The Ministry of Education, Govt. of India has released the NIRF Law Ranking 2025 on September 4, 2025. In all, there are 26 National Law Universities out of which 13 NLUs find a place in the NIRF law rankings 2025. NLSIU Bengaluru is at the top spot in the rank-wise list of NLUs. It is followed by NLU Delhi and NALSAR Hyderabad, which complete the top 3 NLUs in NIRF law rankings. Read on to get the full rank-wise best NLUs in India, including the NIRF scores and determining factors.
The rank-wise list of NLUs in the NIRF rankings is prepared after considering several factors such as teaching and learning resources, learning outcomes, outreach programmes, quality of research, and perception of the institute. The admissions at NLUs are done based on scores in the Common Law Admission Test and the All India Law Entrance Test (NLU Delhi). The Consortium of NLUs will conduct CLAT 2026 on December 7, 2025. NLU Delhi will conduct AILET 2026 on December 14, 2025. A few NLUs also conduct their law entrance exams for admission to their law programmes.
Given below is the list of factors to be considered to prepare the rank-wise list of NLUs.
Factor | Details | Weightage |
Teaching, Learning, and Resources | Includes student strength, student-faculty ratio, combined metric for faculty, and financial resources | 40% |
Research and Professional Practices | Includes combined metrics for publications quality of publications, and footprint of projects and professional practices. | 15% |
Graduation outcomes | Includes placement and higher studies details, metrics for college examinations, median salary offered to students, and students graduating with PhD | 25% |
Outreach and Inclusivity | Includes outreach and inclusivity activities undertaken by the institute | 10% |
Perception | Perception of the law college in the minds of employees and academic peers | 10% |
The table given below provides the list rank-wise list of NLUs as per their score in the NIRF law rankings. Among the top 40 law schools ranked in the NIRF rankings, 13 are NLUs.
Sl. no | Name | City | State | Score | Rank |
1 | Bengaluru | Karnataka | 82.97 | 1 | |
2 | New Delhi | Delhi | 80.00 | 2 | |
3 | Hyderabad | Telangana | 79.50 | 3 | |
4 | The West Bengal National University of Juridical Sciences, Kolkata | Kolkata | West Bengal | 79.39 | 4 |
5 | Gandhinagar | Gujarat | 76.23 | 5 | |
6 | Cuttack | Odisha | 63.66 | 15 | |
7 | Patna | Bihar | 62.40 | 17 | |
8 | Lucknow | Uttar Pradesh | 60.12 | 21 | |
9 | Bhopal | Madhya Pradesh | 57.64 | 27 | |
10 | Nagpur | Maharashtra | 56.54 | 28 | |
11 | Ranchi | Jharkhand | 55.81 | 30 | |
12 | Shimla | Himachal Pradesh | 53.49 | 34 | |
13 | Kamrup | Assam | 53.39 | 35 |
The NLU admissions require the candidates to appear for the respective law entrance exam. The NLUs which are part of the CLAT admission process accept the CLAT 2026 scores. Candidates have to appear for the centralised CLAT counselling process to obtain seat allotment. The admissions into NLU Delhi and NLU Meghalaya are conducted at the institute level, and candidates have to appear for the counselling process of the university after appearing for their respective law entrance exams.
The NLUs which offer a 3-year LLB programme also conduct their own entrance exams, such as NLSAT for NLSIU Bengaluru, NLUO 3-year LLB entrance exam for NLU Odisha and CNLU 3-year LLB entrance exam for CNLU Patna.
On Question asked by student community
Start preparing for CLAT by first understanding the exam pattern and syllabus, which includes English, Current Affairs, Legal Reasoning, Logical Reasoning, and Quantitative Techniques. Make a simple daily routine and begin with basics read newspapers regularly for current affairs, practice comprehension passages for English and legal sections, and solve basic
Hello
With an AIR of 9076 and EWS rank of 846 in CLAT 2026, getting a top NLUs is unlikely, which is why you didn’t get a seat in the first round. However, you still have some chances in lower-tier NLUs like NLU Odisha, NLU Assam, NLU Tripura, NLU Meghalaya,
Hello
With a CLAT 2026 score of 60.75, AIR 17,715, and OBC-NCL rank 3,347 as an out-of-Delhi candidate, getting a seat in the Faculty of Law, Delhi University is very unlikely. DU’s cut-offs for OBC candidates are usually much higher, even in later rounds. You should keep backup options like
Hello,
With AIR 10542 and OBC rank 1843, getting top NLUs is unlikely. However, you still have chances in newer or lower ranked NLUs like NLU Assam, NUSRL Ranchi, MNLU Nagpur/Mumbai, especially in later or vacancy rounds. Also consider good private law colleges as backup options.
Since you scored 8000 AIR in CLAT, getting into top NLUs may not be possible, so it is a good idea to look for affordable and good law colleges.
State government law colleges are usually low in fees, and have decent reputation. Some options include Government Law College, Mumbai, Faculty
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