Law, Design & Other UG Entrance · Higher study

CLAT

Common Law Admission Test (UG)

Admission to five-year integrated LLB programmes (BA LLB, BBA LLB etc.) at the participating National Law Universities (NLUs); scores are also used by several private law schools and some PSUs (for CLAT PG).

Eligibility

Passed or appearing in Class 12 or equivalent with at least 45% (40% for SC/ST) marks. There is no upper age limit and no cap on attempts. Candidates appearing in the March/April Class 12 exams of the admission year may apply.

Age limit: No upper age limit

Exam pattern

Two-hour offline (pen-and-paper) test of 120 multiple-choice questions answered on an OMR sheet, one mark each with 0.25 deducted per wrong answer. Five comprehension-based sections: English Language, Current Affairs including General Knowledge, Legal Reasoning, Logical Reasoning and Quantitative Techniques. Every question is built on a passage, so reading speed decides the paper. Check the Consortium's notifications for any change of mode before the exam.

Syllabus at a glance

English tests comprehension of 450-word passages, vocabulary in context and inference. Current Affairs draws on news, editorials and legal developments of roughly the past 12 months. Legal Reasoning applies principles given in passages to facts; no prior legal knowledge is assumed. Logical Reasoning covers arguments, assumptions, inferences and critical reasoning; Quantitative Techniques covers Class 10 level arithmetic and data interpretation from passages.

Upcoming dates

Event	Date	Status
Admit card	Third/fourth week of Nov 2026	expected
CLAT 2027 exam (2:00-4:00 pm)	6 Dec 2026 (Sunday)	confirmed
Provisional answer key and final result	Mid to late Dec 2026	expected
Centralised counselling rounds	Late Dec 2026 - Feb 2027	expected

Expected dates follow the usual calendar; confirm on the official notification before planning.

Free prep material

Official

Consortium of NLUs - previous papers and sample papers

Official past CLAT question papers, answer keys and sample papers; the only fully authentic practice material.

Study material

Press Information Bureau (PIB)

Primary source for government schemes, appointments and summits that feed the current affairs passages.

Study material

Indian Express - Explained

Explainers on the same news themes CLAT passages are built from; also good reading-speed practice.

Study material

LiveLaw

Free coverage of landmark Supreme Court judgments and new legislation for legal current affairs.

Study material

NCERT Mathematics textbooks (Classes 8-10)

Covers every arithmetic topic needed for Quantitative Techniques: percentages, ratios, averages, profit and loss.

Previous papers

AILET previous papers (NLU Delhi)

Extra official reasoning and English practice from the sister law entrance.

Standard books

Universal's Guide to CLAT & LL.B. Entrance Examination - Universal/LexisNexis
Legal Awareness and Legal Reasoning - A.P. Bhardwaj (Pearson)
Word Power Made Easy - Norman Lewis
A Modern Approach to Verbal & Non-Verbal Reasoning - R.S. Aggarwal
Quantitative Aptitude for Competitive Examinations - R.S. Aggarwal
Manorama Yearbook - Malayala Manorama

How toppers play it

Every section is passage-based: aim to read 450-word passages in under 3 minutes and practise daily with editorials, not just question banks.
Attempt Quantitative Techniques last or early depending on comfort, but never leave it blank; it is the most scoring per minute for numerate candidates.
With -0.25 per wrong answer, guess only when you can eliminate two options; target 95-100 attempts at about 90% accuracy.
For current affairs, keep a monthly note of legal and national events from roughly Dec 2025 to Nov 2026, as CLAT passages concentrate on the preceding year.
Take at least 25-30 full-length timed mocks on OMR sheets before 6 Dec, analysing each for time lost on Legal and Logical Reasoning passages.