Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research

How is Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research ranked in 2026?

Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER), Chandigarh is ranked the No. 2 medical institution in India, holding NIRF Medical rank #2 with a score of 82.58 in the most recent 2025 cycle, the benchmark that carries into the 2026 admissions season. It sits second only to AIIMS New Delhi, ahead of CMC Vellore (#3) and JIPMER Puducherry (#4). Beyond the medical-specific list, PGIMER is ranked #33 in the NIRF Overall 2025 category (score 59.15) and #36 among public universities in the Careers360 University Ranking 2025. As of June 2026 the NIRF 2026 results are not yet published, so PGIMER's 2025 standing is the current authoritative measure of its national position.

What makes this number significant for an aspirant is its durability: PGIMER has held the second spot in NIRF Medical for eight consecutive years (2018 to 2025), making it the most consistently ranked government medical institute in the country after AIIMS Delhi. The sections below lay out the exact figures year by year, the trajectory of its scores, and how it stacks up against the institutions an applicant would realistically compare it with.

Year-Wise Rankings

The table below consolidates every verified ranking PGIMER Chandigarh has received from the major national and international rankers, with the year, ranking body, category, rank and published score in separate columns. It answers the practical question an aspirant asks first: "Where exactly does PGIMER stand, and by whose count?" Read it row by row, the medical-specific NIRF rank is the headline figure for a clinical institution, while the Overall and Careers360 entries show how it places when compared against every type of university in India.

The takeaway is clear: PGIMER's strongest and most relevant placement is the NIRF Medical #2, and that rank did not move between 2024 and 2025 even as its score rose from 80.83 to 82.58. The Overall #33 and Careers360 #36 positions confirm that PGIMER competes credibly against IITs, IIMs and central universities, not just other medical colleges, while the QS 301-350 medicine band shows it is recognised internationally though its real dominance is on the national stage.

Ranking Trajectory of Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research

PGIMER's NIRF Medical rank has been frozen at #2 for nearly a decade, but its underlying score tells a more textured story of how the institute has performed against the NIRF parameters of teaching, research, graduation outcomes, outreach and perception. The table below tracks the NIRF Medical score across recent cycles so an applicant can see whether the institution is strengthening, plateauing or slipping behind the metrics, even while the headline rank stays constant.

The trajectory shows resilience rather than a straight line. PGIMER's score dipped from 85.34 in 2022 to 79.79 in 2023, then recovered to 80.83 in 2024 and climbed again to 82.58 in 2025, an upward swing of roughly three points over the latest two cycles. Crucially, the rank never wavered from #2 through any of this movement, which signals that PGIMER's lead over the #3 institution (CMC Vellore) is wide enough to absorb year-to-year scoring fluctuations. For a 2026 aspirant, the message is that PGIMER is a stable, top-tier bet whose position is not at risk of erosion.

How Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research Compares

To judge PGIMER's standing, the only fair comparison set is the handful of institutions that sit alongside it at the very top of the NIRF Medical 2025 list. The table below places PGIMER's verified rank and score next to its immediate peers in that ranking so an applicant can see exactly where the institute falls in the national pecking order and which names it out-ranks.

The comparison confirms PGIMER's elite tier: it trails only AIIMS New Delhi, which has topped the medical list for eight straight years, and it consistently finishes ahead of CMC Vellore and JIPMER Puducherry, two of the most sought-after clinical institutions in India. For a NEET PG or INI-CET aspirant weighing options, this means PGIMER is effectively the strongest government medical destination outside the AIIMS Delhi flagship, and its #33 NIRF Overall placement shows it holds its own even against the country's leading non-medical universities.