India’s education ecosystem is undergoing a structural shift, driven by digital behaviour, artificial intelligence, and changing employer expectations.

According to EduInsight 2026 by Tonic Worldwide’s research arm Gipsi, students, institutions, and educators are navigating a landscape where visibility matters as much as credibility, and adaptability has become the defining skill.

Drawing from nearly 6.2 million searches and close to 28 million social media interactions between January 2024 and December 2025, the report offers a data-led view of how education brands and learners are evolving.

Using its proprietary HI+AI “Deep Listening” framework, Gipsi analysed digital conversations, search trends, and engagement patterns to decode emerging behaviours.

The findings point to five major shifts that are redefining the sector.

First, social media has become the new admissions brochure. Platforms now serve as primary discovery and evaluation tools, where campus culture, alumni success, festivals, and even informal student content shape perception. Instagram alone recorded over 141,000 posts under #campusdiaries and 82,700 under #alumniweekend. Institutions are increasingly vulnerable to online narratives, but also have new opportunities to build credibility through authentic storytelling. Viral student-led content and high-quality introductory reels are influencing enrolment decisions more than traditional marketing.

The report also highlights how digital virality can translate into tangible outcomes. A promotional campaign by Reyansh College of Hotel Management generated over 4.2 million engagements across memes, leading to 81.2 per cent organic traffic redirection to its website. This underscores how user-generated and meme-driven content is shaping institutional visibility.

Second, EduInsight 2026 flags a widening gap between access to AI tools and meaningful AI education. While engagement around AI courses crossed 670,000 interactions on Instagram, capability development remains limited. Forty per cent of GenAI enrolments on Great Learning came from senior professionals with over 15 years of experience, indicating that younger cohorts are still catching up. Coursera data shows enrolment velocity tripled in 2025 compared to 2024, yet only 57 per cent of higher education institutions had formal AI policies in place.

The talent mismatch is stark. Demand for GenAI and MLOps roles has risen sharply, but only one in ten candidates meets industry requirements. At the same time, just seven per cent of faculty members feel prepared to lead AI-driven curriculum changes. The report concludes that institutions must move beyond tool access and invest in structured AI literacy and pedagogy.

Third, the study warns against the rise of 'artificial learning,' where AI enhances presentation but weakens comprehension. Homework helpers and AI tutors saw a 45.7 per cent rise in monthly users between 2024 and 2025. Nearly 45 per cent of teachers reported increased academic dishonesty and declining originality, while only 38 per cent of students said they had received formal guidance on responsible AI use.

According to the report, students are increasingly optimising for output rather than understanding, mastering prompts without mastering concepts. This trend risks creating superficial competence unless institutions introduce stronger evaluation frameworks and ethical AI training.

Fourth, the ability to learn quickly has emerged as the most valuable skill. Content around 'study smarter' techniques crossed 22.8 million views in 2025, while searches for 'upskill' and 'continuous professional development' exceeded 1.4 million annually. Demand is also growing in areas such as coding for children and soft skills, reflecting early-stage career planning and lifelong learning mindsets.

EduInsight 2026 notes that learning is no longer viewed as a finite phase but as an ongoing process linked directly to employability and income security. Institutions that frame education as a long-term journey are better positioned to retain relevance.

Finally, the report examines how entry-level candidates are redefining employability. Freshers are entering the job market with portfolios, certifications, internships, and personal websites, even before securing full-time roles. Searches for CV builders average 2.5 million per month, while portfolio website queries exceed 537,000.

Under pressure to bridge the gap between theory and practice, students are building multi-page resumes that showcase projects, social impact work, and digital credentials. Recruiters, in turn, increasingly expect proof of applied skills rather than academic scores alone. The report describes this as a structural shift from “qualification-led” to “evidence-led” hiring.

Across its five pillars, EduInsight 2026 argues that education brands must reclaim narrative control on social media, invest in real AI capability, safeguard critical thinking, promote learning agility, and prepare students for workplace realities.

The report concludes that the institutions that succeed in this new environment will be those that combine digital fluency with academic depth, technological access with ethical training, and credentials with real-world competence.

As learning, branding, and employability converge, the future of education will be shaped less by legacy and more by adaptability.

Anjali Malthankar, global strategy director and head - Gipsi, Tonic Worldwide, said, “Unlike FMCG, education has always been media shy and followed a conservative route to brand building. In the age of AI and SM, the brands must control their own narrative and listen to how prospects are behaving. The lack of activity and action can make brands vulnerable in the digital-first world. The EduInsight mini-report highlights actionable insights that identify the gaps and opportunities for the edu-learning brands.”

Unmisha Bhatt, co-founder and chief strategy officer, Tonic Worldwide, added, “The 2026 EduInsight report captures a pivotal sea of change where social media and AI have redefined the education brand narrative. This report is built to drive real business decisions by empowering education brands to transform evolving consumer truths into meaningful market moves. Having worked on multiple education brands and with expertise in this vertical, we realise that this is a crucial period for most education brands for admissions, and hence this report will enable them to drive their communication and campaigns in the right direction.”