TL;DR Punjab, Kerala and Delhi emerged as the highest-scoring States in the latest Performance Grading Index (PGI). The top-performing States excelled in different aspects of school education, highlighting that there is no single path to strong performance. Between 2021–22 and 2025–26, the number of States and Union Territories in the Prachesta performance bands increased from 8 to 22, while those in the Akanshi bands declined from 28 to 13. Only Chandigarh reached the Uttam-3 grade in 2025–26, while no State or Union Territory reached the higher Uttam-2, Uttam-1, Utkarsh or Daksh grades.

Context
Every year, millions of children attend government and government-aided schools across India. But how do we know whether school education systems are improving? To answer this, the Ministry of Education publishes the Performance Grading Index (PGI), which evaluates the performance of States and Union Territories across multiple dimensions of school education. Rather than relying solely on examination results, the index assesses education systems across six domains, including learning outcomes, access, infrastructure, equity, governance, and teacher education.

Who Compiles This Data?
The Ministry of Education publishes the Performance Grading Index (PGI) annually to assess the performance of school education systems across States and Union Territories. The index is based on multiple indicators grouped under six broad domains and serves as a tool for identifying strengths and areas requiring improvement. The complete state-wise scores, grades and methodology are available on the official Performance Grading Index (PGI) website.

Where can I download Clean & Structured PGI Data?
Clean, structured and analysis-ready datasets on the Performance Grading Index (PGI), including overall scores, grades, domain-wise performance and historical rankings, are available on Dataful.

Key Insights

Punjab, Kerala and Delhi Lead the Latest PGI Rankings
Punjab emerged as the best-performing State in the latest Performance Grading Index for 2025-26 with an overall score of 723.6, followed closely by Kerala (716.8) and Delhi (712.2). Himachal Pradesh and Goa rounded out the top five, while Maharashtra, Odisha, Tamil Nadu, Sikkim and Andhra Pradesh also featured among the ten highest-scoring States.

The top three States were separated by just 11.4 points. The rankings indicate that several States have consistently built stronger school education systems across multiple indicators.

State performance varies significantly across domains, meaning overall scores don’t fully reflect individual educational strengths.

The Top States Excel in Different Aspects of School Education
The Performance Grading Index evaluates school education across six domains:

1. Learning Outcomes & Quality
2. Access
3. Infrastructure & Facilities
4. Equity
5. Governance Processes
6. Teacher Education & Training

The domain-wise comparison reveals that no single State performs best across every aspect of school education. Punjab stands out in Learning Outcomes & Quality and Infrastructure, Kerala excels in Access and Teacher Education, Delhi performs strongly in Infrastructure and Equity, while Goa is among the strongest in Governance. Other top-performing States also display distinct strengths rather than consistently leading across all six domains.

These differences highlight an important takeaway: high-performing education systems do not all follow the same path. Some States excel because of stronger governance, others because of better learning outcomes, infrastructure or teacher education. The overall PGI score, therefore, masks considerable variation in how States achieve their performance.

More States Have Moved into the Prachesta Bands, But Very Few Have Reached the Highest Grades
Between 2021–22 and 2025–26, the number of States and Union Territories classified under the Prachesta performance bands (mid-level performance) increased from 8 to 22, while those in the Akanshi bands (the lower performance bands) declined from 28 to 13. This indicates that more States and Union Territories have progressed into higher performance categories under the revised PGI framework.

However, progress at the very top remains limited. In 2025–26, only Chandigarh reached the Uttam & Above category (Uttam-3), while none achieved this level during the previous four years. No State or Union Territory reached higher grades such as Uttam-2, Uttam-1, Utkarsh or Daksh, indicating that even India’s highest-performing school education systems continue to have room for improvement.

Why Does It Matter?
The Performance Grading Index helps governments identify specific areas where school education systems need improvement rather than simply ranking States. Since the leading States excel in different domains, the findings suggest there is no one-size-fits-all approach to improving education. Instead, States can use the domain-wise scores to target gaps in areas such as learning outcomes, infrastructure, governance and teacher education.

Key Numbers (2025-26)

• Highest Overall PGI Score: Punjab (723.6)
• Second Highest: Kerala (716.8)
• Third Highest: Delhi (712.2)
• States/UTs in Uttam & Above: 1 (Chandigarh)
• States/UTs in Prachesta Bands: 22
• States/UTs in Akanshi Bands: 13

Note: Featured image generated with ChatGPT