Top 5 NLUs in India: Get detailed insights by ranking, placements & cut-offs
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Top 5 NLUs in India: Get detailed insights by ranking, placements & cut-offs

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Shubham BhakuniUpdated on 16 Sep 2025, 11:31 AM IST

Top 5 NLUs in India: The National Law Universities (NLUs) are considered the premier law schools in India. Candidates appearing in CLAT 2026, or aspiring to take admission to NLUs are required to give admission preferences at the time of CLAT counselling registration. However, choosing an NLU can be tricky, as students often wonder if all NLUs offer similar learning opportunities and placements. A closer look at the overall performance of NLUs, including their rankings, placements, achievements, and alumni records reveals some of them doing exceptionally well in all parameters, some are in the middle range, while many of them are in their initial years lacking legacy and recognition.

This Story also Contains

  1. National Law Universities in India
  2. Top 5 NLUs in India
  3. Top 5 NLUs in Placements
Top 5 NLUs in India: Get detailed insights by ranking, placements & cut-offs
Top 5 NLUs in India

While students appearing in the Common Law Admission Test should consider all factors before giving admission preferences to NLUs, their ranking and placement records hold the utmost importance. This article lists the top 5 NLUs in different parameters including overall ranking, placements and student preferences.

National Law Universities in India

Unlike many other central universities, which are national for having central government funding, NLUs are state universities despite their name giving an appearance of national character. NLUs, essentially educational institutions for the judiciary, have been created as part of the second generation of legal reforms. The Chief Justices of various states act as Vice Chancellor of the NLUs. The Chief Justice of India is the vice Chancellor of the National Law School of India University (NLSIU), Bangalore, the oldest among all NLUs.

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As of 2025, there are 26 NLUs in India, spread across 22 states and union territories, New Delhi and Dadra and Nagar Haveli. These NLUs offer 5-year integrated LLB and LLM programmes. NLSIU Bangalore, NLU Odisha, and CNLU Patna are the only NLUs that offer 3-year LLB. Some NLUs have become multidisciplinary in recent years, and they offer various other programmes such as MBA, and Master in Public Policy in addition to law programmes.

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Top 5 NLUs in India

The Tier 1 NLUs are generally considered good in all aspects and have been ranked in top positions in various law school rankings. Considering there are many parameters in every ranking framework, we are taking a government-recognised ranking framework, NIRF law ranking 2025, and Careers360 ranking of law schools, along with other crucial data such as placements and cut-offs.

Top 5 NLUs in NIRF Ranking 2025

The NIRF top NLUs have consistently performed well in all of its parameters. Among the CLAT accepting NLUs, 16 private law colleges are ranked in NIRF law ranking 2025. Only NLU Delhi conducts a separate All India Law Entrance Test (AILET). The top five law colleges as per NIRF 2025 are given below.

Top 5 NLUs in NIRF 2025

Name of NLU

NIRF Ranking 2025

NIRF Score

NLSIU Bangalore

1

82.97

NLU Delhi

2

80.00

NALSAR Hyderabad

3

79.50

WBNUJS Kolkata

4

79.39

GNLU Gandhinagar

5

76.23

Top 5 NLUs in Careers360 Rankings 2025

Careers360 releases ranking for law schools in India annually. All the top five positions in the Careers360 law school ranking are secured by national law universities (NLUs). Here are the top 5 NLUs as per the Careers360 ranking of top law schools.

Top 5 NLUs as per Careers360 Law School Ranking

NLU

Careers360 rank

NLSIU Bangalore

1

NLU Delhi

2

NALSAR Hyderabad

3

WBNUJS Kolkata

4

GNLU Gandhinagar

5

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Top 5 NLUs in Placements

The placement data is one of the most important parameters to know if the course offered by the NLUs is relevant for the industry and whether law firms and corporations are participating in the campus placement drives. NLUs organise placements from the 5th semester onwards for 5-year integrated LLB programmes. The median package secured by students in the NLU placement ranges from Rs. 14 Lakh to Rs. 20 Lakh for the top 5 NLUs. The 2019-20 batch of WBNUJS Kolkata secured a median salary of Rs. 20 lakhs in the placement drive. This was the highest median salary offered in NLUs in the last three to four years. The top 5 NLUs based on placements are given below.

Top 5 NLUs Based on Placements


Placement year

Law College Name

2024

2023

2022

2021

NLSIU Bangalore

Rs. 16 Lakhs

Rs. 16 Lakhs

Rs. 16 Lakhs

Rs. 15 Lakhs

NLU Delhi

Rs. 18 Lakhs

Rs. 14 Lakhs

Rs. 19 Lakhs

Rs. 18 Lakhs

NALSAR Hyderabad

Rs. 17.50 Lakhs

Rs. 16 Lakhs

Rs. 16 Lakhs

Rs. 16 Lakhs

WBNUJS Kolkata

Rs. 20 Lakhs

Rs. 20 Lakhs

Rs. 16 Lakhs

Rs. 15 Lakhs

GNLU Gandhinagar

Rs. 18 Lakhs

Rs. 16 Lakhs

Rs. 15.40 Lakhs

Rs. 14 Lakhs

NLU Odisha

Rs. 14 Lakhs Rs. 14.50 Lakhs Rs. 9 Lakhs Rs. 6 Lakhs

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Top 5 NLUs by Admission Preferences

Where do the top-ranked students go in the CLAT exam? The CLAT cut-offs provide insights into the top NLUs in admission preferences given by top-performing students. The previous five to six years of CLAT cut-off data shows consistency in this respect. The previous year's cut-offs for NLUs given below will help the prospective students understand this.

Top 5 NLUs by Cut-Offs


NLU

Cut-off rank for General category
2025

2024

2023

NLSIU Bangalore

112

102

114

NALSAR Hyderabad

159

167

177

WBNUJS Kolkata

327

279

260

NLU Jodhpur

367

379

383

NLU Bhopal

480

450

463

GNLU Gandhinagar

444

464

462

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Questions related to CLAT

On Question asked by student community

Have a question related to CLAT ?

Hello

The best way to cover the important current affairs is to read the newspaper daily. Then try to analyse the newspaper and remember the trending topics. Practice the previous year's question paper and understand the pattern of the question. Summarise all current affairs topics and understand them in brief. If you want more information about current affairs, then you will read the article How to Prepare for CLAT Current Affairs 2026 .

Thank you.

Hello,

Yes, you can prepare CLAT (Common Law Admission Test) in Hindi Medium and access syllabus in Hindi from mentioned link below:

https://law.careers360.com/hi/articles/clat-syllabus

Hope it helps.

Hello there!

Joint Entrance Exam (JEE) is a national level entrance exam for the programs related to engineering. It has two levels known as JEE mains (first level) and JEE advance (second level) . Many colleges from all over India in both government and private sector consider its scores. It is an online computer based test conducted by NTA ( National Testing Agency). Physics , Chemistry and mathematics are the major subjects to be focused in this exam.

Here is the link attached from the official website of Careers360 which will provide you with complete information about JEE.

https://engineering.careers360.com/exams/jee-main

NEET ( National Eligibility cum Entrance Test) is a national level examination for admission in undergraduate medical courses. It is also conducted by NTA but in offline mode as in pen and paper test. It includes courses like MBBS, BDS BHMS , BAMS etc. The exam consists of 180 questions in total 45 from each physics , chemistry , zoology and Botany. The total marks for the exam are 720 marks.

Here is the link attached from the official website of Careers360 which will provide you with complete information about NEET examination:

https://medicine.careers360.com/articles/neet-full-form

CLAT (Common Law Admission Test) is a national level entrance examination for the admission in national law colleges of India. The test is taken after 12th grade examination for the 5 years integrated programs in law. It tests students knowledge in legal aptitude. It also serves as a basis for public sector undertakings for legal positions.

Here is the link attached from the official website of Careers360 which will provide you with the complete information about the CLAT examination.

https://law.careers360.com/articles/what-is-clat-full-form-all-about-nlus-entrance-exam

thank you! Hope it helps!


Hello,

The CLAT PG exam pattern consists of 120 questions and 2-hour MCQ exam with negative marking.

Subjects Covered:

  1. Constitutional Law

  2. Jurisprudence

  3. Criminal Law

  4. Contract Law

  5. Other core law subjects

Here are some tricks which you must follow:

  1. Practice Previous Year Papers & Mock Tests
  2. Focus on Constitutional Law & Jurisprudence
  3. Time Management in Exam
  4. Revision Strategy

To know more access below mentioned link:

https://law.careers360.com/articles/how-to-prepare-for-clat-pg-exam

Hope it helps.

Hello,

In CLAT , the 9-digit admit card number is not the same as the roll number you have to write on the OMR sheet. The OMR sheet has only 7 blocks because the CLAT roll number is shorter.

You should check your admit card again and look for the roll number printed near your name and exam details. Fill only that roll number in the OMR sheet. Do not write the 9-digit admit card number.

If you still cannot find the roll number, you can ask the exam invigilator on the exam day.

Hope it helps !