CLAT Application Date:01 Aug' 25 - 31 Oct' 25
In the NIRF 2025 Law rankings, Aligarh Muslim University, Central University of South Bihar (CUSB) and University of Lucknow have outperformed NLSIU in Graduation Outcomes (GO).
For law aspirants who often link graduation outcome with the employability of law schools, this looks puzzling. Can Central University of South Bihar be better than NLSIU Bangalore or GNLU Gandhinagar, where median salaries are highest among all law schools? If not, then it raises the question of whether the GO and NIRF should be accepted at their face value while choosing a law school.
National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF) gives 25% weightage to graduation outcomes in India Rankings 2025, the second-highest after Teaching, Learning and Resources (TLR).
While one may be inclined to consider placement percentages and median salaries as key measures of graduation outcomes, the NIRF goes beyond this to incorporate other aspects such as university examinations, students opting for higher education and PhD awards.
Component | Weight (Marks) | Key Metric |
GPH (Placement & Higher Studies) | 40 | % placed + % in higher studies |
GUE (University Examinations) | 15 | % students passing in the stipulated time |
GMS (Median Salary) | 25 | Median salary of graduates (last 3 yrs) |
GPHD (Ph.D. Students Graduated) | 20 | Avg. PhDs awarded (last 3 yrs) |
Total – Graduation Outcome (GO) | 100 | Composite score |
For its criticism, NIRF ignores internships and moot courts, which are essential in shaping the employability of law schools and are as crucial as practical training in an engineering college.
As a result, Symbiosis Law School, Pune and Aligarh Muslim University become the best law institutions in terms of graduation outcomes. Whereas, the top-ranked universities in NIRF Law rankings 2025 — NLSIU, NLU Delhi and GNLU Gandhinagar are 9th, 6th and 10th respectively.
Ranked 7th overall, Symbiosis Law School, Pune, tops NIRF 2025 in graduation outcomes with a GO score of 96.25. The law school has reported one of the strongest placements among all participating law schools in the NIRF 2025.
In three years, the median salary in the 3-year LLB at SLS Pune has gone up from Rs. 8.2 LPA to Rs. 12 LPA. The 5-year LLB package also jumped from Rs. 9.6 LPA to Rs. 18 LPA.
However, in terms of higher education, SLS Pune is behind many other law schools. It has only 3 students pursuing full-time PhDs, whereas only 56 PhDs (full-time and part-time) were awarded by the law school in the three years.
The Faculty of Law, AMU is the 9th best law school in the NIRF 2025. But it is the second-best in graduation outcomes with a score of 93.26 out of 100.
The median salary of approximately Rs. 12 LPA is close to what tier 2 NLUs have offered in recent years.
However, the university has 118 students pursuing PhDs and 49 students graduating, which substantially improves its graduation outcome score.
NALSAR University secures third rank in both overall and graduation outcomes. The 5-year LLB placements at NALSAR have been consistent between Rs. 16-18 LPA. The university has 50 full-time and 36 part-time students pursuing PhD programmes, whereas 17 students have been awarded PhDs in three years.
NLSIU Bangalore, the top-ranked law school in NIRF 2025, slides to 9th place in graduation outcomes. It has a much better placement record than law schools such as AMU, University of Lucknow, Dr. Ram Manohar Lohiya National Law University and Central University of South Bihar. All these law schools have better graduation outcomes than NLSIU in NIRF 2025. This is mainly because these institutions have a higher number of PhDs and students opting for higher education. In contrast, NLSIU places close to 85% of the batch every year, and only a few students opt for higher education.
NLSIU lags in the number of students pursuing or graduating in PhD programmes. The university had 43 students pursuing full-time PhDs and 29 part-time PhDs. In three years, it awarded just 17 PhDs.
CUSB, which debuted in the NIRF Law rankings for the first time, secured 23rd rank. However, with an impressive score of 84.62, it became the 8th best in terms of graduation outcomes.
Interestingly, the median salary reported by the university remains comparatively lower than several law schools. It reports a median salary ranging from Rs. 6.8 LPA to 7.2 LPA for its 5-year LLB in three years. The median salary at the PG level is also similar to Rs. 6.2 - 7.2 LPA.
The placement percentage is also questionable. The university has nearly 100% placement in three years, but only because most non-placed students were moved to the higher education column. This trend is also noticeable in several other law schools, such as Siksha `O` Anusandhan and Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University. By moving students to the higher education section, these universities not only improve placement percentage but also gain in graduation outcomes.
CUSB also outperforms several top law schools in putting out PhD numbers. The university has 115 students pursuing full-time PhDs, significantly higher than top law schools. However, it awarded just 31 PhDs in three years, of which 26 were given in 2023-24 only.
Institute Name | GO | GO Rank | Overall Score | Overall Rank |
Symbiosis Law School, Pune | 96.25 | 1 | 74.07 | 7 |
Aligarh Muslim University | 93.26 | 2 | 65.82 | 9 |
NALSAR University of Law | 88.28 | 3 | 79.5 | 3 |
University of Lucknow | 88.15 | 4 | 55.85 | 29 |
The West Bengal National University of Juridical Sciences (WBNUJS) | 87.38 | 5 | 79.39 | 4 |
National Law University (NLU Delhi) | 86.5 | 6 | 80 | 2 |
Dr. Ram Manohar Lohiya National Law University | 85.37 | 7 | 60.12 | 21 |
Central University of South Bihar | 84.62 | 8 | 58.84 | 23 |
National Law School of India University | 84.4 | 9 | 82.97 | 1 |
Gujarat National Law University | 84.29 | 10 | 76.23 | 5 |
Central University of Punjab has the lowest graduation outcomes due to a lack of placements. The university placed just seven PG students in three years.
Lovely Professional University reports second-lowest graduation outcomes. The university has posted one of the weakest 5-year LLB placement records, placing just 19 students from 225 graduates in three years. In three years, LPU has awarded just six full-time and three part-time PhDs.
Institute Name | GO | GO Rank | Overall Score | Rank |
Manipal University, Jaipur | 47.41 | 38 | 54.83 | 32 |
Lovely Professional University | 43.93 | 39 | 57.98 | 26 |
Central University of Punjab | 41.33 | 40 | 52.70 | 40 |
If viewed solely from the perspective of jobs and placements after LLB programmes, the graduation outcomes in NIRF do not accurately reflect the reality of law schools and the legal profession.
While placements and median salaries remain central to aspirants, the graduation outcomes fail to capture the key employability factors — internships, moot courts, and debating culture. Instead, it shifts the focus to the numbers submitted by the institutes — numbers of students enrolled in PhD programs and students receiving PhD awards.
As a result, we have lesser-known law schools such as Central University of South Bihar outperforming NLSIU Bangalore and several other Tier 1 law schools.
For law aspirants — if you are choosing a law school, do not blindly trust the NIRF rankings. It is comprehensive for academic researchers, but lacks practical application. A better way of shortlisting would be to look at the college preferences given by students in national and state-level entrance exams, as they provide more realistic trends in law schools. Identify the immediate concerns — location, availability of internships, moot court competitions and placements before deciding on a law school.
On Question asked by student community
It is always better to take the CLAT exam right after Class 12 if your goal is to build a career in law, because CLAT UG is specifically designed for admission into integrated five-year law programs like BA LLB, BCom LLB, or BBA LLB. Appearing after Class 12 saves you time, as you complete both graduation and law together in a single course. On the other hand, if you first complete graduation and then plan for law, you will not be eligible for CLAT UG but instead for CLAT PG, which is meant for admission into LLM programs. This path takes longer, because you first spend three or four years on graduation and then add another three years in an LLB program if you choose not to go for an integrated course. So, if you are already sure about pursuing law as your career, writing CLAT right after Class 12 is the smarter and time-saving option, while writing it after graduation makes sense only if you are considering higher studies in law or a shift in career later.
For CLAT, the most important topics are from Legal Reasoning, Current Affairs & GK, the Indian Constitution, English Language, Quantitative Techniques and Logical Reasoning. For a brief detail you can go through the following link: https://law.careers360.com/articles/clat-important-topics
Thank You.
Hi dear candidate,
Both the colleges Maharaja Agrasen (MAIMS) or Gitarattan (GIBS) are affiliated to IP University and allows admission either by CLAT or IPU CET Law. Without either of these exams, your admission is NOT accepted there. You can try looking for management quota seats in these colleges if you have got good marks in 12th class.
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Hi dear candidate,
You can easily register yourself for CLAT exam by visiting the Consortium of NLUs official website and follow these steps:
Know the complete process at:
CLAT Registration 2026 (Started): Documents Required, Application Fee, Link, Steps to Apply
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Right now there is no official e-guide for CLAT 2026 released by the Consortium of NLUs. They usually provide sample questions and model papers closer to the exam, but not a complete guide at this stage.
You can still prepare using free study material available online. Many websites provide free downloadable PDFs, mock tests, and previous year papers that will help you understand the pattern and practice important topics.
If you want a structured book, there are two good options. The Oswaal CLAT & AILET guide has past year solved papers, topic-wise questions, and mock tests. The Arihant CLAT Conqueror book has more than 3000 practice questions with solutions. Both are helpful depending on whether you prefer solved papers or more practice questions.
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