India’s presence in international legal education has been re-established as five of its best law schools have ranked well in the QS World University Rankings by Subject 2025. Of these, OP Jindal Global University (JGU), National Law School of India University (NLSIU) in Bengaluru, Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur (IIT-KGP), Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), and the University of Delhi (DU) have become the country’s representatives in the top global law schools list.

OP Jindal Global University has achieved a remarkable 78th position, which is the best of any Indian law school in the international rankings. The success demonstrates JGU’s dedication to legal education and research on a global level. Meanwhile, DU and NLSIU both received 201-250 rankings, which reflect their ongoing excellence in legal studies and academia. IIT-KGP and JNU have also made their mark in the rankings, standing between the 251-300 bracket. The presence of these institutions in the list is an indicator of the increasing acquaintance with India’s legal education system at an international platform.

Globally, Harvard University has again taken the number one ranking for law, with the University of Oxford in second position. The University of Cambridge ranks third, with Yale University and Stanford University ranking fourth and fifth respectively. These institutions have long been at the forefront of legal education and have consistently set standards for academic brilliance and legal scholarship.

The QS World University Rankings by Subject 2025 are calculated using five significant factors: Academic reputation, Employer reputation, Research citations per paper, H-index, and the International research network (by broad faculty area). These elements give an overall assessment of institutions, quantifying their academic impact, research, and industry applicability. Rankings also consider the performance of universities in a particular subject area under wide disciplines. In law, institutions are rated on the quality of teaching, research influence, and expertise in faculties.

Studying law comes under arts and humanities in a broader classification that comprises three principal subjects, including history, modern languages, and performing arts. This system makes it easy for the ratings to compare schools within various studies under the subject of humanities as it gives the general picture of performance of schools under this course of study. Though most of the highest-ranked law schools are English-speaking, one exception is the Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne, which advances four places this year to take the 15th position.

The addition of Indian law schools to the QS world rankings is a reflection of the rising status of India in legal education. These institutions like JGU, NLSIU, DU, IIT-KGP, and JNU have been actively striving to enhance their standards of academics and research to meet international standards. Such rankings are also an indication of the rising status of Indian legal scholars and researchers globally.

Indian law schools have made considerable progress in the last few years in increasing their academic programs, developing global partnerships, and increasing research production. JGU, for example, has become a top school with a very strong international reach. Likewise, NLSIU, DU, IIT-KGP, and JNU have continued to generate some of the nation’s best legal minds that serve both academia and the practice of law.

The QS World University Rankings are a valuable resource for students, scholars, and employers from all over the world, and they help to offer clues about the best institutions in different areas of study. The inclusion of Indian law schools on this elite list is a welcome indication of the future direction of legal education in India. They are not just building the next generation of legal practitioners but are also making important contributions to international legal scholarship and debate.

As India fortifies its system of higher education, the increasing visibility of its universities on global lists is a testament to the determination of Indian institutions to uphold academic standards and internationalization. Indian law schools’ addition to the QS rankings is a reassuring indicator for prospective legal professionals and scholars, re-establishing the nation’s position in the global landscape of legal education.