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Common Law Admission Test (CLAT)



Introduction
  • The Common Law Admission Test (CLAT) is a national level entrance examination for admissions to undergraduate (UG) and postgraduate (PG) law programmes offered by National Law Universities in India.
  • The examination is conducted by a consortium of National Law Universities, comprising of representative universities. A few private and self-financed law schools in India also use these scores for law admissions.

About The Examination

Admissions to the integrated LL.B. and LL.M. programmes are made through the Common Law Admission Test to the participating universities and other colleges that accept its score. The list of participating universities is as follows:


  • National Law School of India University, Bengaluru
  • NALSAR University of Law, Hyderabad
  • National Law Institute University, Bhopal
  • The West Bengal National University of Juridical Sciences, Kolkata
  • National Law University, Jodhpur
  • Hidayatullah National Law University, Raipur
  • Gujarat National Law University, Gandhinagar along with-it off-centre campus GNLU SILVASSA estd. from the academic year 2023-24
  • Dr. Ram Manohar Lohia National Law University, Lucknow
  • Rajiv Gandhi National University of Law, Patiala
  • Chanakya National Law University, Patna
  • National Law University Odisha, Cuttack
  • Damodaram Sanjivayya National Law University, Vishakhapatnam
  • National University of Study and Research in Law, Ranchi
  • National Law School and Judicial Academy, Guwahati
  • Tamil Nadu National Law University, Tiruchirappalli
  • Maharashtra National Law University, Mumbai
  • Maharashtra National Law University, Nagpur
  • Maharashtra National Law University, Aurangabad
  • Himachal Pradesh National Law University, Shimla
  • Dharmashastra National Law University, Jabalpur
  • Dr. B.R. Ambedkar National Law University, Sonipat
  • National Law University Tripura, Agartala

Some other colleges that accept CLAT score:

  • Institute of Law, Nirma University-Ahmedabad.
  • UPES-Dehradun.
  • Dr. B R Ambedkar National Law University Sonipat, Haryana.
  • Shobhit University, U.P.
  • RNB Global University, Bikaner, Rajasthan.
  • ISBR Law College, Bangalore.
  • LLOYD Law College, Greater Noida.
  • Glocal Law School, Glocal University, Uttar Pradesh.
  • Indore Institute of Law, Indore.
  • Vivekananda Institute of Professional Studies, Delhi.

Eligibility


Undergraduate (UG) Course

  • There is no upper age limit for candidates appearing for the UG Programme.
  • Candidates must secure the following minimum percentage of marks in their qualifying examination (i.e., 10+2 or an equivalent examination):
    • Forty five percent (45%) marks or its equivalent grade in case of candidates belonging to General / OBC / PWD / NRI / PIO / OCI categories.
    • Forty percent (40%) marks or equivalent in case of candidates belonging to SC/ST categories.
  • Candidates appearing for their qualifying examination in the year they wish to appear in CLAT examination are also eligible. However, they shall be required to produce evidence of their passing the qualifying examination at the time of admission, failing which they shall lose their right to be considered for admission.

PostGraduate (PG) Course


  • A person who wishes to appear in CLAT Examination for a PG course shall possess a LL.B. degree or an equivalent examination with a minimum of fifty percent (50%) marks or its equivalent grade in case of candidates belonging to General/OBC/PWD/NRI/PIO/OCI categories and forty-five percent (45%) marks or its equivalent grade in case of candidates belonging to SC/ST categories.
  • Candidates appearing for their qualifying examination are also eligible to apply for the CLAT PG programme.
  • There is no upper age limit for appearing for the CLAT PG programme.

Plan Of Examination


The examination consists of a single stage and is an objective type of examination.

UG Programme


The CLAT examination for a UG course consists of 150 questions and is of 2-hour duration. A negative marking of 0.25 Marks is also attached to each wrong answer.

Subjects Number of Questions Marks
English Language 28-32 questions 28 - 32
Current Affairs, including General Knowledge 35-39 questions 35 - 39
Legal Reasoning 35-39 questions 35 - 39
Logical Reasoning 28-32 questions 28 - 32
Quantitative Techniques 13-17 questions 13 - 17

PG Programme


The CLAT examination for PG course consists of 120 questions and is of 2-hour duration. A negative marking of 0.25 marks is also attached to each wrong answer.

The questions will pertain to following subjects:

  • Constitutional Law.
  • Other areas of law such as Jurisprudence, Administrative Law, Law of Contract, Torts, Family Law, Criminal Law, Property Law, Company Law, Public International Law, Tax Law, Environmental Law, and Labour & Industrial Law

Strategy


Key to crack preliminary examination involves exhaustive study on following:

  • Bare act provisions and the respective amendments if any.
  • Brief idea about landmark/recent case laws.
  • Analysis of key concepts.
  • Where general knowledge forms part of the syllabus one must pay attention to the topics included in the examination notification.
  • For English examination, the focus must be on grammar, vocabulary, comprehension passage, antonyms and synonyms and finding the errors.
  • Quantitative Techniques require practice in following areas:
    • Percentage
    • Algebra
    • Mensuration
    • Number Systems
    • Time Speed and Distance
    • Average
    • Work and Time
    • Statistics
    • Ratio and proportion
  • One must practice previous year question papers.