school is opened you can apply for affiliation which requires information about your school operation. For learning everything about starting a school look at our blog post How to start a school in India?
The Trust/Society running a school cannot have members of a family in a majority (more than 50 per cent). The non –proprietary affidavit of the Trust/Society should have a declaration made by the Chairman about the number of mutually related members. Try that the number of related members be as less as possible in the school governing board or the school management committee also.
Yes, the school running in a building held on lease for at least 15 years can get CBSE affiliation, it should is located on a part of land which is also owned by the Trust/Society or the school or held on lease for at least 15 years and the area of the land must be 1.49 acres including the building and the playground. The minimum land area may vary with the region of location of the school.
Yes, State board recognition is necessary for getting affiliated to any board that include CBSE and ICSE. The state education department also needs to issue an NOC stating that it has no objection regarding your school’s affiliation to the CBSE/CISCE. For complete details about getting your school affiliated to CBSE or ICSE refer to our blog posts How to Start a School and get CBSE affiliation? or How to start a school and get ICSE affiliation?
The salaries you pay to the teachers and staff of your school may be lesser than the state requirements but there must be an EPF registration in every case. The variation is granted as the cost of living differs from region to region but there must be transparency in the bank statements and there must be no financial irregularity. Complete financial documentation is a must.
The permissions and related documents that are required for starting a new school in India are—
- The founding documents of the Trust/Society/Company
- The affidavit of the non-proprietary Trust/Society/Company
- Memorandum of Association between the school and the Trust/Society/Company
- Land and School Building Documents
- Ownership documents, Sale deed or Lease Deed
- Change of Land Use certificate for the land for the school building
- Map approved by the Municipal Authority
- Building blueprint
- Building Safety Certificate
- NOC issued by the education department of the state or the ‘Essentiality Certificate’
- State Board Affiliation
- Employees’ EPF and ESIC registration
CBSE has signified the land requirements for cities with population more than 15 lacs which is not less than 1.49 acres which includes the land of the building and the playground and the space to provide physical health education. The land requirement in hilly areas is 1 acre. You may also find land or building or operational school for sale on the exclusive school real estate portal School Prop.com
If you have an adequately qualified serving Principal for your school you need not appoint new Principal.
Appropriately qualified school Principal and teachers for schools aspiring for CBSE, ICSE or international Board Affiliation can be hired through online school jobs portal educatorOne.com
No. School promoters have to run pillar to post, identify vendors, choose the material and procure school supplies and materials. Alternatively, school promoters can buy all school supplies and materials online from marketplaces like Schoolsupermart.com
You can find land/building for the school purpose, an operational school for sale, lease at exclusive school real estate listings portal SchoolProp.com
The land and infrastructure requirements to start CBSE, IGCSE/Cambridge, ICSE and IB Schools in India are defined by the respective boards and vary with nature of accommodation, capacity, terrain, and geography. International organizations dwell upon the dimensions relatively lesser than CBSE or ICSE, nonetheless, they mandate complete learning environment in every respect and can accommodate not only the given number of children but also the pedagogical activities, movements, and interactions. CBSE, ICSE or State board schools can also run international programs by provisioning appropriate infrastructure. Specific requirements have been detailed in the following articles -
