NIRF Vs QS Rankings 2027: What’s The Difference? Check Top 10 Indian Institutes In Both

NIRF Vs QS Rankings 2027: The National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF) and QS World University Rankings assess higher education institutions using different methodologies. While NIRF is an India-specific ranking released by the Ministry of Education, QS places Indian institutes in a global ranking of universities.

The QS World University Rankings 2027, released in June 2026, feature a record 52 Indian universities, making India the fourth most-represented higher education system globally. IIT Delhi emerged as the highest-ranked Indian institute at 118th globally. 

The NIRF Rankings 2026 have not been released yet. Therefore, the latest available NIRF ranking for comparison is the NIRF 2025 Overall Ranking, in which IIT Madrs retained the number one position. 

NIRF Vs QS: What Is The Difference?

NIRF primarily evaluates institutes within the Indian higher education ecosystem. Its methodology considers parameters such as Teaching, Learning and Resources; Research and Professional Practice; Graduation Outcomes; Outreach and Inclusivity; and Perception.

QS, meanwhile, is an international ranking. Its methodology includes indicators such as academic reputation, employer reputation, citations, employment outcomes, international research network, sustainability and internationalisation.

As a result, the same institute can have significantly different positions in the two rankings.

Top 10 Indian Institutes In QS World University Rankings 2027

The QS 2027 ranking places IITs at the top of India’s list. The top 10 Indian institutions and their global positions are:

IIT Delhi’s 118th position equals the highest-ever position achieved by an Indian institution in the QS World University Rankings. IIT Madras improved by 10 places to 170, while IIT Kharagpur also moved up 10 places to 205.

Top 10 Institutes In NIRF 2025

Since NIRF 2026 is yet to be released, the NIRF 2025 Overall Ranking provides the latest national comparison:

IIT Madras has held the number one position in the NIRF Overall ranking from 2019 through 2025. IISc Bengaluru has also remained at the top of the NIRF University category. 

NIRF Vs QS: Where Do The Rankings Differ?

The contrast is particularly visible when the two lists are placed side by side.

IIT Madras, which is number one in NIRF 2025, is third among Indian institutions in QS 2027 at 170 globally. IIT Delhi, ranked fourth in NIRF 2025, is India’s top institution in QS 2027 at 118 globally.

Similarly, AIIMS Delhi, JNU and BHU feature in NIRF’s overall top 10 but do not appear in QS 2027’s Indian top 10. In contrast, Shoolini University enters the QS Indian top 10 at 452 but does not feature in the NIRF 2025 overall top 10. 

This difference reflects the fact that the rankings are measuring different aspects of institutional performance rather than using the same yardstick.

India’s QS Presence Has Expanded

India’s representation in the QS World University Rankings has expanded sharply over the past decade. QS says 52 Indian universities feature in the 2027 edition, compared with 14 in 2015. The government has separately highlighted the increase from 11 institutions in the 2015 QS edition to 52 in 2027. 

The 2027 edition also shows that India’s representation is becoming more diverse. Alongside IITs and IISc, public universities and private institutions are increasingly appearing in the global ranking. QS reports that 24 private Indian universities are now represented in the 2027 rankings.

For students comparing colleges, the two rankings therefore offer different information: NIRF provides a national comparison based on India’s institutional framework, while QS provides an international perspective based on global reputation, research, employability and internationalisation indicators.