Prospective learners keep asking a version of this question, usually because they've read "small batches" on a program page and then read something different on Reddit or Quora. Both can't be right.
So here is the actual structure, the actual numbers, and what we've changed.
The short answer
A Meritshot program doesn't have one batch size. It has four, depending on the kind of session you're in:
- Live instructional classes — the largest group, and the one most people picture when they hear "batch." This is a delivery format: content is taught, questions are taken where time allows.
- Doubt-clearing sessions — deliberately smaller, and built for exactly one purpose: you say "I don't follow why we did that," and someone answers.
- Group mentorship sessions — smaller again, for shared problems like how to approach a project or what a strong portfolio looks like.
- Project reviews and panel assessments — the smallest group format, because they deal with one learner's work at a time.
Alongside those, one-to-one mentor sessions are exactly that. And your cohort — everyone who enrolled in the same intake — is larger than all of them, but it's an administrative grouping rather than a room you sit in.
Each program page carries the specific cap for each of these session types. We've put the numbers there rather than here, because caps are reviewed each intake and a blog post goes stale in a way a program page shouldn't.
The number worth checking isn't the biggest one. It's the doubt session and the project review, because those are where you get a specific question answered and where your work gets critiqued. A large lecture with small doubt sessions behind it will serve you better than a moderate lecture with nothing behind it.
Why there was confusion
We used the phrase "small batches" on program pages. It isn't a number, so nobody could check it. A learner who read it as "the class I'll sit in" and then joined a larger live session was misled — regardless of whether any individual sentence was technically false.
An adjective that can't be checked isn't a commitment.
The small-group sessions are scheduled, not optional extras
This is the part that usually gets missed, and it matters more than the lecture headcount.
Doubt sessions, workshops, mentorship sessions and project reviews are formal components of every program. They're timetabled, and attendance at them counts toward the 75% minimum you need in order to stay placement-eligible and receive your certificate — exactly as a live class does. They aren't sessions that materialise only if enough people complain.
Two things worth knowing alongside that:
- Mentorship comes in both formats. Our policies define mentorship as one-on-one or group guidance with an assigned mentor. Ask which applies to your program, and how often each happens.
- Recordings don't substitute. Watching a recorded session doesn't count toward attendance unless the academic team approves it in writing for that specific session. And a recording can't answer the question you have while watching it, which is the whole thing batch size governs.
Where batch size actually bites
Not in the lecture. In assessment.
Your program includes viva or oral assessments — sessions where you may be required to explain and defend your project work, or your technical knowledge, in front of a review panel. Projects are marked on presentation quality and documentation too, not only on whether the code runs.
A panel defence is scarce and time-bounded. More learners in a batch means shorter slots, more panels, or a longer queue. That is the clearest way a large batch costs you something real, and it's why the project review cap is the number we'd most want you to look at.
One part of this is in your hands: late submissions go behind on-time ones in the review queue. In a large batch that queue is longer, so a missed deadline costs you more than it would elsewhere.
What batch size doesn't determine
Being straight about the limits of this:
It doesn't determine whether you show up. A small doubt session only helps the learner who attends it. Below 75% attendance, placement support is restricted and your certificate is delayed. Below 50%, you may need to extend your enrolment or re-enrol in modules, with fees.
It doesn't make assessments optional. Missed tests without prior approval are marked zero, and you get at most one re-test per module, subject to approval. A session skipped because the room felt crowded isn't easily recovered.
It doesn't change how interview opportunities are allocated. Those depend on your assessment and project performance, your communication in mock interviews, each employer's own criteria, and market demand. The number of learners we can refer to any single hiring partner at one time is also limited — which means a larger batch makes your own performance count for more, not less.
How to check — before and after you join
Before you pay. Ask for the current enrolment count and the cap for each session type, for the specific batch you'd be joining, in writing. We already track attendance and session data, so this is a figure we hold rather than one we'd have to assemble. Asking "are batches small?" gets you an adjective. Asking for the count gets you a number.
Before it starts, and in your first week. If you cancel before the program's official start date, fees are refunded less a processing fee. Once it starts, you have seven days to withdraw and recover 50% of the remaining fee, less any costs already incurred. After that, no refund applies. So if group size matters to you, attend a live class and a doubt session early and count the room while the window is open — that's a stronger protection than anything we could write on this page. One caveat if you're financing through an NBFC: withdrawing from the program doesn't unwind the loan. Those terms sit between you and the lender.
After that. If sessions are consistently larger than the cap we published, raise it. Informally with your coordinator first; if that doesn't resolve it, in writing to our Grievance Officer within 14 days. You'll get an acknowledgement within three working days and a written outcome within fifteen. Complaints are confidential, and retaliating against someone for raising one in good faith is a conduct violation on our side.
What we're not going to claim
- We can't promise the same instructor across every session. Programs run across multiple tracks and timings.
- We can't promise a specific size for a batch that hasn't filled yet. We can tell you the cap and today's count. Those are the two numbers that exist.
- We can revise caps in future. Our policies allow us to update program terms, and we're not pretending otherwise. What we will commit to is that any change applies to future intakes only — never to a batch already enrolled. That's how fee revisions already work, and caps should work the same way.
Frequently asked questions
How large are Meritshot's batches?
It depends which session you're asking about, because a program has four different group sizes rather than one. Live instructional classes are the largest, and the one most people picture when they hear "batch." Doubt-clearing sessions and group mentorship are deliberately smaller, because those formats exist for individual questions rather than delivery. Project reviews and panel assessments are smaller again, since they deal with one learner's work at a time. Your cohort — everyone who enrolled in the same intake — is larger than all of them, but it's an administrative grouping rather than a room you sit in. The specific caps are published on each program page, and if you want one figure to judge us on, use the doubt session cap rather than the lecture size.
What's the difference between a cohort and a batch?
A cohort is everyone who joined the same intake. Depending on demand, a cohort can be split across several session timings, so the number of people enrolled alongside you isn't necessarily the number in your class. "Batch" is the word most learners use for the group they actually sit with, which is why quoting a cohort figure in answer to a question about class size would mislead even if the figure itself were accurate. Whenever anyone gives you a batch-size number — us included — the useful follow-up is: is that the intake, the live class, or the doubt session?
Were Meritshot's batches larger than advertised?
At times, our live sessions ran larger than the vague phrase "small batches" implied — which is exactly why we have replaced that phrase with published, checkable caps for every session type. What went wrong on our side is simpler than the numbers. The phrase on our program pages didn't get updated when delivery changed, and we let a stale claim keep running rather than correcting it the moment the two diverged. That's the failure worth naming, because the alternative explanation — that learners misread a clear statement — isn't true.
Does batch size differ between programs?
Yes. The usual drivers are how demand concentrates across timings, instructor availability in a given specialisation, and how established a program is — newer tracks tend to run smaller simply because fewer people have enrolled. This is why each program page carries its own caps rather than one institute-wide figure, and why comparing two of our programs means comparing their caps rather than assuming they match.
How many people are in a doubt-clearing session?
The cap is published on your program page, and we'd argue it's the most important number we publish. A live class is a delivery format — you can follow it in a room of a hundred, and to a degree you can follow it in a recording afterwards. A doubt session is where you say "I don't understand why we did that" and get an answer, which only works if the group is small enough for your question to be reached. If you're weighing us against another option, this is the figure to compare, alongside how often these sessions actually run.
Are mentorship sessions one-to-one or in a group?
Both formats exist in our programs, and they do different jobs. Group mentorship suits shared problems — how to approach a project, what a strong portfolio looks like, the mistakes most people make in a given module. One-to-one is where your specific situation gets addressed: your career direction, your particular gaps, your work. Ask which format applies to your program, how often each runs, and whether the one-to-one cadence is fixed or available on request. A program with frequent group mentorship and rare individual sessions is a materially different product from one with the reverse.
Do doubt sessions and mentorship sessions count toward my attendance?
Yes. Live classes, doubt sessions, workshops, mentorship sessions, placement activities and project reviews all count toward the same 75% threshold. That matters more than it sounds. It means the small-group formats aren't optional extras you can skip in favour of the lecture, and it means missing them carries real consequences: below 75%, placement support is restricted and your certificate is delayed; below 50%, you may need to extend your enrolment or re-enrol in modules, with fees applying. In practice, the sessions where batch size works in your favour are also the ones you're required to attend.
Do recorded sessions count toward attendance?
No. Recordings are for revision and reference — genuinely useful for consolidating something you followed at the time but want to go over again. They count toward attendance only where the academic team has approved it in writing for a specific session, which is an exception rather than a route. The deeper point is that a recording can't answer a question. If you find yourself relying on recordings because your live slot is crowded or inconvenient, you've removed the one thing batch size actually governs: how quickly your confusion gets resolved.
Does batch size affect how I'm assessed?
It affects the logistics of assessment rather than the standard. Your program includes viva or oral assessments — sessions where you may be asked to explain and defend your project work or technical knowledge in front of a review panel — and projects are marked on presentation quality and documentation alongside technical implementation. A panel defence is scarce and time-bounded by nature, so more learners means shorter slots, more panels, or a longer queue. The marking criteria don't shift with batch size, but how much individual attention your defence receives, and how soon your turn comes round, can.
Will a larger batch delay my project feedback?
It can, which is why project reviews carry their own published cap and a stated review turnaround rather than being folded into a general figure. Part of this sits with you, though: late submissions are reviewed after on-time ones, so in a large batch a missed deadline puts you behind a longer queue than it would elsewhere. Worth knowing alongside that — missed assessments without prior approval are marked zero, and you get at most one re-test per module, subject to approval. Deadlines simply cost more in a big batch than in a small one.
Does batch size affect placement support?
Indirectly, and we'd rather say so than have you find out later. The number of learners we can put forward to any single hiring partner at one time is limited, so a larger batch means more people drawing on the same referral bandwidth. Which opportunities you're put forward for depends on your assessment and project performance, how you come across in mock interviews, each employer's own criteria for the role, and current market demand. The practical implication is uncomfortable but useful to know early: in a larger batch, your own performance counts for more rather than less, because it's what differentiates you within the queue.
Does research show that smaller classes produce better outcomes?
Not as directly as it's usually claimed, and we'd rather not overstate it. The large class-size studies come from school settings, involved fairly modest reductions in size, and produced effects that were real but small — clearest for young children and disadvantaged pupils. Extrapolating from that to adult professionals in an online session isn't well supported. What is better supported is the mechanism: group size changes how much individual interaction a learner gets with an instructor. Combine that with what's known about working memory — that unresolved difficulty impairs what comes after it — and you have a reasonable chain of inference rather than a proven finding. That chain is the honest basis for caring about batch size, and it's why we frame our caps around how fast a question gets answered rather than claiming a guarantee of quality.
Is a smaller batch always better?
No, and treating it as a single quality score will steer you wrong. A small class with an unprepared instructor, no structured practice and no feedback loop is worse than a larger one with genuine small-group support behind it. The more useful question is composite: what's the smallest group in which I can get a specific question answered, how often am I in it, and how quickly does support respond between sessions? A program that answers all three well can carry a large lecture without much cost to you. A program that answers none of them isn't rescued by a small class.
Can I ask for my batch's exact size before paying?
Yes, and ask for it in writing. We track attendance and session data as a matter of course, so the current headcount for a given batch is a figure we already hold rather than one anyone needs to construct — which is exactly why it's a fair thing to ask for, and a telling thing to withhold. Ask for the current enrolment count and the cap, broken out by session type, for the specific batch you'd be joining. If what comes back is an adjective rather than a number, or nothing comes back at all, treat that as the answer to your question.
What if the counsellor's figure differs from the website?
Tell us, because that's a defect and we'd rather fix it than have you discover it after enrolling. In the meantime, work from whichever figure you have in writing, and ask for the discrepancy to be resolved in writing too. This isn't a trap — program pages and counselling teams can genuinely fall out of sync when caps change — but a company that can't reconcile its own two numbers when asked has told you something about how closely it tracks them.
What if I join and find the batch larger than expected?
If you haven't started yet, cancelling before the official start date returns your fees less a processing fee. Once the program has begun, you have seven days to withdraw and recover 50% of the remaining fee, less any costs already incurred. Once that window closes, no refund applies. So if group size is genuinely a deciding factor for you, front-load your checking: attend a live class and a doubt session in the first few days and count the room, rather than waiting to see how things settle. One caveat if you're financing through an NBFC — withdrawing from the program doesn't unwind the loan, and those terms sit between you and the lender rather than with us. Read them before you rely on the refund window.
What happens if a session exceeds the published cap?
You can raise it formally. The process starts informally, with your mentor or academic coordinator, ideally within about a week of noticing. If that doesn't resolve it, you submit a written complaint to our Grievance Officer within 14 days, and you'll get an acknowledgement within three working days followed by a written outcome after an investigation completed within 15 working days. Proceedings are confidential, and retaliating against a learner for raising a good-faith complaint is itself a conduct violation on our side. We would much rather handle this through a process that leaves a record than read about it in a review six months later.
What if I stop attending because the batch feels too large?
Please raise it instead. If you go quiet, the escalation is automatic rather than punitive: after seven consecutive days of unresponsive absence you'll be contacted, after which your status changes and platform access can be restricted, and after 30 days without valid communication your enrolment can be terminated. Separately, attendance below 75% restricts placement support and delays certification regardless of the reason for the absence. If you can see a difficult stretch coming — work travel, illness, exams — tell your mentor in advance, and flag unplanned absences within 24 hours. A batch size problem is fixable through the grievance process. A lapsed enrolment mostly isn't.
Can Meritshot change the published caps later?
We can revise program terms. That's a standing right in our policies and we're not going to pretend otherwise, because it exists for real operational and regulatory reasons. What we'll commit to is a limit on how it applies here: any change to a published cap takes effect for future intakes only, never for a batch already enrolled. That's the same protection you already have against mid-program fee revisions, and it strikes us as the minimum that makes a published cap worth anything at all.
Should I wait for a smaller batch?
Usually not. Losing a full intake cycle to join a group that's slightly smaller is generally a poor trade, because the months spent waiting cost more than the difference in headcount is likely to buy you. The better move is to ask where the current batch actually sits against its cap — a batch at half capacity is a different proposition from one that's nearly full, and that's a real number you can get today rather than a guess about a future intake. If the current batch is already at its cap and the next one opens shortly, that's the narrow case where waiting makes sense.
Should I trust Reddit and Quora posts about this?
Take them seriously. They're first-hand accounts from people who were in the room and counted, which is more than a program page offers. Read them for specifics, though: which session type was being described, which program, and which year — a report from an older batch may not describe current caps, and a complaint about a lecture headcount is a different claim from one about doubt sessions. The same standard cuts both ways. A specific complaint carries more weight than a vague one, and a specific reassurance carries more weight than a vague one, including ours.
What should I ask a counsellor about batch size?
One question does most of the work: what is the current enrolment count and the cap, for each session type, in the batch I'd be joining? Follow it with two more — how often do doubt sessions run, and is mentorship one-to-one or group? Ask for the answers in writing. Not because you're likely to need them in a dispute, but because a written answer is one that someone has checked before sending. "Are your batches small?" invites an adjective, and the adjective is what created this problem in the first place.
How often do doubt sessions run?
The cadence is published on each program page, and it matters at least as much as the cap — the two need reading together. A doubt session capped at twelve that runs once a month gives you twelve slots a year to resolve confusion in a small group; the same cap running weekly gives you fifty. When you're comparing programs — ours or anyone's — multiply the two rather than looking at either alone. A generous cap on a rare session is close to decorative.
Will I be in the same batch for the whole program?
Usually, but ask rather than assume. Batches can be reorganised over a long program — people withdraw, timings get consolidated, a track splits as it grows. Our policies don't currently govern batch reassignment, which is a gap we're closing alongside the caps themselves. In the meantime, if being moved to a different group or timing would be a problem for you, raise it before you enrol and get the answer in writing.
Do batch sizes change during a program as people drop out?
Yes, and usually downward. A cap is a ceiling rather than a target, and attrition means the group you finish with is often smaller than the one you started with. That cuts both ways: a batch that felt crowded in month one may be comfortable by month five, but you shouldn't enrol on the assumption that it will thin out. Judge the batch by what it is on the day you join, because that's the only number anyone can actually tell you.
Are workshops the same size as live classes?
Workshops are separately timetabled and counted toward your attendance in the same way live classes are, but they're built around practical tools, case studies or applied exercises rather than delivery — so the useful size is generally smaller. The cap is published per program alongside the others. If a program page lists a workshop cap identical to its lecture cap, that's worth asking about, because it suggests the format isn't doing anything a lecture doesn't.
Who runs the doubt sessions — the same instructor who takes the class?
Not necessarily, and that isn't automatically a problem. Doubt sessions are run by mentors, which in some programs means the instructor and in others means a different practitioner assigned to your group. What matters more is whether whoever runs them has seen what was actually taught in your session, and whether unresolved questions carry forward rather than being answered generically. Ask who takes them for your program, and how questions raised in a live class reach that person.
Is the viva or panel assessment individual or done in a group?
The work being defended is yours individually — you explain and defend your own project or technical knowledge — and the panel is the group on the other side of the table. That's why the number of learners in a batch affects it: each defence needs its own slot, so more learners means either shorter slots or more panel sessions. It also means a panel review is the one format where you can't hide in a crowd, which is uncomfortable and is largely the point.
Does every learner get a panel review?
It depends on the program — panel or oral assessment applies where the curriculum calls for it rather than universally. Ask specifically whether your program includes one, how long each defence runs, and who sits on the panel. If it does include one, treat it as the most valuable hour in the program: it's the closest thing to a technical interview you'll get before you're in a real one, and it's the format most directly affected by how many people are in your batch.
Does batch size affect what I pay?
No. Fees are set per program rather than flexing with how full a batch is, so a learner in a nearly empty batch and one in a full batch pay the same. Fee revisions apply to future batches only and never retroactively to anyone already enrolled. If you're comparing our pricing against another option, compare it against the published caps and session cadence rather than against a headline batch figure.
If the batch turns out to be larger than advertised, am I entitled to a refund?
Not automatically, and we'd rather be straight about that than imply otherwise. The general remedy available to everyone is the withdrawal window — cancel before the start date and fees are returned less a processing fee, or withdraw within the first seven days of the program for 50% of the remaining fee, less costs already incurred. Beyond that window, the route is the grievance process: raise it with your coordinator, then formally in writing, and the outcome depends on what the investigation finds. What we won't do is pretend a published cap creates an automatic refund entitlement it doesn't.
Will other learners see my personal details in a large session?
In a live session other participants will generally see your display name, in the same way you'll see theirs. Your enrolment details, assessment scores, attendance record and contact information aren't visible to other learners. Where your profile is shared outside the program — with hiring partners during placement — that happens with your explicit consent at placement registration, and you can opt out of placement activities entirely. Batch size doesn't change any of that; it just means more people can see your name on a screen.
I'm a working professional with limited time. Does batch size matter more or less for me?
More, generally. A learner with open evenings can absorb a slow answer — they'll chase the concept down themselves over a weekend. If your study time is two hours on a Tuesday, an unresolved question costs you a week rather than an afternoon, and the compounding is faster. The practical implication is that the doubt session cadence and the between-session support channel matter more to you than the lecture headcount does, and recordings won't cover the gap, since watching one can't answer a question and doesn't count toward your attendance.
I'm a complete beginner. Should I care more about batch size than someone with a technical background?
Probably, yes. Someone who has written code before can usually diagnose their own confusion well enough to search for the answer. A genuine beginner often can't articulate what they don't understand yet, and that's precisely the kind of question that needs a person rather than a search engine — and needs a small enough group to ask in. If you're starting from zero, weight the doubt session cap and the one-to-one cadence heavily, and ask specifically what support exists in the first month, which is when most beginners either find their footing or quietly fall behind.
Why should I believe the published caps?
Mainly because they're checkable in a way that "small batches" never was. You can ask for the current count before you pay, count the room yourself in the first week while the withdrawal window is still open, and raise a formal grievance with defined timelines if what you find doesn't match what we published. None of those depend on trusting us. That's the actual difference between this and the phrase it replaces — not that we're more sincere now, but that there's finally something specific enough to be wrong about.
Can I raise a concern about this anonymously?
Not anonymously, but confidentially, and the distinction is worth understanding. A formal grievance needs an identifiable complainant so it can be investigated and an outcome communicated back to you. What's protected is disclosure: your identity isn't shared beyond the people directly involved in the investigation except where the law requires it, and retaliating against someone for raising a good-faith complaint is itself a conduct violation. If you'd rather test the water first, raising it informally with your coordinator costs nothing and doesn't start a formal process.
The bottom line
A promise you can't check isn't a promise. "Small batches" sounded like a commitment and functioned as decoration, and the fix isn't better wording — it's numbers, published per session type, with somewhere to go when we miss them.
The people who raised this were right to. What we can offer in return is a figure you can hold us to, a written answer about your specific batch before you spend anything, and a first week in which to verify it yourself.
Batch structure, attendance requirements, assessment formats, refund windows and the grievance process are all set out in our Student Policies & Guidelines.
