NLUs NIRF Ranking 2026: Check Latest National Law University NIRF Rankings

NLUs NIRF Ranking 2026 will be released soon on the official website of the Ministry of Education. The NLUs NIRF Rankings 2026 will help candidates make an informed choice and rank National Law Universities while filling the CLAT form. Read this page for more details.

NLUs NIRF Ranking 2026 To Be Released Soon

NLUs NIRF Rankings 2026 can be released at any time now. The Ministry of Education is yet to release the official rankings for National Law Universities in the public domain. NIRF rankings will help candidates to make informed decisions when applying for admission to the upcoming CLAT 2027.

NIRF rankings are arrived at after considering various parameters by the Ministry of Education, such as:

• Teaching, Learning & Resources (TLR)
• Research and Professional Practice (RP)
• Graduation Outcomes (GO) 
• Outreach and Inclusivity (OI)
• Peer Perception (PR)

There are further sub-factors that are considered under each parameter. This year, the candidates will be required to fill their NLU preferences during the Counselling phase. Till the official NLU NIRF ranking 2026 is released, we can see the details of NIRF based on the previous year's ranking.

NLUs NIRF Ranking 2026 Delayed?

Every year, the Ministry of Education releases the National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF) rankings of all the participating institutions. Candidates should note that there is no fixed dates announced for the release of the ranking. It can be released at any time.

We cannot say that the NIRF Ranking 2026 is delayed because it does not follow any fixed calendar.

NLUs NIRF Law Rankings: Previous Year

The MoE released the NIRF rankings 2025 on September 4, 2025. It classified the NLUs based on various parameters considered by the Ministry of Education.
Among all National Law Universities, National Law School of India University, Bangalore stood at first position, and National Law University, Delhi was in second position. Interestingly, NLU Delhi does not participate in the CLAT exam. 

Interestingly, IIT Kharagpur, not being a dedicated law college or NLU, ranked at 6th position, higher than various National Law Unive

Gujarat National Law University (GNLU), Gandhinagar improved its position from 8^th to 5^th. 

Chanakya National Law University Patna jumped from 31^st to 17^th position.

NLU Delhi conduct its own exam - AILET for admission purposes.

How NIRF Ranks Law Colleges?

NIRF doesn't rank institutions on reputation alone. The framework scores every participating law college on a set of parameters that, broadly, cover:

Teaching, Learning and Resources — faculty strength, student-faculty ratio, and financial resources.

Research and Professional Practice — publications, patents, and moot court or practice-oriented output.

Graduation Outcomes — placement records, higher education progression, and bar exam performance where relevant.

Outreach and Inclusivity — diversity of the student body, gender representation, and support for economically or socially disadvantaged students.  

Perception — a peer and stakeholder survey component, capturing how the institution is regarded by academics, employers, and the public.

This combination is exactly why a college can have an excellent reputation on the ground and still not top the chart — perception is only one slice of the score, not the whole picture.

Number of Seats in NLUs and CLAT Cutoff

There are over one lakh candidates appearing in the Common Law Admission Test (CLAT), but the number of seats available in the NLUs is around 4 thousand. Each NLU releases its own CLAT cutoff based on the candidates applied, category, seat availability, reservation claims and the CLAT rank.  Candidates need to score as much as they can to get entry into the NLU of their choice because the competition is fierce.

Candidates can see below the first merit list of all the NLUs.

Each NLU releases its own cutoff hence, the overall cutoff of the CLAT exam cannot be ascertained.

What to expect from NLUs NIRF Ranking 2026?

The candidates should not expect any sea changes in the NLUs' NIRF Rankings because the parameters are the same and the performance of the majority of the participating institutions is the same. The candidates should note that the NIRF ranking is not mandatory for all institutions. The institutions need to share their data on admissions, placements and the like to be considered in the NIRF Rankings.