Updated on Nov 24, 2021 14:59 IST
Wondering how to prepare for CLAT 2022 based on the new pattern? Read this article to know the best strategy, tips and focus areas as shared by CLAT experts at the LegalEdge Tutorials.

Confused about how to prepare for CLAT 2022 based on the new pattern? Read this article to know the best strategy, tips and focus areas as shared by CLAT experts at the LegalEdge Tutorials. 

CLAT 2021 Preparation Tips based on New Pattern

The Consortium of National Law Universities (NLUs) will conduct the Common Law Admission Test (CLAT) 2022 tentatively in May/June. In 2020, the Consortium had changed the exam pattern of CLAT by reducing the total number of questions to 150 and introducing more number of comprehension-type of questions. Ever since the changes were announced, the law aspirants are perplexed and CLAT experts are working on framing the right preparation strategy for CLAT 2022 as per the new pattern.

Shiksha discussed the new exam pattern and the preparation strategy with CLAT experts, Harsh Gagrani and Karan Mehta, Directors at LegalEdge Tutorials. Read below to get insights on the same:

Table of contents
  • Opinions on the changes made in CLAT Pattern
  • Effects of the changed pattern on the law aspirants appearing for CLAT
  • Best preparation strategy according to the new exam pattern of CLAT
  • Prep tips for dropper candidates
  • Books to refer for CLAT 2022

Opinions on the changes made in CLAT Pattern

Harsh, who is an expert on the CLAT exam for the past nine years, says that the new exam pattern is a welcome change as it looks forward to future requirements of the legal domain. He says that by including the comprehension type of questions in CLAT, the Consortium has improved the legal education. The lawyers should be well-read and with the new pattern of CLAT, the aspirants will adapt the same. He added the CLAT Consortium should have made the changes in the past itself but it is better late than never.

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The official statement of the CLAT Consortium regarding the same – ‘The idea is to get better students to National Law Universities who have competence in reading texts and demonstrate skills in inferential reasoning.’

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Effects of the changed pattern on the law aspirants appearing for CLAT 

In 2020, it was natural for the law aspirants appearing for CLAT to feel jammed in the middle of their exam preparation after the changes, says Karan. He added, the Consortium had announced the changes in November 2019 but no clarity on the exact pattern was provided until January 1, 2020 after the official website of CLAT went live. However, candidates who are appearing for CLAT 2022 should just focus on reading skills, keeping track of news regularly, improve vocabulary as well as critical reasoning skills.

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The law aspirants who are planning to appear for the law exam in the coming years should develop intensive reading habits now on; they should focus improving themselves with language comprehension, learning vocabulary and work on critical thinking, added Karan.

Also Read: CLAT 2022 Syllabus

Best preparation strategy according to the new exam pattern of CLAT

With few months remaining for CLAT 2022, the best strategy to score well in the exam would be focusing more on critical reasoning based questions, core law topics and related news, reading and vocabulary enhancement etc. advised Harsh.

To this, Karan added that for CLAT 2022, candidates should focus less on the old pattern of Mathematics and Logical Reasoning. However, he says that as the candidates will be appearing for other law entrance exams like AILET, LSAT India so they should not completely change their preparation strategy based on the old pattern. The candidates will have to find a balance between both the patterns.

Prep tips for dropper candidates

Last year, many candidates dropped the year to score well in the exam, such candidates have to make slight changes in their preparation strategy advised Harsh.

The candidates should take at least 2-3 mock tests every week and ensure to do preparation analysis, as this will help them check their progress and key work areas, added Karan. This is because; the exam pattern changes came as late news to the candidates who were already preparing for more than a year. Certainly, for them, it was revision time and hence, they should practice as much as possible according to the new pattern. The focus should be on preparing for the reasoning based sections – Legal and Logical, Quantitative Techniques and, keeping track of Currents Affairs and GK with the help of newspaper.

Books to refer for CLAT 2022

Harsh says, there are no books available in the market based on the new exam pattern of CLAT. Therefore, the candidates should rely on the study material provided by their coaching centres. Candidates should focus on a section-wise preparation strategy for CLAT 2022 to score well.

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For the General Home State quota, the NLU Bangalore CLAT cutoff 2026 was 336 for the LL.M. LL.B. (Hons.) course at the UG level. At the postgraduate level, the institute offers LL.M. in Criminal Law, for which the CLAT 2026 cutoff rank was 378 for admission. 

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