# Shishya in numbers

Every number below is counted from Shishya's database when this file is built, with its definition. Computed 27 Sep 2026 (IST), refreshed hourly. Only complete ISO weeks (IST, Monday to Sunday) are reported, and no count of people, or of what they did, is printed below 20 (counts of exams, papers and chapters can be smaller). HTML page: https://shishya.in/shishya-in-numbers

## Do students come back?

- Came back within 7 days of signing up: 28.7% — 213 of 742 accounts (sign-up weeks 17 Aug–13 Sep 2026).
  Definition: Of the accounts created in the sign-up weeks shown, the share with signed-in activity (a signed-in analytics event not tagged as a bot, a mock started, a mock submitted or auto-submitted, or a question to the AI tutor; the nightly cleanup job's closing of abandoned mocks is not activity) on any of the 7 IST days after their sign-up day. Team accounts are left out. It is a floor: someone who comes back signed out is not seen.
- Came back on days 8 to 30: 12.8% — 79 of 619 accounts (sign-up weeks 27 Jul–23 Aug 2026).
  Definition: Of the accounts created in the sign-up weeks shown, the share with signed-in activity (a signed-in analytics event not tagged as a bot, a mock started, a mock submitted or auto-submitted, or a question to the AI tutor; the nightly cleanup job's closing of abandoned mocks is not activity) on IST days 8 to 30 after their sign-up day. Shown pooled only, because most single weeks have fewer than 20 such returners. Team accounts are left out.
- Active in the last 30 days, on a day after signing up: 16.3% — 312 accounts; counting the sign-up day too, when a new account is active just for signing up: 43.1% (29 Aug–27 Sep 2026).
  Definition: Accounts with signed-in activity (a signed-in analytics event not tagged as a bot, a mock started, a mock submitted or auto-submitted, or a question to the AI tutor; the nightly cleanup job's closing of abandoned mocks is not activity) on any of the last 30 IST days (today included) that is not the account's own sign-up day, as a share of all accounts. Signing up alone does not count. Team accounts are left out. The second figure: Accounts with signed-in activity (a signed-in analytics event not tagged as a bot, a mock started, a mock submitted or auto-submitted, or a question to the AI tutor; the nightly cleanup job's closing of abandoned mocks is not activity) on any of the last 30 IST days (today included), as a share of all accounts. Creating an account is itself a signed-in event, so an account created in those 30 days counts here just for signing up. Team accounts are left out.
- Mocks per weekly active account: 2.24 — 485 mocks ÷ 217 active accounts; 3.65 per account that took a mock (week of 14–20 Sep 2026).
  Definition: Mocks taken in the week (submitted or auto-submitted, by finish time) divided by the accounts with signed-in activity (a signed-in analytics event not tagged as a bot, a mock started, a mock submitted or auto-submitted, or a question to the AI tutor; the nightly cleanup job's closing of abandoned mocks is not activity) that week; the second figure divides by the accounts that took at least one mock. Team accounts are left out.

### Came back within 7 days, by sign-up week

| Sign-up week | Sign-ups | Came back within 7 days | Share |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 20–26 Jul | 97 | 22 | 22.7% |
| 27 Jul–2 Aug | 118 | 31 | 26.3% |
| 3–9 Aug | 124 | 41 | 33.1% |
| 10–16 Aug | 165 | 44 | 26.7% |
| 17–23 Aug | 212 | 60 | 28.3% |
| 24–30 Aug | 157 | 48 | 30.6% |
| 31 Aug–6 Sep | 211 | 64 | 30.3% |
| 7–13 Sep | 162 | 41 | 25.3% |

Definition: The 7-day rule above for each ISO sign-up week (IST, Monday to Sunday). A week appears once its last sign-up's 7 days have passed. A share is printed only when the returners and the sign-ups are both at least 20. Period: sign-up weeks 20 Jul–13 Sep 2026. Computed 27 Sep 2026 (IST).

## Where new students arrive from

### Where new accounts arrive from (14–20 Sep 2026)

| Source | Count | Share |
| --- | --- | --- |
| AI assistants | 106 | 74.1% |
| Search engines + Direct or unknown | 37 | 25.9% |
From AI assistants: 106 of 143 (74.1%).

Definition: For each account created in the weeks shown, the source of its browser's first page view on Shishya: the sign-up's browser id is linked to that browser's first page view; failing that, the sign-up event's own tag or referrer; failing that, the referrer stored on the account. A tracking tag (utm_source) wins over a referrer. 'Named source' means that first visit carried a tag or a referrer naming where it came from. Groups under 20 are merged, and the 'Named source' and AI-assistant lines are left out when printing them would give back a merged group by subtraction. Team accounts are left out. Period: 14–20 Sep 2026. Computed 27 Sep 2026 (IST).

### Where new people arrive from (24 Aug–20 Sep 2026)

| Source | Count | Share |
| --- | --- | --- |
| AI assistants | 1,818 | 47.4% |
| Search engines | 1,625 | 42.4% |
| Direct or unknown | 340 | 8.9% |
| Social and messaging + Other websites | 26 | 0.7% |
| Email | 25 | 0.7% |

Named source (a tag or referrer said where the first visit came from): 3,494 of 3,834 (91.1%).
From AI assistants: 1,818 of 3,834 (47.4%).

Definition: People (an account, or a first-party browser id) whose first page view falls in the weeks shown and who meet the 'people who came' rule of the all-time counter, grouped by the tag or referrer of that first view. Visitors with one page, no referrer and no tag have no identity and are not included, so this is not everyone who came. Groups under 20 are merged. Team accounts are left out. Period: 24 Aug–20 Sep 2026. Computed 27 Sep 2026 (IST).

What cannot be seen: a visitor who reads one page and arrives with no referrer and no tag gets no identity, and some apps strip both the referrer and the tag, so the AI-assistant share is a floor. ChatGPT's links carry utm_source=chatgpt.com and no referrer; they are counted by that tag.

## Week by week

| Week | Sign-ups | People who came | Mocks taken | AI tutor questions | Active accounts | Mocks per active account |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 27 Jul–2 Aug | 118 | — | 396 | 288 | 140 | 2.83 |
| 3–9 Aug | 124 | — | 247 | 254 | 165 | 1.50 |
| 10–16 Aug | 165 | — | 526 | 512 | 215 | 2.45 |
| 17–23 Aug | 212 | 2,053 | 589 | 538 | 267 | 2.21 |
| 24–30 Aug | 157 | 1,272 | 426 | 384 | 212 | 2.01 |
| 31 Aug–6 Sep | 211 | 1,695 | 660 | 497 | 287 | 2.30 |
| 7–13 Sep | 162 | 1,676 | 644 | 416 | 256 | 2.52 |
| 14–20 Sep | 143 | 1,551 | 485 | 267 | 217 | 2.24 |

Definition: Each column is an all-time counter's own definition, counted per ISO week (IST, Monday 00:00 to Sunday 23:59). Team accounts are left out. The week in progress is not shown. Period: 27 Jul–20 Sep 2026. Computed 27 Sep 2026 (IST).
- Sign-ups: Accounts created in the week.
- People who came: People with a page view that week (not tagged as a bot) who meet the all-time counter's rule — an identity seen on 2 or more page views, or on one view with a referrer — plus page views by verified browsers that carry no identity. Proves a visit, not learning. The home page strip calls this counter 'learners'.
- Mocks taken: Mocks submitted or auto-submitted, by finish time.
- AI tutor questions: Questions students sent to the AI tutor: members' messages (guest-import copies left out) plus guest questions that carry a browser cookie.
- Active accounts: Accounts with signed-in activity (a signed-in analytics event not tagged as a bot, a mock started, a mock submitted or auto-submitted, or a question to the AI tutor; the nightly cleanup job's closing of abandoned mocks is not activity) that week.
- Mocks per active account: Mocks taken ÷ active accounts.
- “People who came” shows — for weeks before 17 Aug 2026: identity rules changed on 31 Jul and 16 Aug 2026, so earlier weeks are not comparable.

## All-time counters

- Accounts: 1,911. Definition: User rows (accounts).
- People who came (the home page strip's 'learners'): 15,417. Definition: Distinct people who came to Shishya: identities on 2+ page views, or one view that arrived from another site or a tagged link (for example utm_source=chatgpt.com — 27 Sep 2026: these were being missed), plus identity-less browser landings, overlap-corrected. Proves a visit, not learning.
- Mocks taken: 5,293. Definition: Attempt rows with status SUBMITTED or AUTO_SUBMITTED — mocks a student finished, any exam or school chapter.
- Questions to the AI tutor: 4,195. Definition: ChatMessage rows with role USER (guest-import copies excluded) plus AnonTutorLog rows with a shishya_anon cookie — questions people sent to the AI tutor, site-wide; cookie-less guest calls (not provably a person) left out.
- Questions answered in mocks: 73,832. Definition: Answer entries with a chosen option inside submitted attempts (unanswered questions not counted); refreshed every 10 minutes.
- Live tests taken: 92. Definition: Submitted attempts on a live-test mock that started inside the test's window.
- Exam goals set: 1,814. Definition: Active enrolments in real exams (a member's chosen target exam).
- Page views: 87,680. Definition: PAGE_VIEW events all-time, ingest-tagged bots and pre-30-Jul-2026 phantom ids excluded.
- Exams covered: 192. Definition: Active real exams (REAL_EXAM_WHERE) — the finder's 'Browse all' count; refreshed every 10 minutes.
- Practice questions: 39,505. Definition: Validated, not-withdrawn questions on live real exams and school chapters; refreshed every 10 minutes.
- Topic notes: 4,575. Definition: TopicTeachingNote rows with non-empty content on live real exams and school chapters; refreshed every 10 minutes.
- School chapters with notes or practice: 230. Definition: School chapters with notes or a practice quiz (the school surface's indexable chapters); refreshed every 10 minutes.
- Languages: 19. Definition: Locales the UI serves (locales in i18n.ts), English included — a derived constant.

Computed 27 Sep 2026 (IST). Live numbers (active now, today) are on the home page strip: https://shishya.in/

## What Shishya covers

### Exams and practice

- Exams covered: 192. Active real exams (REAL_EXAM_WHERE) — the finder's 'Browse all' count; refreshed every 10 minutes.
- Government recruitment exams: 119. Live exams of this kind (src/lib/exam-kind.ts).
- Entrance exams: 53. Live exams of this kind (src/lib/exam-kind.ts).
- Olympiads: 18. Live exams of this kind (src/lib/exam-kind.ts).
- Professional exams: 2. Live exams of this kind (src/lib/exam-kind.ts).
- Practice questions: 39,505. Validated, not-withdrawn questions on live real exams and school chapters; refreshed every 10 minutes.
- Practice questions that passed the answer check: 39,348. Validated, not withdrawn questions on live exams and school chapters that carry the answer check's pass record (validated by the check, with its verdict stored).
- Topic notes: 4,575. TopicTeachingNote rows with non-empty content on live real exams and school chapters; refreshed every 10 minutes.

### School

- NCERT chapters listed, each linking the official book: 1,146. Top-level NCERT chapters on the school pages; each links NCERT's own PDF on ncert.nic.in.
- School chapters with Shishya's own notes: 230. School chapters whose page carries Shishya's own chapter notes.
- School chapters with checked practice: 124. School chapters with enough validated, answer-checked questions for a practice quiz (the school quiz's own minimum).
- School questions written, not yet through the answer check: 4,228. Questions on school chapters that are not validated, not withdrawn and have no answer-check record yet. They are not shown to students until they pass.

### Official sources

- Official previous-year papers linked: 193 (on 31 exams). Links to question papers and answer keys on the conducting bodies' own sites, on live exams.
- Official cutoff rows: 7,875 (on 17 exams). Cutoff figures copied from the conducting bodies' own published documents, each with its source link, on live exams.
- Exam dates in the next 90 days marked Official: 71 (on 31 exams). Tracker dates announced and cited on the conducting body's own site (src/lib/official-source.ts). A date whose own label says expected, tentative or likely is left out, as on Shishya Pulse.
- Exam dates in the next 90 days marked Reported: 56 (on 24 exams). Tracker dates that were announced but are cited through a secondary source such as a news or coaching site.
- Exam dates in the next 90 days marked Expected: 192 (on 104 exams). Estimates from previous cycles, never presented as announcements.

### Colleges, scholarships, careers and languages

- Colleges from the NIRF 2025 rankings: 77. Entries in src/lib/colleges-data.ts.
- Scholarships: 186. Scholarship schemes, each linking its awarding body (the one outside aggregator is not counted, nor the rows held out of the catalogue as not a scholarship, not found on an official page, or in doubt).
- Career guides: 94. Entries in src/data/careers.ts.
- Languages: 19 (English and 18 Indian languages). Locales the UI serves (locales in i18n.ts), English included — a derived constant.

## Answer check

Each question is solved 3 times by an AI model that is not shown the stored answer key; an AI examiner then compares the key, the solves and the question. A question passes when the examiner judges the stored key correct with at least 80% confidence and at least 2 of the 3 solves reach that same answer. When the examiner and at least 2 solves agree on a different option, the key is corrected and the solution is replaced by the solve that reached it. Anything else — two defensible answers, low agreement, a broken question — is withdrawn from every practice pool. The check is automated, not a human audit, and it can be wrong; every question keeps its Report button.

- Questions checked: 42,806
- Accepted as written: 38,115
- Answer key corrected: 1,233
- Withdrawn (not served in any practice pool): 3,458
- Live questions never checked: 157 (on 55 exams; validated at insert or in bulk before the check existed)
- Last check day: 27 Sep 2026

Among questions that were live before the check:
- Questions live before the check: 36,690
- Kept as written: 32,322 (88.1%)
- Answer key corrected: 1,172 (3.2%)
- Withdrawn: 3,196 (8.7%)

Definition: From the answer-check record stored on each question. Checked = every question the check has a verdict for. Accepted as written = the examiner agreed with the stored key and the question is live. Key corrected = the check replaced the key and the question is live. Withdrawn = the check failed the question, so no practice pool serves it; questions that were not yet live are counted here too, so only the 'live before the check' rows show what the check took out of use. 'Live before the check' = the question was already being served when it was checked. Period: every check up to 27 Sep 2026. Computed 27 Sep 2026 (IST).

Student question reports: 72 received, 72 closed (all time). Question reports students sent with the Report button, all time, and how many are marked closed. Printed only when both are at least 20.

## Questions

### How many people use Shishya?

1,911 accounts had been created on Shishya by 27 Sep 2026. Of the accounts created in the sign-up weeks 17 Aug–13 Sep 2026, 28.7% (213 of 742) used Shishya again, signed in, within 7 days of signing up. 312 accounts (16.3% of all accounts) used Shishya, signed in, in the last 30 days on a day after the day they signed up; counting the sign-up day too (signing up is itself a signed-in event, so an account created in those 30 days counts just for signing up), the share is 43.1%. An account is not a unique student, and people who study signed out are not seen, so these are floors.

### How are Shishya's answer keys checked?

Each question is solved 3 times by an AI model that is not shown the stored answer key; an AI examiner then compares the key, the solves and the question. A question passes when the examiner judges the stored key correct with at least 80% confidence and at least 2 of the 3 solves reach that same answer. When the examiner and at least 2 solves agree on a different option, the key is corrected and the solution is replaced by the solve that reached it. Anything else — two defensible answers, low agreement, a broken question — is withdrawn from every practice pool. The check is automated, not a human audit, and it can be wrong; every question keeps its Report button. By 27 Sep 2026, 42,806 questions had been checked: 38,115 accepted as written, 1,233 with a corrected key and 3,458 withdrawn. Of the 36,690 questions that were already live when checked, 3.2% had their key corrected and 8.7% were withdrawn.

### Where do Shishya's students come from?

Of the 143 accounts created in 14–20 Sep 2026, 74.1% arrived from AI assistants such as ChatGPT, which tags its links utm_source=chatgpt.com and sends no referrer. Some apps strip both the referrer and the tag, so the AI-assistant share is a floor.

## How to cite

Shishya, “Shishya in numbers”, https://shishya.in/shishya-in-numbers, as of 27 Sep 2026.

Editorial policy: https://shishya.in/editorial-policy · Weekly data note: https://shishya.in/pulse · Press kit: https://shishya.in/press · About: https://shishya.in/about