Rankings of Top Design Colleges in India 2026
The ranking of an institute is an indication of its employability, teaching-learning resources, faculty, infrastructure, projects and case study, and innovation.
With the study of design getting more mainstream, there is a corresponding mushrooming of design institutes across the country. However, these institutes are not all equal. As far as rankings are concerned, the NIFTs continue to dominate. For instance, in the India Today rankings, eight of the top ten positions are occupied by NIFTs. This is precisely why a majority of students want to get admission to the NIFTs. The problem, however, is that NIFTs have a limited number of seats. So, those missing out on a seat at the NIFTs may end up looking for options elsewhere. And, how do you find your options? By consulting ranking lists!
Note that the Ministry of Education doesn’t publish any NIRF Rankings for Design, unlike it does for categories like Engineering, Management, Medical, and Law. In its absence, the next best option for the candidate is to depend on ranking lists published by recognized names like India Today, The Week, and Outlook. In this article, we take a look at the rankings of the top design institutes in 2025 published by these institutes and also by other agencies. This will help the candidate make a fair call on which college to get admission into. So, let’s dive in.
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- Top Fashion Design Colleges in India 2026 - India Today Rankings
- Rankings of Design Colleges 2026 - QS World Rankings
- QS World Rankings of Design Colleges 2025
- Top Design Colleges in India 2022 - Outlook and The Week Rankings
Top Fashion Design Colleges in India 2026 - India Today Rankings
Check the table below for Top Fashion Design Colleges- India Today rankings 2021-2025.
| Name of the Institute |
India Today Ranking 2025 |
India Today Ranking 2024 |
India Today 2023 Ranking |
India Today 2022 Ranking |
India Today 2021 Ranking |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
|
| 3 |
2 |
2 |
2 |
2 |
|
| 2 |
3 |
3 |
3 |
3 |
|
| 5 |
5 |
4 |
4 |
4 |
|
| 6 |
6 |
6 |
5 |
6 |
|
| 6 |
8 |
7 |
6 |
5 |
|
| 4 |
5 |
5 |
7 |
7 |
|
| 8 |
7 |
8 |
8 |
8 |
|
| 10 |
9 |
9 |
9 |
9 |
|
| NIFT Jodhpur |
9 |
10 |
10 |
- |
- |
| 12 |
12 |
11 |
10 |
10 |
|
| 13 |
14 |
14 |
11 |
11 |
|
| 15 |
16 |
15 |
12 |
13 |
|
| 11 |
11 |
13 |
13 |
- |
|
| 14 |
15 |
16 |
14 |
12 |
|
| - |
13 |
12 |
15 |
- |
|
| 17 |
18 |
18 |
16 |
14 |
|
| 16 |
17 |
17 |
17 |
16 |
|
| - |
19 |
20 |
18 |
17 |
|
| 18 |
20 |
19 |
19 |
15 |
|
| 21 |
22 |
22 |
20 |
18 |
|
|
|
- |
26 |
22 |
23 |
|
|
|
28 |
- |
23 |
19 |
|
| 19 |
- |
23 |
24 |
24 |
|
| 20 |
- |
24 |
25 |
28 |
|
| - |
- |
28 |
26 |
22 |
|
| - |
- |
29 |
27 |
27 |
|
| - |
- |
27 |
28 |
25 |
|
| - |
- |
- |
29 |
26 |
|
| Department of Fashion Technology, Sona College of Technology, Salem |
- |
- |
30 |
30 |
- |
| - |
- |
33 |
31 |
- |
|
| - |
- |
31 |
32 |
- |
|
| - |
- |
32 |
33 |
- |
|
| - |
- |
34 |
34 |
- |
|
| - |
- |
41 |
35 |
- |
|
| - |
- |
40 |
36 |
- |
|
| - |
- |
37 |
37 |
- |
|
| - |
- |
- |
38 |
- |
|
| - |
- |
43 |
39 |
- |
|
| - |
- |
39 |
40 |
- |
|
| - |
- |
46 |
41 |
- |
|
| Department of Fashion and Textiles IIS, Jaipur |
- |
- |
- |
42 |
- |
|
|
- |
44 |
43 |
- |
|
|
|
- |
45 |
44 |
- |
|
| Department of Costume Design & Fashion Kongu Arts and Science College, Erode |
|
- |
47 |
45 |
- |
|
|
- |
48 |
46 |
- |
|
| Department of Fashion Designing Sardar Patel Mahavidyalaya Chandrapur, Chandrapur |
|
- |
49 |
47 |
- |
|
|
- |
42 |
48 |
- |
|
|
|
- |
51 |
49 |
- |
|
|
|
- |
- |
- |
20 |
|
|
|
- |
- |
- |
21 |
|
| - |
- |
- |
- |
29 |
|
| - |
- |
- |
- |
30 |
Rankings of Design Colleges 2026 - QS World Rankings
QS World University Rankings are published by Quacquarelli Symonds (QS). QS Rankings are considered among the most reliable, along with Academic Ranking of World Universities and Times Higher Education World University Rankings. QS World University Rankings for Arts and Design 2025 is out now.
QS World Rankings of Design Colleges 2025
The QS World University Rankings for Art & Design are as follows:
Yes, Candidates seeking admission to the B.Desprogrammeneed to compulsory appear in the SEED 2026 exam. The scores of the SEED exam will be next shortlisted for a Portfolio Review and Personal Interaction round. Note that the final merit list will be prepared by considering the cumulative performance of the candidate in the Symbiosis Entrance Exam for Design (SEED), Portfolio Review, PRPI Task, and Personal Interaction (PRPI).
So, any candidate who appears in the SEED but doesn’t appear in the PRPI will not be considered for admission.
The B.Des is a 4-year course carrying 160 credits.
Five participating institutes of NID DAT exam offer B.Des program. These include NID Ahmedabad, NID Andhra Pradesh, NID Haryana, NID Madhya Pradesh and NID Assam.
Seat intake for the B. Des stands at 425. NID Ahmedabad has an intake of 125 seats, while the rest of the NIDs each have an intake of 75 seats. Note that seats are reserved for categories like General-EWS, OBC, SC, and ST categories.
| Name of the Institute |
Ranking |
Score |
|---|---|---|
| Royal College of Art, London, United Kingdom | 1 | Overall Score: 97.4 |
| University of the Arts, London, United Kingdom | 2 | Overall Score: 93.8 |
| The New School, New York City & Paris | 3 | Overall Score: 92.1 |
| Rhode Island School of Design (RISD) location Providence, United States |
4 | Overall Score: 91.6 |
| Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) location Cambridge, United States |
5 | Overall Score: 88.9 |
| Politecnico di Milano, Milan,, Italy | 6 | Overall Score: 84.4 |
| Pratt Institute, New York City, United States | 7 | Overall Score: 84 |
| Aalto University, Espoo, Finland | 8 | Overall Score: 82.8 |
| School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, United States | 9 | Overall Score: 82.4 |
| Design Academy Eindhoven, Eindhoven, Netherlands | 10 | Overall Score: 81.4 |
Top Design Colleges in India 2022 - Outlook and The Week Rankings
Explore more Design exams with upcoming dates
8 Sep '25 - 13 Jan '26
10 Nov '25 - 15 Jan '26
8 Dec '25 - 16 Jan '26
18 Jan '26
19 Jan '26
1 Nov '25 - 20 Jan '26
1 Sep '25 - 23 Jan '26
1 Nov '25 - 31 Jan '26
Top design colleges in India are:
Name of the Institute |
Ranking |
|
|---|---|---|
| The Week 2020 |
Outlook 2019 |
|
| NIFT Delhi |
1 |
2 |
| NIFT Mumbai |
- |
1 |
| NIFT Bangalore |
2 |
4 |
| NIFT Chennai |
3 |
5 |
| NIFT Patna |
6 |
8 |
| NIFT Gandhinagar |
4 |
- |
| NIFT Hyderabad |
5 |
7 |
| NIFT Kolkota |
7 |
6 |
| Pearl Academy New Delhi |
8 |
3 |
| Symbiosis Institute of Design (SID), Pune |
- |
20 |
| NIFT Raebareli |
- |
- |
| NIFT Shillong |
9 |
- |
| Army Institute of Fashion and Design |
11 |
14 |
| Pearl Academy Jaipur |
- |
- |
| Amity Institute of Fashion Technology, Noida |
- |
15 |
| NIFT Kangra |
- |
- |
| JD Institute of Fashion Technology |
14 |
- |
| NIFT TEA |
- |
10 |
| MKSSSs School of Fashion Technology Pune |
- |
- |
| Apeejay College of Fine Arts, Jalandhar |
- |
- |
| Manipal School of Architecture and Planning |
13 |
- |
| Fashion and Apparel Design, T.John College |
- |
17 |
| Vogue Institute of Art and Design |
- |
22 |
| Pearl Academy Mumbai |
- |
25 |
| IMS Design and Innovation Academy |
15 |
24 |
| Whistling Woods International, Mumbai |
- |
- |
| PSG College of Arts and Science |
- |
- |
| Amity School of Fashion Technology, Lucknow |
16 |
19 |
| Axis Institute of Fashion Technology |
- |
- |
| North India Institute of Fashion Technology |
- |
9 |
Graduates from B.Des programmes can explore careers in:
UI/UX Design
Product Design
Graphic Design
Animation & VFX
Industrial Design
Interaction Design
Game Design
Advertising & Branding
As per the information given on SID website, SID does not promote or is aware of any coaching classes/preparatory classes. Candidates have the choice to decide whether they want to join any coaching institute or not. Many coaching institutes offer preparatory classes for exams like NIFT, NID DAT, etc.
Candidates are not required to submit an elementary drawing exam certificate for the Admission Procedure at SID. The candidate merely needs to meet the academic, qualifting exam, and age criteria. Eligible candidate next needs to appear in the SEED 2026. Those qualifying in the exam will have to next appear in a PRPI round. The final results would be prepared by giving weightage to the SEED 2026 exam and the PRPI.
Sayeba Naushad is a commerce postgraduate from Banaras Hindu University. She has over five years of experience in content writing and editing. She has a nose for current events in design field. At Shiksha.com, she s
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There are 19 NIFTs that will accept NIFT 2026 Scores for admission purposes. These institutes are known as participating colleges.
However, in addition to the participating colleges, there are other private colleges that will also consider NIFT 2026 scores for admission to their UG and PG design courses. The candidates are urged to go through the list of result-sharing institutes.