New Delhi, Jun 28 (IANS): Britain-based Quacquarelli Symonds' (QS) higher education rating project in India QS I-Gauge on Thursday conferred on O.P. Jindal Global University (JGU) in Sonipat, Haryana the "Diamond" rating in recognition of the university's excellence in several parameters including in teaching quality and employability of its students.

The highest rating offered by QS I-Gauge is Diamond Plus, Ashwin Fernandes, CEO of QS I-Gauge and Regional Director for QS in South Asia, told reporters at an event here.

The O.P. Jindal Global University was ranked in the 251-300 bracket in the QS BRICS University Rankings 2018 which had 79 Indian institutions among the 300 top universities from Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa.

"JGU's ranking in the QS BRICS University Rankings 2018 followed by the QS I-Gauge Diamond Rating this year is noteworthy given that it is only nine years old," Fernandes said.

The ratings granted by QS I-Gauge after an audit of an institution are valid for three years while the QS rankings of higher education institutions change every year.

While the ranking system is based on relative performance of different institutions, the ratings indicate overall quality of an institution as compared to global standards.

The QS I-Gauge system comprises seven primary indicators and five secondary indicators.

Besides overall "Diamond" rating, the university also got the same rating in six areas - employability, facilities, social responsibility, accreditation, entrepreneurship and teaching and learning.

However, it got "Silver" in student diversity and research.

"We have launched various initiatives to improve the quality of research at JGU. At present our focus is to further lower the faculty and student ratio from the current 1:30. We plan to increase research grants and reward faculty members for their published research work," said C. Raj Kumar, Vice Chancellor, JGU.