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:
| 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
1 Aug '25 - 30 Nov '25
30 Nov '25
11 Sep '25 - 1 Dec '25
1 Sep '25 - 7 Dec '25
1 Nov '25 - 19 Dec '25
1 Nov '25 - 31 Dec '25
1 Jan '26
2 Jan '26
22 Nov '25 - 6 Jan '26
1 Sep '25 - 15 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
There are five participating institutes of NID DAT exam that offer the B.Des program. These include NID Ahmedabad, NID Andhra Pradesh, NID Haryana, NID Madhya Pradesh and NID Assam.
The seat intake for the B. Des stands at 425. Among the participating institutes, 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.
No, each institute has its own admission process, even though they accept CEED scores. Generally, CEED admission process includes
- Shortlisting of candidates based on CEED scores
- Institute-specific written tests or assignments (varies by institute)
- Personal Interview (PI) or portfolio review
- Final selection based on overall performance
Candidates should check the official website of each institute for specific details.
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.