CLAT is the single national entrance test for admission to India’s 24 National Law Universities, run by the Consortium of National Law Universities, not a government agency. It is really two exams under one umbrella held on the same day: CLAT UG, a 5-year integrated law programme entrance (BA LLB, BBA LLB, and similar dual-degree tracks) for Class 12 students, and CLAT PG, an LLM entrance for LLB graduates. CLAT 2026 drew 92,344 registrations, the highest in the exam’s history, split 75,009 UG and 17,335 PG. The CLAT 2026 admission cycle has fully closed; the CLAT 2027 notification is expected imminently, with the exam itself likely falling on December 6, 2026. National Law University Delhi does not accept CLAT scores; it runs its own separate exam, AILET.
| Date | Update | Source |
|---|---|---|
| May 30, 2026 | Final university fee payment deadline for CLAT 2026 fifth allotment list closed, ending the CLAT 2026 admission cycle | Consortium of NLUs |
| May 15, 2026 | CLAT 2026 fifth and final seat allotment list published | Consortium of NLUs |
| May 2 to May 8, 2026 | CLAT 2026 fourth allotment list window (vacant-seat mop-up) | Consortium of NLUs |
| January 22, 2026 | CLAT 2026 second seat allotment list released | Consortium of NLUs |
| January 7, 2026 | CLAT 2026 first provisional seat allotment list released | Consortium of NLUs |
| December 7, 2025 | CLAT 2026 exam conducted nationwide, offline pen-and-paper mode | Consortium of NLUs |
| Full name | Common Law Admission Test |
| Acronym | CLAT |
| Conducting body | Consortium of National Law Universities (NLU Consortium) |
| Mode | Offline, pen-and-paper (OMR-based) |
| Level | National |
| Frequency | Annual, single sitting (typically first Sunday of December) |
| Tracks | CLAT UG (5-year integrated law degrees) and CLAT PG (LLM), separate applications and fees, same exam day |
| Question format | Passage-based only, no standalone recall questions |
| Total marks (UG and PG each) | 120 |
| Duration | 120 minutes (2 hours), no sectional time limit |
| Question count (UG) | 120 across 5 sections |
| Question count (PG) | 120, drawn from mandatory LLB subjects |
| Negative marking | -0.25 per incorrect answer; 0 for unattempted |
| Marks per question | +1 |
| Application fee (2026 cycle) | ₹4,000 General/OBC; ₹3,500 SC/ST/BPL/PwD |
| Official website | consortiumofnlus.ac.in |
| 2026 cycle registrations | 92,344 total (75,009 UG, 17,335 PG), the highest in CLAT’s history |
| Participating universities | 24 NLUs (NLU Delhi and NLU Meghalaya are not Consortium members and run their own exams) |
| Seats offered (2026 cycle, Consortium-reported) | Approximately 3,243 UG and 1,373 PG seats across the 24 member NLUs |
| Notification released | July 2025 |
| Registration window | August 1 to October 31, 2025 (11:59 PM) |
| Exam date | December 7, 2025 |
| Objection window on provisional answer key | 3 days from provisional answer key, ₹1,000 per question objection fee |
| Final answer key and result | Mid-to-late December 2025 |
| Notification | Mid-to-late July 2026 tentative |
| Registration window opens | August 1, 2026 tentative |
| Registration window closes | October 31, 2026 tentative |
| Exam date | December 6, 2026 (first Sunday of December) tentative |
| Counselling registration opens (invite-only, rank-gated) | Mid-December 2026 (anchored on 2025 cycle: December 17, 2025) tentative |
| Counselling registration closes | Late December 2026 (anchored on 2025 cycle: December 27, 2025) tentative |
| First seat allotment list | Early January 2027 (anchored on 2026 cycle: January 7, 2026) tentative |
| Final (fifth) allotment list | Mid-May 2027 (anchored on 2026 cycle: May 15, 2026) tentative |
| Final fee payment deadline | Late May 2027 (anchored on 2026 cycle: May 30, 2026) tentative |
CLAT eligibility is genuinely two separate rule sets, since CLAT UG and CLAT PG admit into different degree levels. CLAT UG requires a Class 12 pass (or appearing candidate) with 45% aggregate marks for General, OBC, PwD, NRI, PIO, and OCI candidates, and 40% for SC and ST candidates, with no upper age limit. CLAT PG requires an LLB degree (or final-year LLB candidates who will complete it before admission) with 50% aggregate marks for General and OBC candidates, and 45% for SC, ST, and PwD candidates, also with no upper age limit.
| Age limit (UG and PG) | No upper age limit for either track. The Consortium removed the earlier CLAT UG age cap in line with the broader national trend across major entrance exams. |
| Qualifying exam, UG | Class 12 pass (or equivalent) in any previous year, or appearing in the admission year with proof of passing submitted at admission time. |
| Educational qualification, UG | 45% Class 12 aggregate for General/OBC/PwD/NRI/PIO/OCI; 40% for SC/ST. |
| Qualifying degree, PG | An LLB (three-year or five-year integrated) or equivalent law degree; final-year LLB students may sit the exam but must complete the degree and meet minimum marks before admission. |
| Educational qualification, PG | 50% LLB aggregate for General/OBC; 45% for SC/ST/PwD. |
| Number of attempts (UG and PG) | Uncapped. A candidate may reappear any year they meet the qualification requirement; there is no attempt-limit comparable to JEE Main’s three-year cap. |
| Nationality | Indian citizens, NRIs, PIOs, and OCIs are eligible for the general seat pool. |
| Domicile | No domicile restriction on the Consortium’s centralized seat matrix, though each NLU additionally reserves a home-state quota (typically 15 to 25% of seats) within the CLAT merit list. |
The CLAT application is fully online through the Consortium’s own portal, separate from NTA. For the CLAT 2026 cycle the registration window ran August 1 to October 31, 2025. A candidate applying for both UG and PG must submit two separate applications, since they are treated as distinct exams with separate fees, even though both are answered on the same exam day.
| Document | Format | Size | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Photograph | JPG / JPEG | As specified in the information bulletin | Recent, plain background, face clearly visible |
| Signature | JPG / JPEG | As specified in the information bulletin | Handwritten, scanned, not typed or stylised |
| Class 10 certificate (DoB proof) | As specified in the information bulletin | Required at application for UG candidates | |
| LLB degree or provisional certificate | As specified in the information bulletin | Required for PG candidates; final-year students upload a bona fide certificate instead | |
| Category certificate (if applicable) | As specified in the information bulletin | OBC / SC / ST / PwD / BPL as relevant |
| Category | Male | Female |
|---|---|---|
| General / OBC | ₹4,000 | ₹4,000 |
| SC / ST / BPL / PwD | ₹3,500 | ₹3,500 |
CLAT UG carries 120 questions across five sections: English Language, Current Affairs including General Knowledge, Legal Reasoning, Logical Reasoning, and Quantitative Techniques. Every question is passage-based, built around a roughly 450-word extract, with no sectional time limit inside the two-hour window. Total marks are 120, with +1 for a correct answer and -0.25 for an incorrect answer. CLAT PG also carries 120 passage-based questions in the same two hours with the same marking, but every extract is drawn from mandatory LLB subjects (Constitutional Law, Jurisprudence, Contract, Torts, Criminal Law, Property Law, Company Law, and others) rather than the five UG sections.
| Mode | Offline, pen-and-paper (OMR-based) |
| Duration | 120 minutes (2 hours), no sectional time limit |
| Question format | Passage-based only, roughly 450 words per extract |
| Total questions (UG and PG each) | 120 |
| Total marks (UG and PG each) | 120 |
| Marks per correct | +1 |
| Negative marking | -0.25 per incorrect answer |
| Unattempted | 0, no penalty |
| CLAT UG sections | English Language (~20%), Current Affairs and GK (~25%), Legal Reasoning (~25%), Logical Reasoning (~20%), Quantitative Techniques (~10%) |
| CLAT PG structure | 120 passage-based questions across mandatory LLB subjects (Constitutional Law, Jurisprudence, Administrative Law, Contract, Torts, Family Law, Criminal Law, Property Law, Company Law, Public International Law, Tax Law, Environmental Law, Labour and Industrial Law); no published per-subject weightage |
CLAT UG’s question count settled at 120 starting the 2024 cycle, down from 150 in earlier years, as part of the Consortium’s shift to a fully passage-based, comprehension-first format that began in 2020. The 2026 cycle carried the 120-question, passage-based structure forward unchanged, and CLAT 2027 is expected to follow the same format pending the official notification.
Under +1/-0.25 marking, the break-even rule is: any question where a candidate can eliminate at least one of four options, raising the odds of a correct guess above 1 in 4, has positive expected value. A pure blind guess on four options has an expected value of 0. Because every CLAT question is passage-based, elimination is usually possible through close reading even without prior subject knowledge, which makes CLAT’s guessing calculus more forgiving than a pure-recall exam where a wrong guess reflects total unfamiliarity rather than a misread passage.
CLAT does not publish a fixed topic-by-topic syllabus the way JEE Main or NEET UG do, since every question is built around a passage rather than a discrete factual prompt. The breakdown below reflects recurring topic areas confirmed by the Consortium’s own materials and cross-checked against 2024 to 2026 past papers.
Passages drawn from contemporary fiction, non-fiction, and journalistic writing. Questions test comprehension, vocabulary in context, and grammar embedded within the passage.
| Unit | Weightage | Key topics |
|---|---|---|
| Reading comprehension, main idea and inference | 45-50% of section | Central argument, author’s tone, implied meaning |
| Vocabulary in context | 20-25% of section | Synonyms, antonyms, word meaning as used in the passage |
| Grammar and sentence correction embedded in passage | 20-25% of section | Error identification, sentence rearrangement within context |
| Summary and para-jumbles | 10-15% of section | Passage summary selection, paragraph sequencing |
CLAT’s most distinctive section: passages are drawn from recent news events (roughly the preceding 12 months), not static almanac facts.
| Unit | Weightage | Key topics |
|---|---|---|
| National current affairs (12 months preceding the exam) | 35-40% of section | Government policy, legislation, court judgments, appointments |
| International current affairs | 20-25% of section | Global events, treaties, international organisations |
| Legal and constitutional current affairs | 20-25% of section | Landmark judgments, constitutional amendments, law commission reports |
| Static GK embedded in a current-events passage | 15-20% of section | Historical or factual background tied to a live news story |
No prior legal knowledge required; every passage states the relevant principle, and questions test applying that principle to a fact scenario. Tie-breaking rules weight this section most heavily.
| Unit | Weightage | Key topics |
|---|---|---|
| Principle-and-fact application | 40-45% of section | Applying a stated legal rule to a hypothetical fact pattern |
| Constitutional law passages | 20-25% of section | Fundamental rights, directive principles, constitutional structure |
| Torts and contract law passages | 15-20% of section | Negligence, breach of contract, remedies |
| Criminal law passages | 15-20% of section | Offences, intent, defences, stated within the passage |
Passage-based logical and analytical reasoning, testing argument structure rather than standalone puzzles like seating arrangements.
| Unit | Weightage | Key topics |
|---|---|---|
| Argument structure and critical reasoning | 40-45% of section | Identifying premises, conclusions, and logical flaws in a passage |
| Assumptions and inference | 25-30% of section | What can and cannot be validly inferred from the passage |
| Analogies and logical sequences embedded in a passage | 15-20% of section | Pattern recognition within a stated context |
| Fallacy identification | 10-15% of section | Spotting flawed reasoning within an argument passage |
The smallest UG section by weightage, testing Class 10-level numeracy applied to data embedded in a short passage or dataset.
| Unit | Weightage | Key topics |
|---|---|---|
| Data interpretation from a passage or table | 45-50% of section | Reading and calculating from a short dataset |
| Ratios, percentages, and averages | 25-30% of section | Class 10-level arithmetic applied to passage data |
| Basic algebra and mensuration | 20-25% of section | Elementary equations and area or volume calculation where relevant |
No official per-subject weightage is published for CLAT PG; questions are drawn broadly across the mandatory subjects of a standard LLB curriculum rather than concentrated in any one subject.
| Unit | Weightage | Key topics |
|---|---|---|
| Constitutional Law, Jurisprudence, Administrative Law | Not published | Fundamental rights, legal theory, administrative action |
| Contract, Torts, Family Law | Not published | Contract formation and breach, negligence, personal law |
| Criminal Law, Property Law, Company Law | Not published | Offences and defences, property rights, corporate governance |
| Public International Law, Tax Law, Environmental Law, Labour and Industrial Law | Not published | Treaties and international obligations, taxation principles, environmental regulation, labour rights |
A defensible CLAT preparation plan treats the exam’s passage-based, comprehension-first format as the central fact, not an afterthought. Rote memorisation matters far less here than in a syllabus-driven exam; daily reading habits, applied legal-principle practice, and current-affairs tracking matter more. The plans below cover the three most common situations a candidate researching CLAT prep is in.
12-month plan
Months 1-4: Build reading stamina and daily current-affairs tracking. Read one newspaper (The Hindu is most commonly recommended for CLAT-style English and current affairs) daily, and maintain a running current-affairs log rather than cramming months of news later. Start A.P. Bhardwaj's Legal Reasoning book slowly, one principle-and-fact-pattern set per day, with no mocks yet.
Months 5-8: Layer in Logical Reasoning and Quantitative Techniques. Continue daily reading and current-affairs logging. Begin one full-length mock every two weeks from month 6, focusing analysis on which passages were misread rather than which facts were unknown, since misread passages are CLAT's dominant error source.
Months 9-12: Mock-heavy phase. Two full-length mocks per week from month 9, rising to four per week in the final six weeks. Revisit the accumulated current-affairs log at least twice in this window; the Current Affairs section draws heavily from the 12 months immediately preceding the exam, so older notes lose relevance fast.
6-month plan
Months 1-3: Combine daily reading with legal-principle practice from day one. Read one current-affairs digest daily (LegalEdge's GK capsules or an equivalent monthly compilation, alongside newspaper reading) and work through A.P. Bhardwaj's Legal Reasoning chapters in parallel.
Months 4-5: Begin weekly full-length mocks. Calibrate by starting with the most recent two cycles' actual papers before moving to test-series mocks, since official past papers best reflect the current passage-based format.
Month 6: Mock-heavy. Three to four full-length tests weekly. Spend at least as long analysing each mock as taking it; CLAT's biggest score gains at this stage come from recognising which passage types a candidate consistently misreads under time pressure.
90-day plan
Days 1-30: Triage. Since CLAT has no fixed syllabus to trim, the equivalent triage is identifying which of the five sections consistently costs the most time relative to marks (usually Quantitative Techniques or Legal Reasoning for a first-time reader) and deciding, deliberately, how much time to allocate to each in the actual exam.
Days 31-60: Mock-heavy. One mock per day from day 31, all under strict two-hour timing with no section breaks, since CLAT's lack of a sectional time limit means time-allocation discipline has to be self-imposed and practiced.
Days 61-90: Stamina and review. Mocks every alternate day, with the final ten days dedicated to current-affairs review covering roughly the preceding twelve months, since that window is the section most sensitive to last-minute preparation.
Coaching genuinely helps two kinds of CLAT candidates: those without a daily newspaper-reading habit already in place, and those who need external structure to sustain a current-affairs log over many months. For most other candidates, a full offline CLAT coaching programme (commonly ₹1 to ₹2 lakh per year through large national players) is a significant outlay against an exam that rewards reading habits and applied reasoning more than content most coaching centres can uniquely teach. Self-study built on daily reading, one legal-reasoning book, and a disciplined mock schedule has produced strong ranks every cycle, though CLAT's format makes self-study slightly harder to calibrate than a fixed-syllabus exam.
Online CLAT-specific test series and coaching (LegalEdge, Career Launcher's CL-LST, IMS, LawPrep Tutorial) at ₹5,000 to ₹20,000 per year sit between full coaching and pure self-study. Honest take: for a candidate who already reads consistently, a good mock-test series alone, without a full lecture-based course, is usually sufficient, since CLAT tests applied reading skill more than transmittable content.
Topper insight (pending)
Verified CLAT topper from the 2025 or 2026 cycle, rank inside the top 100 (either UG or PG), with scorecard verification, willing to be quoted by name. News coverage of the CLAT 2026 result named a rank-1 candidate publicly, but a publicly reported name without direct outreach and explicit consent to be quoted does not meet this page’s sourcing bar; that name was deliberately not used. Format to be used once a contributor is sourced: "[Name], AIR [rank] in CLAT [year] [UG/PG], recommends [specific tactic]. ‘[direct quote in their own words],’ they say."
| Book | Subject | Price (₹) | One-line take |
|---|---|---|---|
| Legal Aptitude for CLAT and Other Law Entrance Exams (A.P. Bhardwaj) | Legal Reasoning | 500 | The most widely used Legal Reasoning book; strong on stated-principle application, the section’s dominant question type. |
| Universal’s Guide to CLAT & LLB Entrance Examination | All sections | 700 | Broad coverage across all five sections with practice papers; a good single starting reference, not a deep-dive on any one section. |
| Lucent’s General Knowledge | Current Affairs (static component) | 200 | Good for the smaller static-GK slice embedded in Current Affairs passages, weak on its own for the section’s news-heavy majority. |
| Word Power Made Easy (Norman Lewis) | English Language | 350 | Standard vocabulary builder; pairs with daily newspaper reading rather than replacing it. |
| Analytical Reasoning (M.K. Pandey) | Logical Reasoning | 450 | Strong on argument-structure fundamentals, though written for a broader reasoning audience than CLAT specifically. |
| Quantitative Aptitude for CAT and other exams (Arun Sharma) | Quantitative Techniques | 650 | More advanced than CLAT actually requires; use selectively for the arithmetic and data-interpretation chapters only. |
LegalEdge’s test series is widely used and closely calibrated to the current passage-based format. Career Launcher’s CL-LST series is a longstanding option trusted by both CLAT and AILET aspirants. IMS and LawPrep Tutorial offer comparable mock series at generally lower price points. Official past papers plus one well-calibrated test series cover most preparation needs; a full lecture-based coaching programme is an upgrade for candidates who need structure, not a requirement for a self-motivated, well-read candidate.
The activity with the highest score-to-effort ratio in exam prep is mock-test analysis. Solving a mock takes hours; analysing it correctly takes longer. Most candidates skip the analysis. The candidates who score well do not.
| Year | Difficulty | Hardest section | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | Moderate-Hard | Legal Reasoning | Highest-ever registration count (92,344) coincided with a denser, longer passage set in Legal Reasoning |
| 2025 | Moderate-Hard | Current Affairs | Provisional answer key drew a Delhi High Court challenge over ambiguous questions; the Court ordered a re-evaluation and republication of the merit list |
| 2024 | Moderate | Quantitative Techniques | Data-interpretation passages ran denser than the 2023 paper despite the section’s small overall share |
| 2023 | Moderate | Legal Reasoning | First full cycle at the settled 120-question format, still adjusting from the earlier 150-question paper |
| 2022 | Moderate | English Language | Longer literary-fiction extracts than prior years, which slowed reading speed for many candidates |
Legal Reasoning questions concentrate most heavily on constitutional-law and tort-law passages, both tested through principle-and-fact-application rather than pure recall. Current Affairs draws most heavily from government policy and legislative activity in the 12 months before each exam, with a smaller, recurring block on landmark court judgments. Logical Reasoning concentrates on argument-structure and assumption-identification passages rather than standalone puzzle formats.
| Year | General | OBC-NCL | EWS | SC | ST | PwD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CLAT has no separate qualifying cutoff | The unified merit list rank itself is the only cutoff that matters; the admission cutoff table below is the complete picture | — | — | — | — | — |
| College | General (HS) | General (OS) | OBC (OS) | SC (OS) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| NLSIU Bangalore (final allotment list, General) | — | 112 | — | — |
| NALSAR Hyderabad (final allotment list, General) | — | 159 | — | — |
| WBNUJS Kolkata (final allotment list, General) | — | 327 | — | — |
| NALSAR Hyderabad (first allotment list, General) | — | 148 | — | — |
| WBNUJS Kolkata (first allotment list, General) | — | 284 | — | — |
Our 2027 admission cutoff projection uses the last 3 years of final-allotment-list closing ranks for each NLU in the sample above, applies a drift correction for CLAT 2026’s unusually high 92,344 registrations (the highest in the exam’s history, which typically tightens cutoffs the following cycle), and has not yet been calibrated against any confirmed CLAT 2027 figures, since the exam has not been conducted as of this review. Treat any 2027-specific number as provisional until the Consortium publishes the actual merit list and allotment data.
Use the College Predictor with full methodology disclosure →CLAT results are typically declared by the Consortium within roughly two to three weeks of the exam, after the objection window on the provisional answer key closes and the final answer key is locked. Scorecards are downloadable from consortiumofnlus.ac.in using the application number and password used at registration.
A CLAT rank is valid only for that cycle’s own centralised counselling; it cannot be carried forward to a later year’s admission cycle. A candidate who does not secure or accept a seat in a given cycle must reappear the following year for a fresh rank.
CLAT is conducted as a single offline sitting nationwide, not across multiple computer-based shifts, so the shift-to-shift percentile normalisation that exams like JEE Main require does not apply. Every candidate answers the same paper under the same conditions on the same day.
The Consortium accepts objections to the provisional answer key for a short window, typically around three days, with a ₹1,000 fee per objected question, refunded only if the objection is upheld. Ordinarily, no further changes are made once the final answer key is locked. The 2025 cycle was a notable exception: the Delhi High Court, after reviewing challenged questions, directed the Consortium to re-evaluate and republish the CLAT 2025 merit list, an outcome driven by judicial intervention rather than an internal re-evaluation mechanism.
CLAT counselling is run entirely by the Consortium of NLUs itself, unlike CAT’s per-institute shortlisting or NEET UG’s split between a central AIQ authority and separate state bodies. Every one of the 24 member NLUs allocates its seats through this one centralised process, based purely on CLAT rank within category. The most operationally important fact for a first-time candidate: counselling registration is not open to everyone who applied. Only candidates whose rank clears a Consortium-set threshold are invited, by email, SMS, and a portal notification, and only invited candidates can pay the counselling fee and participate.
Do not skip counselling registration because you assume you will not clear the invite threshold. The invitation system is rank-based and updates as the process proceeds; a candidate just outside an early cutoff can still be invited in a later wave as higher-ranked candidates freeze or exit elsewhere. Missing the registration fee deadline once invited, however, removes a candidate from that cycle entirely.
List every NLU you would genuinely accept, including ones outside the traditional "top 5." CLAT's unified counselling fills every seat at every member NLU through the same rank-ordered process; a candidate who lists only five or six NLUs and misses all of them has effectively opted out of the other 18, often unintentionally.
Float rather than Freeze in round one unless you got your genuine first choice. Earlier rounds are the most competitive, since higher-ranked candidates have not yet exercised their own preferences; floating keeps a candidate eligible for a better NLU as the field thins in rounds two through five.
Treat the counselling fee as a real financial commitment, not a formality. At ₹20,000 to ₹30,000, it is a meaningfully larger upfront cost than most other Indian entrance-exam counselling fees, and a candidate should confirm genuine intent to join at least one NLU on their list before paying it.
Home-state quota seats can meaningfully improve a candidate's odds at their state's own NLU. Since each NLU reserves roughly 15 to 25% of seats for home-state domicile candidates within the CLAT merit list, check your home NLU's specific quota share rather than assuming the general-category cutoff applies to you.
After the fifth and final allotment list, individual NLUs may separately announce spot rounds for any seats that remain vacant, typically requiring physical reporting on short notice. These are NLU-specific rather than run centrally by the Consortium; check the individual university’s website directly for spot-round announcements.
Talk to a counsellor about your strategy →Top 20 CLAT-accepting institutes by NIRF Engineering rank. Each links to the full college page with placements, fees, hostel, and student reviews.
| NIRF rank | College | Location |
|---|---|---|
| #1 | NLSIU Bangalore | Bengaluru, Karnataka |
| #3 | NALSAR Hyderabad | Hyderabad, Telangana |
| #4 | WBNUJS Kolkata | Kolkata, West Bengal |
| #5 | GNLU Gandhinagar | Gandhinagar, Gujarat |
| #6 | NLIU Bhopal | Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh |
| #7 | RGNUL Punjab | Patiala, Punjab |
| #8 | RMLNLU Lucknow | Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh |
| #9 | NLU Jodhpur | Jodhpur, Rajasthan |
| #10 | HNLU Raipur | Raipur, Chhattisgarh |
| #11 | CNLU Patna | Patna, Bihar |
| #12 | NUALS Kochi | Kochi, Kerala |
| #13 | NLU Odisha | Cuttack, Odisha |
| #14 | NUSRL Ranchi | Ranchi, Jharkhand |
| #15 | NLUJA Assam | Guwahati, Assam |
| #16 | DSNLU Visakhapatnam | Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh |
| #17 | HPNLU Shimla | Shimla, Himachal Pradesh |
| #18 | MNLU Mumbai | Mumbai, Maharashtra |
| #19 | MNLU Nagpur | Nagpur, Maharashtra |
| #20 | MNLU Aurangabad | Aurangabad, Maharashtra |
| #21 | DNLU Jabalpur | Jabalpur, Madhya Pradesh |
| Comparison | Mode | Conducting body | Frequency | College scope |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CLAT vs AILET | Pen-and-paper vs pen-and-paper | Consortium of NLUs vs NLU Delhi itself | Annual vs Annual | 24 Consortium NLUs vs NLU Delhi only |
| CLAT vs SLAT (Symbiosis) | Pen-and-paper vs computer-based | Consortium of NLUs vs Symbiosis International | Annual vs Annual | 24 NLUs vs Symbiosis Law School campuses only |
| CLAT vs LSAT India | Pen-and-paper vs computer-based | Consortium of NLUs vs Law School Admission Council (India) | Annual, single sitting vs Multiple sessions | 24 NLUs vs a separate network of private law colleges |
| CLAT UG vs CLAT PG | Same passage-based format, same exam day | Same Consortium, separate papers | Both annual | 5-year integrated law degree admission vs LLM admission |
Pending verified contributors
6 to 8 verified test-taker reviews required. Curation mix: one recent CLAT UG topper (top 1 percentile), one CLAT PG candidate for the postgraduate-track perspective, one average rank-holder who secured a mid-tier NLU seat, one non-qualifier or candidate who missed their target NLU’s cutoff, one repeat test-taker, one first-attempt test-taker, and one candidate who navigated the invite-only counselling registration process for the first time. All must be scorecard-verified and year-stamped. Without these the page cannot meet the experiential E-E-A-T moat requirement.
The CLAT 2027 notification has not been released as of this page’s last review. Based on the Consortium’s typical release rhythm, the notification is expected around mid-to-late July 2026, registration around August 1, 2026, and the exam itself around December 6, 2026, the first Sunday of December. All dates are tentative until the official notification confirms them.
CLAT is run by the Consortium of NLUs for admission to 24 National Law Universities. AILET is a separate exam run by NLU Delhi itself, solely for admission to NLU Delhi, which is not a Consortium member. AILET has 150 questions to CLAT’s 120, has no separate Legal Reasoning or Quantitative Techniques section, and is markedly more competitive, with roughly 100 candidates per seat compared to CLAT’s roughly 20 candidates per seat.
A Class 12 pass (or appearing candidate) with 45% aggregate marks for General, OBC, PwD, NRI, PIO, and OCI candidates, or 40% for SC and ST candidates. There is no upper age limit and no cap on the number of attempts.
An LLB degree (or final-year LLB student expected to complete it before admission) with 50% aggregate marks for General and OBC candidates, or 45% for SC, ST, and PwD candidates. There is no upper age limit.
Yes, but they are treated as two entirely separate applications with separate fees, even though both exams are held on the same day. A candidate eligible for both tracks would need to submit two applications.
CLAT is entirely passage-based; every question is built around a roughly 450-word extract, and there is no fixed syllabus to prepare against the way subject units exist for JEE Main and NEET UG. CLAT also has no sectional time limit within its two-hour window.
Rough benchmarks for the General category, based on the 2026 cycle’s final allotment list: a rank around 100 to 150 is typically needed for NLSIU Bangalore or NALSAR Hyderabad; a rank around 300 to 400 for WBNUJS Kolkata; ranks into the low thousands still secure seats at several of the newer or lower-demand NLUs.
NLU Delhi has historically run its own admission process, AILET, and has not joined the Consortium of NLUs that jointly administers CLAT. NLU Delhi is frequently confused with a CLAT-accepting NLU because it is consistently ranked among India’s top law schools.
Unlike JoSAA or MCC, CLAT counselling registration is not open to every candidate who took the exam. Only candidates whose rank clears a Consortium-set threshold are invited by email, SMS, and portal notification to register and pay the counselling fee (₹30,000 General, ₹20,000 reserved categories in the 2026 cycle). Check your own portal dashboard each round rather than waiting solely on email or SMS.
Yes, entirely separate. The application fee (₹4,000 General/OBC, ₹3,500 SC/ST/BPL/PwD in the 2026 cycle) is paid when applying for the exam. The counselling fee (₹30,000 or ₹20,000 depending on category) is a much larger, separate payment made only after being invited into counselling.
There is no cap on the number of attempts for either CLAT UG or CLAT PG, unlike JEE Main’s three-consecutive-year limit. A candidate can reapply every year as long as the underlying educational eligibility continues to be met.
No, though CLAT’s lack of a fixed syllabus makes self-study slightly harder to structure than for a syllabus-driven exam. A consistent daily-reading habit, one solid Legal Reasoning book, and a disciplined mock-test schedule have produced strong ranks every cycle. Coaching is most useful for candidates who do not already have a newspaper-reading habit or who need external structure.
A candidate whose rank does not clear the Consortium’s invitation threshold in a given cycle cannot register for that round’s counselling and effectively does not secure a seat at any of the 24 NLUs that cycle. There is no separate appeal process for the threshold itself; a candidate would need to reappear in a later cycle.
No. A CLAT rank is valid only for that cycle’s own centralised counselling. A candidate who does not accept a seat, or is not invited to counselling, must reapply and earn a fresh rank the following year.
CLAT 2027 is expected around December 6, 2026, with the official notification expected around mid-to-late July 2026. Confirm dates directly with the Consortium once the CLAT 2027 information bulletin is published.
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