NALSAR University of Law Hyderabad

How is NALSAR University of Law Hyderabad ranked in 2026?

NALSAR University of Law, Hyderabad enters 2026 as one of India's two or three strongest law schools, holding NIRF Law Rank 3 (score 79.50) from the most recent 2025 edition and India Today Law Rank 2 (score 91.00) in 2025. In 2026 the university also broke onto the global stage, debuting in the QS World University Rankings by Subject 2026 for Law and Legal Studies in the 351-400 band, one of only eight Indian law schools to feature. The NIRF 2026 Law rankings have not been released as of June 2026, so NALSAR's NIRF 3 (79.50) from 2025 remains its current official government ranking. Together these figures place NALSAR consistently behind only NLSIU Bangalore and, in NIRF terms, NLU Delhi, while sitting at or near the very top of magazine and survey rankings.

For an aspirant, the headline is simple: NALSAR Hyderabad is a settled top-three national law university with a freshly minted global footprint. The sections below lay out every verified rank, year by year, so you can read the trajectory rather than a single snapshot.

Year-Wise Rankings

The table below consolidates NALSAR University of Law, Hyderabad's verified rankings across 2026, 2025 and 2024 from the ranking bodies that matter most to law aspirants: NIRF (the government framework), India Today (an annual law-school survey) and QS (the global subject ranking). Read it top to bottom to see how the same institution is scored by different methodologies in the same period. The Rank column gives the position and the Score column gives the underlying number where the body publishes one; QS reports a band rather than a single rank. Note that NIRF 2026 figures are absent because that edition has not yet been published.

The takeaway is that NALSAR Hyderabad never leaves the top three in any year or any system shown here. India Today has held it steady at Rank 2 across both 2024 and 2025, with its score nudging up from 90.40 to 91.00. NIRF placed it at Rank 2 (85.70) in 2024 and Rank 3 (79.50) in 2025, a one-position movement that still keeps it firmly in elite company. The 2026 QS debut adds a new dimension: NALSAR is now ranked internationally, not just nationally.

Ranking Trajectory of NALSAR University of Law Hyderabad

NALSAR University of Law, Hyderabad's trajectory is one of remarkable stability at the top rather than dramatic swings. In NIRF Law, the university stood at Rank 2 with a score of 85.70 in 2024 and at Rank 3 with a score of 79.50 in 2025; this 2025 result marks the fifth consecutive year NALSAR has held a top-three NIRF Law position, an unusually long run of consistency. The single-place NIRF slip between 2024 and 2025 reflects intense competition at the summit, where NLSIU Bangalore (NIRF Rank 1) and NLU Delhi (NIRF Rank 2) occupy the spots above it, rather than any decline at NALSAR itself.

The India Today Law survey tells an even steadier story: Rank 2 in both 2024 (score 90.40) and 2025 (score 91.00), with the score actually improving year over year. The most forward-looking signal is the 2026 QS World University Rankings by Subject debut in the 351-400 band for Law and Legal Studies, NALSAR's first appearance in a global subject ranking. For a 1998-founded institution, breaking into QS while sustaining a half-decade top-three NIRF streak signals an institution consolidating its national leadership and beginning to register internationally. With NIRF 2026 not yet released, the live picture for an applicant is NIRF 3 (79.50, 2025), India Today 2 (91.00, 2025) and the new QS 351-400 (2026) marker.

How NALSAR University of Law Hyderabad Compares

Against its closest peers, NALSAR University of Law, Hyderabad sits in the leading cluster of Indian National Law Universities. In the NIRF Law 2025 ranking, NALSAR's Rank 3 (score 79.50) places it directly behind NLSIU Bangalore at Rank 1 and NLU Delhi at Rank 2, the only two institutions ahead of it in the government framework that year. The table below contrasts NALSAR's verified 2025 NIRF Law standing with these two peers so you can see the narrow gap at the top of the table and how to read it. The peer ranks are drawn from the same NIRF 2025 Law list; only verifiable positions are shown.

The comparison shows NALSAR Hyderabad is squarely in the top tier, separated from the very top by a small margin and ahead of the wider field of NLUs. Notably, in the India Today 2025 survey NALSAR ranks 2 (score 91.00), so depending on methodology it is positioned second or third nationally. For an applicant weighing CLAT preferences, that means NALSAR is a genuine alternative to the two institutions above it rather than a distant follower. Established in 1998 by the Government of Andhra Pradesh at Shamirpet, Hyderabad, NALSAR has converted longevity into durable ranking strength.