The Indian Institute of Technology Madras topped the list of the country’s higher education institutions in the Ministry of Human Resource and Development’s annual ranking that was released on Monday. The rankings were announced at a function in New Delhi by President Ram Nath Kovind.

Last year, Indian Institute of Science in Bengaluru had topped the overall list.

The ministry’s National Institutional Ranking Framework is now in its fourth year and evaluates colleges and universities across the country based on various parameters including teaching and learning resources, research practices, inclusivity and placement records.

The Indian Institute of Science in Bengaluru came second on the overall list and IIT-Delhi ranked third. Seven IITs featured in the top 10 – IIT-Bombay, which was in fourth position, IIT-Kharagpur (fifth), IIT-Kanpur (sixth), IIT-Roorkee (eighth) and IIT-Guwahati, in ninth place. Jawaharlal Nehru University was in seventh position and Banaras Hindu University was number 10.

Apart from the overall list, rankings were also announced in eight other categories. These include lists for the best universities and colleges as well as discipline-wise rankings for engineering, medicine, pharmacy, law, architecture and management colleges.

Indian Institute of Science led the list of universities, followed by the Jawaharlal Nehru University and the Banaras Hindu University. Among the colleges, Delhi’s Miranda House was number one, followed by Hindu College in Delhi and Presidency College in Chennai.

IIT-Madras was the top engineering college, Indian Institute of Management Bangalore was first among business schools, Jamia Hamdard in Delhi was adjudged best pharmacy college, Bengaluru’s National Law School of India University topped the list of law institutes, IIT-Kharagpur was first among architecture colleges and All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Delhi, topped the medical institutes’ list.

While announcing the rankings on Monday, President Kovind said it is important to raise the bar of higher education in India. “While there are islands of excellence, both in the public and private sectors, overall standards are uneven,” he said, reported PTI. “A nuanced approach is essential to ensure that higher education not only fulfils individual aspirations, but also achieves national goals and priorities.”

A total of 3,127 institutions participated in the ranking process under all categories, PTI said.