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:
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.
| 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
18 Oct '25
1 Oct '25 - 31 Oct '25
1 Aug '25 - 30 Nov '25
11 Sep '25 - 1 Dec '25
1 Sep '25 - 7 Dec '25
1 Jan '26
22 Nov '25 - 6 Jan '26
28 Feb '26
15 Dec '25 - 15 Mar '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 |
Admission to the B.Desprogrammeoffered by the Symbiosis Institute of Design (SID) will be in the following sequence:
Filling of online application - Eligible candidates need to fill out the SEED 2024 application form before the last date.
Appear in SEED 2024 exam - The candidate has to download the admit card and appear in the SEED 2024 entrance exam on the designed day.
Declaration of results and shortlist - The results will be declared around the 4th week of January, followed by the released of shortlist for PRPI.
Upload PRPI Task and Portfolio - Eligible candidates will have to upload their portfolio and PRPI task within the given deadline.
Appear in Portfolio Review and Personal Interaction round.
Declaration of first merit list - The merit list will be prepared by considering the cumulative performance of the candidate in Symbiosis Entrance Exam for Design (SEED), Portfolio Review, PRPI Task and Personal Interaction.
Yes, candidates seeking admission to the B.Desprogrammeneed to compulsory appear in the SEED 2025 exam.
The scores of the SEED 2025 exam will be used to shortlist candidates for a Portfolio Review and Personal Interaction (PRPI) 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.
There are eight participating institutes of CEED 2025 that offer the M.Des program. Admission to theprogram will be on the basis of CEED 2025 merit rank.
S.No
Participating Institute
Department
M.Des Seat Intake
1
IISc Bangalore
Centre for Product Design and Manufacturing
18
2
IIT Bombay
IDC School of Design (Industrial Design Centre)
78
3
IIT Delhi
Department of Design
-
4
IIT Guwahati
Department of Design
33
5
IIT Hyderabad
Department of Design
30
6
IIT Kanpur
Design Programme
-
7
IIT Roorkee
Department of Design
20
8
IIT Jodhpur
School of Liberal Arts
-
Candidates who have been assigned a merit rank in CEED 2025 need to apply directly to the participating institute. Counseling registration will commence soon after CEED 2025 results are declared.