Research organization C fore conducted the survey to rank top schools in India. Schools were assessed separately under 16 different categories i.e. Day Co-ed, Day cum boarding, Day girls, Day boys, Residential Co-ed, Residential boys, Residential girls, International day, International day cum boarding and International residential schools, Government/Defence services day, Govt./defence services residential, Best emerging (International Schools), Best emerging (Indian curriculum) schools, Special need schools and Philanthropy schools.

The perceptual survey was conducted in 92 cities/towns from March to July 2024. The sample consisted of parents belonging to SEC (Socio Economic category) A, teachers, principals, educationists and students of 10th, 11 and 12th of various schools. In all 41,257 persons were interviewed. Every respondent was shown the list of pre-selected list of schools in different regions. They were then asked to rate the schools that they were aware of on ten-point scale against 14 parameters (listed below). The weightage given to each parameter was based on a preliminary survey among stakeholders. For evaluating best emerging schools, placement/alumni parameter was not used. Similarly, a smaller number of parameters were used to assess special needs and philanthropy schools. Schools that were assessed by less than 25 persons were not considered for ranking. The aggregate average rating that each school got was computed and used for ranking schools. Parameters were given weightage based on preliminary survey among stakeholders.

This parameter includes knowledge level of teachers, their qualifications, their training, their effectiveness in dissemination of knowledge, skills and generating interest for their subject in students. It also includes their relationship with students and the steps taken by school to ensure that the relationship is based on love and positive expectations and not on fear control approach.

This parameter includes effectiveness of curriculum and pedagogy in enhancing the 4 Cs in every student i.e. Creativity, Critical thinking, Collaboration and Communication. This also includes proactiveness of school in updating the curriculum to make it relevant to changing times and adopting new techniques of teaching like collaborative learning, inter disciplinary learning, experiential learning, integration of artificial intelligence etc. to make dissemination of knowledge child friendly.

This includes the school leadership's vision, education philosophy and capability; how effective the pedagogic systems and processes in the school are; how effectively discipline is maintained in the school.

This parameter includes efforts put in by the school management to create an environment of growth and happiness for teachers. This also includes exchange programmes with foreign schools, number of programmes conducted for their training and the salaries paid to them.

This refers to educational strategies that customise curriculum and pedagogy to address the unique learning styles, interests and aspiration of each student. This also includes school’s endeavour in monitoring/tracking and ensuring growth of every student in various areas like academics, sports, life skills, creative intelligence etc. This parameter also refers to number of students in a section of class and the teacher- student ratio.

This parameter includes proactiveness of the school to ensure conceptual clarity for students and robustness of the evaluation methodology for all subjects. This also includes the board results.

This parameter includes the efforts put in by school to encourage every student’s participation in various sports, the competence of sport teachers, the facilities available and number of recognized awards at state and national level won by students.

This parameter includes proactiveness of the school in promoting student participation in theatre, arts, music etc., number of recognized awards at state and national level won by students.

This parameter includes the school's proactiveness in engaging parents as partners in their student's intellectual and emotional development; good parenting education imparted in school; how open the school is to harnessing the skills of parents; how transparent is the school about its policies to parents; how often it updates parents about their children’s progress; how open the management is to suggestions from parents.

This includes the campus area, the school building, classrooms, how well-designed, equipped and maintained they are; facilities available like IT enabled classrooms, smart boards, play grounds, IT infrastructure, number of books in the library, auditorium, science labs, STEAM/STEM lab, Makers Space etc.

This includes the fee charged and whether it is at par with the quality of education imparted, placements, facilities in school; return on investment for parents.

This includes practices in the school to ensure mental and emotional well-being of every student; life skills imparted; teaching management of emotions and social relationships; how effectively the school promotes the values of empathy and equality among students; how well this education is integrated with the curriculum; how well teachers are sensitized about the importance of emotional intelligence; number of counsellors whom students can freely approach.

This parameter includes the school's connect with community and service; the extent to which it sensitizes students to larger social questions; the proactiveness of school in engaging with underprivileged sections of society. This parameter also includes the facilities in the school to help in the learning process of children with special needs, number of such children actually enrolled and how well they are integrated with other students.

This parameter includes management of boarding facilities and supports system offered to boarders.

This parameter includes the efforts put in by the school to ensure good placements for its graduating batch; the actual number of admissions the students get in various reputed colleges/universities in India and abroad. This parameter also includes achievements of alumni and their overall personality. For new schools this parameter should be read as preparation for placements, the networking with good universities, soft skills imparted and career counselling facilities.