NAAC has announced that higher education institutions will not receive grades during the accreditation process.

NAAC has announced that during the accreditation process, higher education institutions in India will no longer be graded but will instead be categorized as either “accredited” or “not accredited.” This decision, made during an executive council meeting, aims to reform the current system. The reforms, based on recommendations from a committee chaired by K. Radhakrishnan, former Chairman of ISRO, were presented to the Union Education Minister and accepted. The reforms will be implemented in two stages: Binary accreditation within four months, followed by Maturity-based Graded levels by December 2024. Binary accreditation aims to encourage all institutions to participate in the accreditation process, fostering a quality culture in higher education. This approach aligns with global best practices. The Maturity-Based Graded Accreditation will incentivize accredited institutions to achieve the highest level of “Institutions of Global Excellence for Multi-Disciplinary Research and Education.” The accreditation process will focus on processes, outcomes, and impact across various attributes of HEIs, rather than inputs. Additionally, there will be a special focus on mentoring rural and remote institutions. NAAC will introduce a “One Nation One Data Platform” to ensure integrity and transparency in handling institutional data, with provisions for customized ranking based on stakeholders’ input.