CEPT University

How is CEPT University ranked in 2026?

CEPT University, Ahmedabad holds Rank #6 in the NIRF Architecture and Planning category (score 65.73 in NIRF 2025), the latest national ranking available heading into the 2026 admission cycle. This makes CEPT the highest-ranked private university in the country in architecture and the only Gujarat-based institution to feature inside the NIRF top 10 in this discipline. Out of 131 participating institutions assessed by NIRF in 2025, CEPT sits sixth, narrowly behind the IITs and SPA Delhi that traditionally lead this list. Alongside its NIRF standing, CEPT University was ranked #11 by Outlook in 2025, confirming its position as one of the most respected design, planning and built-environment schools in India for a 2026 aspirant.

For an applicant weighing a B.Arch, M.Arch, planning, urban design or interior-design seat, the headline is simple: CEPT University is a consistent top-6 NIRF architecture institution, and its 2025-2024 NIRF rank of #6 has been stable for two consecutive years. The sections below break down the exact rank and score by year, the trajectory since 2021, and how CEPT compares with the institutions ranked around it.

Year-Wise Rankings

The table below collects CEPT University's verified year-wise rankings from the two bodies that assess it most directly: NIRF (in the Architecture and Planning category) and Outlook. It answers the core question an aspirant asks - what rank did CEPT actually get, in which year, and with what score? Read it top to bottom to see the most recent NIRF 2025 figure first, then trace the rank and the NIRF score backward year by year. The score column matters because NIRF rank can hold steady even when the underlying score shifts.

The takeaway across these years is consistency at the top of the table. CEPT University has held a NIRF Architecture rank between #5 and #7 every year shown, and locked in #6 for both 2024 and 2025. Its Outlook position has been steady at #11 across 2024 and 2025. The one figure that moved is the NIRF score, which eased from 67.23 in 2024 to 65.73 in 2025 even as the rank stayed at #6 - a sign that the competition compressed rather than that CEPT slipped.

Ranking Trajectory of CEPT University

CEPT University's NIRF Architecture trajectory has been a steady plateau near the very top: #5 in 2021, #7 in 2022, #7 in 2023, then #6 in both 2024 and 2025. Rather than a dramatic climb or fall, the pattern shows an institution that has lived inside the NIRF top 7 in architecture for five consecutive editions since 2020. CEPT itself notes that NIRF 2025 marked the fifth year since 2020 that the University has featured in the top 10 of this category, underlining how durable its standing is.

The most instructive movement is the recovery from #7 in 2022 and 2023 back to #6 in 2024, which has now been held into 2025. The slight score dip from 67.23 (2024) to 65.73 (2025) while the rank stayed fixed at #6 tells an applicant that the institutions immediately above and below CEPT are clustered tightly - small score swings no longer change the rank much at this altitude. For a 2026 candidate, the signal is reassuring: CEPT is not a volatile riser whose rank might collapse, but a settled top-6 architecture school whose Outlook #11 placement in both 2024 and 2025 reinforces the same stability.

How CEPT University Compares

Within NIRF Architecture and Planning, CEPT University's Rank #6 (2025) places it just below the established public leaders of the field - the older IITs and the School of Planning and Architecture, Delhi - while standing above almost every other private and state institution in the country. The table below positions CEPT against its own benchmarks rather than guessing peer scores: it pairs CEPT's NIRF and Outlook standing with the distinctions it earned in NIRF 2025, so an applicant can see exactly where the university is strong.

The comparison makes CEPT's niche clear: it is the benchmark private institution in Indian architecture education, ranked sixth overall yet first among private universities in NIRF 2025. For an aspirant choosing between CEPT and other private design schools, no other private university matched CEPT's NIRF architecture standing in 2025. Against the public IITs and SPA Delhi that sit above it, CEPT competes on specialisation, studio culture and its dedicated built-environment focus rather than on rank alone. Its placement record adds context - CEPT reported a B.Arch placement rate of 93.58 percent (204 of 256 students) with an average package near 5.2 LPA and a median of 6 LPA for the 2024 batch - while the B.Arch programme fee stands at about Rs 22.75 lakh total, with first-year fees of roughly Rs 4.55 lakh in 2025.